All my reviews are gone from Amazon, anyone else?

:joy: Amazon-1, @bobbleheaderman-0

Maybe this is why Anker has yet to respond to me regarding the influencer program. It has been over a month since I applied.

Could be down to your fan base / online following on the platform you review on. Was kinda under the impression the influencers would have to be full time YouTubers and Bloggers, the chaps with 10,000+ views per video.

How many have you got?

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Haha, good point. I am trying but I suck at it. I have about 50,000 total for my whole Channel and my most recent review videos are slow to pick up steam. I was at 61 in Canada on Amazon Canada :maple_leaf: but the competition on YouTube is a tough cookie to crack. I just thought they would tell me if I was turned down. Oh well not a big deal anyway

I believe it says if they dont respond they decided to not choose you from what I remember reading as they have thousands of applicants. I was fortunate to hear back in 2 weeks. Thatā€™s all I can say.

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ā€œWe have determined that you have violated our Customer Review Creation Guidelines. As a result, we have suppressed all of your reviews, and you will no longer be able to post reviews on Amazon.com.ā€

Amazon is sending this to more and more users, and the crazy part is they offer no proof, no justification and no ability to dispute it if it is a mistake. Users who can prove that they are not in violation have no recourse, they are attacked by Amazon for no reason and thatā€™s that.

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Yeah this happened to me in early December. I was receiving and reviewing (honestly and fairly) items from sellers who contacted me and provided items free of charge. The problem is in the manipulation of the ā€˜Verified Purchaseā€™ badge. That badge appears on a review giving it credibility to those who are looking to buy the exact same item you reviewed, except that you received a giftcard to buy it or someone paypal reimbursed you. Itā€™s a bit disingenuous to say the least.

Itā€™s their platform, so ultimately, they are entitled to do whatever they like. After my account was shutdown, I started a new Amazon account and I will no longer be reviewing items in the fashion that I was before, in the manner of manipulating the verified purchase badge. If a seller (like Anker) gives me an item for free or at a discounted rate and I choose to post that review to Amazon, I wonā€™t be breaking the community guidelines, and I feel better that way.

Itā€™s just a lot safer not to deal with sketchy sellers like the ones I was reviewing before. Iā€™d hate to get banned from Amazon, Anker has all the best deals on Amazon! :stuck_out_tongue:

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6 month later and I still get about 5 requests to do reviews per week, I guess they use old lists or other sellers referred them to me. I could easily open a new account on Amazon but the whole thing has left a sour taste in my mouth. I now review via my youtube channel bobbleheaderman and only for quality products that I think my review will help. I used to upload a video with every Amazon review and spent a lot of time with editing to fit their space limitations. I notice that I donā€™t see video reviews anymore on Amazon. I can now upload in 1080p and review whenever I wantā€¦ No stress, lol

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Sigh.

This is the same email I got 5 days ago. No warning nothing. Also I asked for proof I violated anything, and email I got back said decision final no other emails will be answered regarding this matter. I was like wow! Seriously disappointed with amazon have been prime member since 2008, and have reviewed almost all my purchases since 2008. Pretty sure I just renewed my prime 109.00 for the year last. I think more than anything I am disappointed in how Iā€™ve been treated and accused for violating some terms.
Itā€™s just not the right way to go about it I enjoy reviewing my purchases and have since 2008. Think I may just cancel my prime membership and not shop there anymore. I spend several hundreds of dollars shopping off amazon and and have for years but to be treated this way like garbage is wrong.

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It happened to me today. I had to think about why for a bit, then remembered I had posted 2 star reviews on two sizes of a cutting device for crafts. They are supposed to cut through polystyrene sheets and made it through only ten cuts for each size of punch. Blades are aluminum and should be made of steel, and they are quite pricey for something that doesnā€™t last. The manufacturer is the seller, so I guess they couldnā€™t take a fully honest review? They sell a lot of products on Amazon. I suspect they complained. Normally, Amazon sends me a note if they object to a review, and Iā€™ll fix or delete. Iā€™ve also written hundreds of reviews, mostly positive on many different types of products and many have been rated helpful by shoppers.

The problem now is I canā€™t ask any questions about products I am considering buying now. I usually answer potential buyerā€™s questions with helpful answers when I can, and that ability has been removed as well. I am ā€œpersona non grataā€. Iā€™ve been an active Prime member for years, spend thousands per year, and order at least 2 to 3 times per week. I am worth nothing in an instant. Iā€™m not sure it was that seller, but thatā€™s my best guess.

To email Amazon if it happens to you: community-help@amazon.com. I emailed them an hour ago to ask what I can do to reinstate myself as ā€œa trusted member of the communityā€. Feels about like when I was run over a pick-up truck TWICE while in a cross-walk, a bit over a decade ago.

jaoshuad11 - I think itā€™s not individual users, but companies selling on Amazon that are bashing reviewers like the OP and me. Iā€™ve had a lot of buyrs find my reviews helpful, and I seldom post about negative experiences unless the item was really substandard.

Damn, Iā€™m scared that this could happen to me as well. Iā€™ve been working hard to build a reputation as a reviewer, I have partnerships with various companies and Iā€™m currently #42,000 in Amazonā€™s reviewer ranking, hoping to become a vine member in the near future.

Really hope this doesnā€™t happen to me.

Good luck to yā€™all

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As long as your reviews donā€™t violate Amazons newest review policyā€¦ie. getting items for free to review, or getting paid for your review, as well as stating such items are free then you should be fine. Also, Amazon vine program is random so you donā€™t necessarily have to have to be a top reviewerā€¦I know because I was asked to join it years ago.

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TechnicallyWell, Could you share any info where and how to appeal a sudden removal of not only all my reviews. but the ability to ask questions of previous buyers or the seller when consdering a purchase? I am a disabled senior, a Prime member who shopped Amazon 2 - 3 times weekly, and have spent thousands on thier site. I cannot drive to brick and mortar stores to look at what I might want to buy, so I have to ask questions, in addition to reading reviews, which now I know are not the whole truth.

I left a two-star, balanced, thoughful review, two weeks ago, for two sizes of a pricey device from a well-known manufacturer. I was critical about the fact that the cutting edge was aluminum, not steel and dulled quickly after only ten cuts, when following the exact instructions. Either the manufacturer (who sells a lot of devices on the site) protested to Amazon, or an automated bot decided since I had mentioned the manufacturer, which unfortunately was also the seller (I had forgotten to check when I posted) that all my reviews should be wiped. Now I canā€™t even ask any seller questions when information is missing in a description. I can live without ever posting a review again. I understand that I was wrong, but Iā€™ve found no avenue to remove or soften the reviews or get reinstated. An email on the matter to Amazon just seems go in their waste bin. I had called and was told to send an email to community-help@amazon.com.

Before this, I was sooo gung-ho about Amazon, sang their praises to everyone. Now? I havenā€™t felt like buying anything since my reviews were removed, and feel like I was hit by the truck that ran into me, didnā€™t stop and hit me again then drove off in 2001. What can I do? Nothing?

@pattyp00053, Iā€™m sorry to hear this happened to you. Unfortunately, I donā€™t believe there is a way to appeal today. The address I previously used (review-appeals@amazon.com) no longer appears to help.

When I want to use the ā€œAsk a questionā€ feature, I typically have a friend do it for me from their account. (Ironically, I still get the ā€œCan you answer this question?ā€ emails from Amazon, but Iā€™m not allowed to actually answer them.)

I guess you could try creating a second Amazon account, but I havenā€™t tried this. I imagine that Amazon would see the mailing address and/or IP addresses are the same and could potentially remove the rights from the second account as well, but it might be worth a shot so you can use the Question and Answer feature.

@TechnicallyWell,
Thanks for your quick answer. Apparently, they are now using bots, not people to remove any personā€™s reviews that meet any number of individual parameters. They no longer feel the need to correct any of their own misjudgements. I didnā€™t get so much as an an email as a warning, or ā€œwe canā€™t post your review becauseā€. Iā€™ve gotten that twice before over a long time, and it was my mistake each time. Iā€™m reading today of worse stories beyond yours of friends and family even losing the ā€œpriviledgeā€ of writing reviews or asking questions simply because they are friended to the person on Facebook. Others also said opening a new account under a different name resulted in a complete ban from Amazon, even buying, but I consider that and the Facebook thing second hand information as I did not hear it from the actual account holders. I did take the precaution of removing family addresses from my account today.

If I find any way to get their attention or a resolution, Iā€™ll post it here, but Itā€™s probably wasted effort to pursue further. My hubā€™s account is linked to mine, so we can both use my Prime account. Heā€™s going to see if he can ask a question of a seller soon.

Good luck in your endeavors!

I created a second account for the sole purpose of asking questions. I havenā€™t had any issues with it yet but I have not made a purchase with it yet. I am sure there are a lot of people that have multiple family members using the same computer and address so they shouldnā€™t remove it ā€œwithout just causeā€ unless you do a suspect review. I did however use a different email address and username for the second account. Good luck, I got over it after a short period of time.

bobbleheaderman, I appreciate for your words of support! I think though every kind word has truly helped, what helped the most was reading a post ā€¦ somewhere, that simply said ā€œthe reviews donā€™t belong to you.ā€ Somehow, that instantly allowed me to shift my viewpoint and let go. Iā€™ll still try to ask a question under my another, but real, account soon. Thanks again!

@pattyp00053 Cheers my friend :relaxed:
ps, if you want the person that you are responding to know that you have responded type the symbol @ in front of their username and then hit the space bar at the endā€¦they will then be notified :wink: