Comment by wackget | Hacker News Reader

Comment by wackget | Hacker News Reader

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This is what happens when customers don't understand the separation between product manufacture and product fulfilment.

This was Amazon's fault (for re-selling a returned product as new) but it was also the reviewer's fault for blaming the manufacturer instead of the fulfiller.

I see it all the time in product reviews. A one-star review because "PRODUCT ARRIVED LATE AND BOX WAS DAMAGED BECAUSE UPS THREW IT OVER MY FENCE!!!" is a totally useless review and doesn't help anyone, except maybe letting the reviewer vent their anger.

Product reviews are not the place for this kind of review, unless the fault is clearly on the manufacturer themselves, or the manufacturer's customer service has been poor.

Interestingly though, Amazon seems to have addressed this problem in their Marketplace seller reviews. If you view the profile of a Marketplace seller you'll see "mini reviews" of the seller themselves. When people rate the seller poorly because of delivery problems, the review is greyed out and a note says "Amazon takes responsibility for the fulfilment of this order". It's been like that for years, and I don't know why they haven't extended the same system to product reviews.

TL;DR the reviewer shouldn't have written a product review about a bad fulfilment experience, but Amazon should improve their website to make the distinction clearer.

Given how messy the relationship is between products, sellers and fulfillment on Amazon, I don't think it realistic to expect customers to know which to blame. For example, I received clearly counterfeit merchandise. I don't know if it is the sellers fault for providing counterfeits, or Amazon's fault for commingling stock. I don't know if the product reviews are exclusive to that listing or if they will be applied to other sellers listing the "same" product. And in the end I don't care. I just want others to know that if they order from this listing they may get counterfeit goods. Product reviews are by far the most consumer facing information, and most of the other feedback mechanisms that Amazon provides seem to go into a black-hole where no other customers can see them and which Amazon never acts on, so it is natural for customers to use product reviews for any type of feedback.

There are a few things that Amazon could do to improve reviews for sellers. They should make seller reviews more prominent in listings. And if a review is determined to be posted to the wrong place (product vs seller) Amazon should move it to the right place instead of deleting it. I can't see the issues regarding fulfillment feedback ever getting better though. Late shipping is one thing, but reselling returned items and commingling good and bad inventory will always be opaque to the customer.

> This is what happens when customers don't understand the separation between product manufacture and product fulfilment.

> This was Amazon's fault (for re-selling a returned product as new) but it was also the reviewer's fault for blaming the manufacturer instead of the fulfiller.

No, it's all Amazon's fault. 100%

It's Amazon's fault for re-selling a returned product as new, it's Amazon's fault for designing it's site to allow it's users get confused like this, and it's Amazon's fault for leaving the review up that blamed the manufacturer for Amazon's mistake.

Amazon doesn't make the difference between seller, third party fulfillment, and FBA obvious.

A customer shouldn't have to delve into the amazon supply chain to determine which system failed them and somehow direct their rage-cannon accordingly.

They could also read every review for every product as it comes in and proactively notify the seller or take steps to mitigate the problem.

And use much of the touted LLMs to figure out if a review should be about the shipping company. But that wouldn't be cost effective I suppose.

So is there section in Amazon where I could review or see reviews on fulfilment? If not, product review is the correct place.

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