‘Shoddy’ products get fake stellar reviews on Amazon, Which? finds

Consumer group tested eight typical highly rated devices and found their quality to be poor or average

Olesya Dmitracova
Economics and Business Editor
Wednesday 23 October 2019 07:34 BST
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Amazon is failing to stop a flood of fake glowing reviews for “shoddy” products that risk misleading millions of customers, Which? has found.

The consumer group tested eight products that are typical of the thousands of devices made by relatively unknown Chinese brands and increasingly sold online in the UK.

All of them had high ratings on Amazon and in some cases even the Amazon’s Choice endorsement, but in Which? lab tests three performed so badly they were rated as Don’t Buys. Which? scores for the other five products ranged between 47 per cent and 57 per cent.

The lowest-scoring product was the Onson cordless vacuum cleaner, even though it was marked Amazon’s Choice and had an average review of 4.4 on Amazon. Which? found it difficult to use and unhygienic to empty, and it scored just one star for cleaning on carpets, floorboards and laminate flooring.

Next up was a set of headphones made by little-known brand Yineme. Which? said it had an unusually high number of positive reviews and the Amazon’s Choice badge.

But tests revealed the headphones’ sound to be “exceptionally poor”, making its noise cancellation feature “worthless”.

Natalie Hitchins, head of home products and services at Which?, said: “Customer reviews should be a helpful resource for shoppers choosing what to buy and billions of pounds are spent every year based on this feedback, so it’s vital that Amazon takes stronger action to ensure people can trust the information they see online and aren't duped into buying poor-quality products.”

The consumer group shared its findings with Amazon, which has since removed the vacuum cleaner and the headphones from sale.

The company said: “Amazon is relentless in our efforts to protect the integrity of reviews. Any attempt to manipulate customer reviews is strictly prohibited and in the last year alone, we’ve spent over $400m (£310m) to protect customers from reviews abuse, fraud and other forms of misconduct.”

Which? had three recommendations for spotting fake reviews: it advised consumers to watch out for large numbers of reviews, especially when many were posted around the same time; to be wary of brands they haven't heard of and to check that the brand has a reputable-looking website; and to check negative reviews, including on a number of sites.

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