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Comment by jehb | Hacker News Reader

Once you realize the full scope of reviews that Amazon deletes, it's hard to take anything left behind as credible whatsoever.

I went down a long odyssey recently of trying to get a refund for a food item that was four months expired the day it was delivered. Amazon refused. I escalated it. Amazon refused again. I tried to leave a bad review. Amazon deleted it. I reviewed the seller itself. Deleted again. Kept trying over and over again for several days, making ever so slight tweaks to conform to the policy. I came to the conclusion it was simply impossible to leave a negative piece of feedback.

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I left a mostly complimentary review for a home video camera (brand is EUKI) but also mentioned that the battery life was not as good as advertised. Not only was the review removed, but I am now blocked from reviewing any of that manufacturer's products. This is despite being in the top couple percent of reviewers overall BTW. The manufacturer can't block me that way; only Amazon themselves can. Conclusions about Amazon's trustworthiness (or ethics generally) are left as an exercise for the reader.

Genuine question. Are you still buying from Amazon? If so, they made the correct call to treat you like garbage and protect their platform image.

If you did stop buying from them, I hope more people follow your lead!

I have stopped using them for goods with an expiration date, and have severely curtailed my other purchases. It's a crap platform.

I hope for a future where their monopoly position is litigated away so that there is a fair marketplace with other options for next day delivery for common household items. I prefer to shop in brick and mortar stores, but there's definitely a legitimate use case for next-day delivery of household supplies. I have a family member currently experiencing severe mobility issues who lives several hours away from me in a rural area, and unfortunately Amazon is the only way I can get things like household medical supplies to her door on short notice.

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