I was bribed by Amazon for a good review!

spent2much · ‎03-10-2010

Has this happened to anyone else?

I ordered an electric blanket on Amazon a few weeks ago. The blanket is great! Today I received a postcard from Amazon asking me to write a 5 star review and send the screenshot showing my review to a specific email. IF I did that, they would send me a $10 gift card.

I gave them a 5 star rating because I love the blanket. Then I gave my review:

"I liked everything about the blanket. Thankfully, it has two controls - hubby sleeps warm, I sleep cold. It's about the softest blanket I've ever used. I chose the gray; it's a dark gray. The only thing that disturbs me is: Amazon sent me a postcard asking me to write a 5 star review and email them the screenshot. For doing that, I would get a $10 gift card. I won't do that. I would have given the blanket a 5 star review; I didn't need to be bribed. Very disappointed!"

ETERNITY: your choice... smoking or non smoking!

Thats Me · ‎03-09-2010

That has never happened to me. How slimy!

MezzieStarr · ‎10-28-2012

@spent2much It was probably a 3rd party seller. I get them all the time.

Many items are shipped (fullfilled) by Amazon but are sold by a 3rd party vendor on the site.

spumoni99 · ‎02-16-2019

I doubt it was Amazon doing the bribing. Like others have said it was most likely a third party seller.

Love my grandkids · ‎11-24-2013

@spent2much I doubt 100% that Amazon sent you that. It was likely a 3rd party seller. I've read the Amazon forums for years and they don't do that.

Foxxee · ‎10-03-2014

The card came from Amazon, right, not from one of their sellers? Amazon is involved since their name was on the card.

Right out there in front. Bribing is acceptable to Amazon. It looks like American companies think they can get away with this. They can because many Americans think Amazon can do no wrong even when it's right there in front of their noses.

It's not surprising to me at all. I caught them using dishonorable tactics quite a bit that had nothing to do with their sellers. This was all Amazon.

qbetzforreal · ‎08-28-2010

It was the third party vendor.

chrystaltree · ‎05-10-2010

I don't think it was Amazon, it was the vendor. Remember most Amazon products are from third party sellers and some of them do solicit reviews in ingenious ways. Amazon would not have needed you to post the review and then send a screen shot to some other place. A vendor would need that to verify the review. I wouldn't have done it.

Mz iMac · ‎07-26-2014

@spent2much To check if the postcard came from Amazon.......

1 - look up the sender's addresss on the postcard online to see if it comes back as an "Amazon" address.

2 - Call Amazon CS to confirm the PC came from them.

"Never argue with a fool. Onlookers may not be able to tell the difference."

Desertdi · ‎03-13-2010

Here is the "fine print" for REVIEWS directly copied from Amazon:

We don't allow anyone to write reviews as a form of promotion.

The following are types of reviews that we don't allow and will remove:

A review by someone who has a direct or indirect financial interest in the product.
A review by someone perceived to have a close personal relationship with the product's owner, author, or artist.
A review by the product manufacturer, posing as an unbiased shopper.
Multiple negative reviews for the same product from one customer.
A review in exchange for monetary reward.
A review of a game in exchange for bonus in-game credits.
A negative review from a seller on a competitor's product.
A positive review from an artist on a peer's album in exchange for rceeiving a positive review from them.