Unable to place a WikiReader review on Amazon

[Sean Moss-Pultz]

Joshua

On Tue, Nov 17, 2009 at 1:07 PM, Joshua Judson Rosen
<rozzin at geekspace.com> wrote:
>
> Sean Moss-Pultz <sean at openmoko.com> writes:
> >
> > On Tue, Nov 17, 2009 at 10:46 AM, Joshua Judson Rosen
> > <rozzin at geekspace.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > "" <jcolbert at netins.net> writes:
> > > >
> > > > You should be able to post a review on Amazon. I bought
> > > > mine directly from the Wikireader site, as you did, and
> > > > had no problem posting a review. You may need to log in to
> > > > Amazon before you try to post.
> > >
> > > I think I have to actually buy /something/ *from Amazon* before
> > > they'll let me post any reviews--I don't necessarily have to buy the
> > > product that I'm reviewing from them, but I have to buy *something*
> > > from them. You must have previously bought something from them.
> > >
> > > My Amazon account was only even created as a side-effect of the
> > > `Amazon Payments' processing of the order placed through thewikireader.com,
> > > so I don't meet that criteria: I've never bought /anything/ *from Amazon*.
> [...]
> >
> > I emailed Amazon directly last night. Here's what they said:
> >
> > "Please be informed that anyone registered as an Amazon.com customer
> > is entitled to write a product review. It doesn't matter whether they
> > bought the product from our website or not."
> >
> > So it should work fine.
>
> I think that Amazon is having communications difficulties....:

Wouldn't be the first time...

> > I think you have to login to Amazon.com with your customer
> > account. And you can write a review. Is this what you tried?
>
> It is. After logging in, it tells me:
>
>    To write a customer review: you must have used this account to
>    complete a purchase* of an item from Amazon.com. Please wait 24
>    hours after your first purchase before writing a review.
>
>    If you have another account: and you have already used it to make
>    a purchase, you can sign into that account to write a review.
>
>    Other options:
>
>    Go back to the item you were just viewing
>    Visit Your Profile
>
>    * A purchase requirement is used to maintain review quality.
>
>
> After a series of phone-calls and e-mails with Amazon support staff
> from various departments (`Amazon.com' support and `Amazon Payments'
> support are 2 different departments; and I ultimately ended up at
> `Amazon Community' support, which is the department that handles
> issues related to product-reviews and other `community'-related things),
> I finally got an e-mail that read:
>
>    All reviewers must have a password-protected Amazon.com account
>    used for at least one purchase from Amazon.com.

Ah ok. So they're forcing you to buy something direct from their store
after all. This is discouraging.

>    You'll find helpful information in the Fine Print listed on the
>    review submission form. Also, please take a look at our Review
>    Guidelines for information about acceptable review content:
>
>        http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=14279631
>
>
> But it did take a while to get that out of them. They really *were*
> friendly and intent on helping at every step of they way, it just
> appears that they... have some communications problems. I did get to
> talk to real, live people *immediately*--I didn't have to deal with
> touch-tone menus or voice-recognition robots; so, there's that..., and
> I do have to give them some points for that :)

Oh yes. They are always very helpful. Just full of internal contradictions.

> > > It looks like the WikiReader has just been removed from their product
> > > listing (except that it's still in some of the `bestsellers' lists,
> > > depending on how you navigate there...), otherwise I'd just buy
> > > another one [*from Amazon*] (hey--the holidays are coming! ;)).
> >
> > Yes, our product is "missing" from their search. You can view / buy
> > WikiReader here:
> >
> >   http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002N5521W
>
> Yep--that's the URL that I ended up giving (reading) to the phone
> support person during the third round of problem-resolution, because
> she just couldn't find it otherwise. Not even looking for
> `the best-selling electronic office dictionary' ;),
> because she started in `electronics' and then moved to
> `bestsellers' rather than starting in `bestsellers' and
> moving through `electronics'.

Yes. This is another battle we're in with Amazon now.

> > But forget about searching. That's totally broken.
> > Seriously we're pulling our hair out over this one. Amazon might be
> > nice to customers, but to suppliers it's the worse experience I have
> > *ever* seen. I'm on the phone with them more than my girlfriend.
>
> Yeesh.
>
> Well, here's hoping that you're back in the listing soon.
>
> Anyway, I guess I'll just buy something from Amazon (like another
> WikiReader) when Amazon's product-listing is un-broken again, then
> I'll be able to post a review.

Hehe... thanks. Sorry to have to put you through all this.

Sean