Fake reviews are drawing the attention of regulators. They have cracked down on a few firms for deceitful hyping and suspect these are far from isolated instances. “Advertising disguised as editorial is an old problem, but it’s now presenting itself in different ways,” said Mary K. Engle, the Federal Trade Commission’s associate director for advertising practices. “We’re very concerned.
For $2 a Star, a Retailer Gets 5-Star Reviews
ArtToFrames, an Amazon retailer, does this as well.
I purchased some frames from them, and when I received them, I noticed some frames had glass fronts while others had plexiglass fronts. The product descriptions didn’t mention this. The frames also came with some weird hardware I hadn’t seen before, and there were no instructions on how to mount the frames.
Frustrated, I took photos of the hardware, compared them using Google Images, and then found instructional videos on how to use the hardware on YouTube. (Yay technology!). Regardless of this, I left the retailer a three star review.
Cut to yesterday when the framing company contacted me with the following offer:
“We apologize for the inconvenience it may have caused. We would be more than happy to issue you a refund on your order to make up for it, and hope you can revise your feedback accordingly.”
This was my response.
A refund isn’t necessary; I’m perfectly satisfied with the frames as they are. However, I will not amend my feedback since it is true based on that particular purchase. Asking me to change it is akin to asking me to forget the incident ever happened. I have a small business myself, so I completely understand that feedback is important to your company as it represents your reputation. Feedback, whether positive or negative, should be used to improve your company’s operations. Since my subsequent orders from ArtToFrames included instructions for using the hardware to mount the frames, I can assume my feedback did just that.”
I just visited ArtToFrames’ Amazon page, and someone has left a one-star review. I’m sure they’ll be getting an offer for a full refund to change that review soon.
