Contacted directly by an Amazon seller for whom I left a poor review

[Jon S.]

I ordered a dehumidifier in late September. It never truly dried out the room it was in despite being advertised for a higher square footage and then, last month, broke entirely. I replaced it with a better unit (for the first time in 8 months, the room's actually dry now) and left a 1 star review warning people not to buy it.

To my surprise, last week, I get two emails, one from Amazon directly telling me I had a message from the seller, the other from the seller offering to refund or replace the defective unit and asking for my home address.

So far, nothing here to complain further about, right? But I must say, it kinda creeps me out both that the seller knows my email address and wants my home address.

I'm ignoring the seller's emails and offers both because the last thing I want is another piece of their junk in my home and because I don't like the idea of them having my home address.

My question is, has anything like this ever happened to you? If yes, did you share your address with the seller?

Thanks.

 

[Engine Swap]

I left a bad review for a digital thermometer that failed after 2 uses. Seller contacted me through Amazon and issued refund after the return window had closed. Talking about $6 here.

 

[imwjl]

I ordered a dehumidifier in late September. It never truly dried out the room it was in despite being advertised for a higher square footage and then, last month, broke entirely. I replaced it with a better unit (for the first time in 8 months, the room's actually dry now) and left a 1 star review warning people not to buy it.

To my surprise, last week, I get two emails, one from Amazon directly telling me I had a message from the seller, the other from the seller offering to refund or replace the defective unit and asking for my home address.

So far, nothing here to complain further about, right? But I must say, it kinda creeps me out both that the seller knows my email address and wants my home address.

I'm ignoring the seller's emails and offers both because the last thing I want is another piece of their junk in my home and because I don't like the idea of them having my home address.

My question is, has anything like this ever happened to you? If yes, did you share your address with the seller?

Thanks.

This is how lots of good marketplace sellers resolve complaints and quality issues. It doesn't make sense to be creeped out by terms and transactions you agreed to. Amazon and Amazon sellers need to know your contact info and physical address for shipping and other compliance matters.

I have no idea what your review says but sellers need good reputation for two things - their business reputation and the actual products. If I have a less than ideal experience I try to make those two points clear in my reviews. A good seller can have poor products from suppliers and try to rectify that. Someone who tries to make good of a bad situation should get credit for that.

 

[Mike Eskimo]

Your story is exactly how my trouble with the Russian Bratva began…

 

[Grandfunkfan]

I ordered a dehumidifier in late September. It never truly dried out the room it was in despite being advertised for a higher square footage and then, last month, broke entirely. I replaced it with a better unit (for the first time in 8 months, the room's actually dry now) and left a 1 star review warning people not to buy it.

To my surprise, last week, I get two emails, one from Amazon directly telling me I had a message from the seller, the other from the seller offering to refund or replace the defective unit and asking for my home address.

So far, nothing here to complain further about, right? But I must say, it kinda creeps me out both that the seller knows my email address and wants my home address.

I'm ignoring the seller's emails and offers both because the last thing I want is another piece of their junk in my home and because I don't like the idea of them having my home address.

My question is, has anything like this ever happened to you? If yes, did you share your address with the seller?

Thanks.

Are you afraid the seller is going to have you wacked?

 

[Jon S.]

This is how lots of good marketplace sellers resolve complaints and quality issues. It doesn't make sense to be creeped out by terms and transactions you agreed to. Amazon and Amazon sellers need to know your contact info and physical address for shipping and other compliance matters.

I have no idea what your review says but sellers need good reputation for two things - their business reputation and the actual products. If I have a less than ideal experience I try to make those two points clear in my reviews. A good seller can have poor products from suppliers and try to rectify that. Someone who tries to make good of a bad situation should get credit for that.

I think your comments are fair. What is bothering me still, though, is the seller never got my home address. The unit I received was shipped directly from an Amazon distribution facility. And it's still listed on Amazon as for sale from Amazon's facility. Why didn't they simply ask me if I wanted Amazon to ship me the replacement instead of seeking my personal information? Oh well, I hope you're right, I'll assume good intentions, but I still don't want to deal with the seller again even for a replacement or refund!

 

[tap4154]

If you left a bad review of it, that happens occasionally. Sometimes it can pay off if you work with them on a product. It has several times with me. However if it's just a garbage product, ignore the emails. I've seen both honest sellers that are genuinely concerned about improving their product, and I've seen scammers that know that they're selling junk, and just want you to take the review down.

I ordered what was said to be fire resistant acoustic panels. I tested them they turned out to be VERY flammable. I posted a one-star review with a video of it catching fire, and they kept harassing me, offering to give me a gift card to take down the review. They sent about eight emails, and just couldn't understand why I wouldn't take the gift card. They said "everyone takes the gift card to take down their review".

 

[Jon S.]

Are you afraid the seller is going to have you wacked?

Literally, no. Figuratively, possibly.

 

[toanhunter]

I got banned for good for leaving 'honest' reviews by amazon themselves, I thought it was an error but found out it has happened to a lot of people, it was around the time they brought in AI to replace humans to make decisions, I still don't know why but I decided to not use amazon again, it's their loss, I had a few 1 star reviews but most of mine were 5 star reviews, the 1 star ones were very honest, almost 20 years worth of activity, deleted in an instant, well done Bezo's.

 

[GilmourD]

I think your comments are fair. What is bothering me still, though, is the seller never got my home address. The unit I received was shipped directly from an Amazon distribution facility. And it's still listed on Amazon as for sale from Amazon's facility. Why didn't they simply ask me if I wanted Amazon to ship me the replacement instead of seeking my personal information? Oh well, I hope you're right, I'll assume good intentions, but I still don't want to deal with the seller again even for a replacement or refund!

They might be sending you a version of the product that isn't currently warehoused at an Amazon facility. They may have made a revision and want to see if that works for you, but if Amazon themselves don't have it they can't ship it to you.

That's just a guess but I've done that where I've made a revision to a product I sell based on feedback and send that out as a replacement, but I also ship directly so I'd have that info already.

 

[getbent]

I got banned for good for leaving 'honest' reviews by amazon themselves, I thought it was an error but found out it has happened to a lot of people, it was around the time they brought in AI to replace humans to make decisions, I still don't know why but I decided to not use amazon again, it's their loss, I had a few 1 star reviews but most of mine were 5 star reviews, the 1 star ones were very honest, almost 20 years worth of activity, deleted in an instant, well done Bezo's.

did you put honest in single quotes because they weren't honest? That sentence is kind of odd to parse.

 

[Moldy Oldy]

I think your comments are fair. What is bothering me still, though, is the seller never got my home address. The unit I received was shipped directly from an Amazon distribution facility. And it's still listed on Amazon as for sale from Amazon's facility. Why didn't they simply ask me if I wanted Amazon to ship me the replacement instead of seeking my personal information? Oh well, I hope you're right, I'll assume good intentions, but I still don't want to deal with the seller again even for a replacement or refund!

They want your home address so they can ship a replacement unit directly from China instead of paying Amazon’s distribution fees. I’ve had them do that when I received some bad Arduino clones. You said they offered to refund. Tell them you want the refund and don’t include your address. Then their hope is that you’ll revise your review upward after you receive the refund, which seems fair to me. In my case I didn’t change what I originally wrote about the product. But I raised it a star and added a note to the bottom of my review that the seller tried to make it right by giving me a refund.

 

[Jon S.]

did you put honest in single quotes because they weren't honest? That sentence is kind of odd to parse.

Alas, I miss the days when putting quotes around a word meant it was the literal truth rather than a fiction.

 

[dented]

Not exactly. But yes I have been contacted by seller's several times and continue to have messages in my EM. The one's I don't like are the messages I get almost on the same day I receive the item purchased! I haven't opened the box yet let alone used the item. Some of those items I have sent back because they are so cheaply made. I have learned to not review something unless I have had it and used it for at least several weeks or times.

 

[Jupiter]

did you put honest in single quotes because they weren't honest? That sentence is kind of odd to parse.

And what does it mean to get banned from Amazon?

 

[Jon S.]

did you put honest in single quotes because they weren't honest? That sentence is kind of odd to parse.

A fishmonger posted a sign by his stand, "Fresh Fish Sold Here."

The first shopper to visit the stand asks, "Fresh?! Why wouldn't they be? Are you trying to cover up that they're not?

The fishmonger crosses out, "Fresh."

The second shopper to visit the stand asks, "Here?! Where else would you be selling them?"

The fishmonger crosses out, "Here."

The third shopper to visit the stand asks, "Sold?! Do you think I'm so dumb I think you're giving them away?"

The fishmonger crosses out, "Sold."

The fourth shopper to visit the stand says simply, "I hate to break it to you but I can smell 'em down the street."

 

[Harmonic]

Talk to Amazon.

I returned something and received a refund through Amazon. I did not deal with the seller directly.

 

[GilmourD]

Alas, I miss the days when putting quotes around a word meant it was the literal truth rather than a fiction.

I have to say, I'm not young by an means, but I've always interpreted putting a single word in quotes to indicate that it is not to be taken literally, but a string of words with an attribution to be considered... well... a quote.

As you can see from my last sentence, I use other means of emphasis, like italics, but also bold and underline. If I'm left without means of such I'll use asterisks.

 

[Trenchant63]

Are you afraid the seller is going to have you wacked?

“I want somebody good that won’t get carried away …”

 

[BigPapa-53]

The seller has all the info on you that Amazon has.

Most warranties aren't handled through the retailer, whoever it is. It must be handled directly with the manufacturer.