Disappearing Amazon review

[Littlepleasures]

Order loads off Amazon. Naively use reviews to guide me. No more!! PIece of furniture I ordered arrived damaged in quite a few places so activated returns process. Seller wants me to pay return postage postage which is going to cost over half of the £40 item cost. Posted a politely but factually worded one star review with pics a few days ago which failed to appear. Emailed Amazon to find out why. No answer or acknowledgement of email. Left another review yesterday which did appear but today it’s disappeared. Anyone else had this experience? A five star review I posted for a different purchase the same day has not disappeared.

Was the item damaged in transit, through no fault of the seller? Then you are being unreasonable to leave a one star review as the review is NOT supposed to be of the delivery.

You should not be liable for delivery costs in such a case. Raise a support query with Amazon about the item, not about the review.

That's sound sinister OP, surely the seller can't remove the reviews. Maybe it's part of an Amazon product. Law unto themselves they'll be. Too big.

I'd email Amazon again. Do they have any phone numbers I wonder.

Was your review on the item or the seller?

Your review is supposed to be about the item. But your gripe is with the seller.

My review was an honest record of my experience of both the item and the seller, both of which are relevant when I am buying something online. Packaging was not damaged in any way and at least one of the damaged parts could not have been caused by the carrier. There were no specific handling warnings on the package and I would assume the responsibility for adequate packing lies with the seller. They also choose the carrier. It was only when I was told I was responsible for taking a 13kg package to the post office and paying £23.40 (refundable if they think I’m telling the truth) to return it that I felt other buyers should be aware. I began the review by saying what good value it was and very sturdy for the price - had it been in saleable condition. . My original plan had been to order a replacement and eventually leave a good review but I don’t trust the seller now. Something doesn’t feel right. Why would they be willing to pay so much in postage
to get back something they can’t (or shouldn’t ) resell?

The same item might be sold by multiple sellers on Amazon, so reviewing the seller doesn't help anyone when they are deciding on buying a product.

Just follow their returns/ refunds/complaints processes. I've never had an issue with returns or refunds, always gone smoothly. They're massive and things will go wrong from time to time. But, as above, your review is of the carrier not the item you bought.

No, the seller is not relevant in a product review. There are many sellers on Amazon - even if only one person sells that product now it doesn't mean somebody else won't in future.

You can leave a seller review on the correct page. But you cannot muddle up both aspects and expect Amazon to approve the review.

I don't like it when people review the postage and packaging/seller rather than the item. It's as helpful as the reviews that say 'it's a Christmas present so not opened but it looks nice.'

Just leave a review that's not a delivery complaint.

When I read an Amazon review, I like information about not just the product, but how quickly it came, was it damaged, how easy was the seller to deal with if there was a problem. No matter how good a product, I would pass on it if there was a lot of hassle involved in getting what I ordered. For online shopping, it is helpful for all this info to appear in the one place. The particular product I reviewed listed only one seller. Had there been more than one I would have made it clear which seller I was dealing with. My contract is with the seller. They choose the supplier and the carrier, so they are responsible ultimately for the delivery and the quality of the product.
Had the seller in this case, sent a replacement and arranged collection of the damaged item without quibble, that is relevant info that customers need to know to make an informed choice about whether you will be pleased with your purchase. Sellers can perhaps divorce the product from the delivery, but most reviewers on Amazon do mention the whole experience, quality of product, delivery and customer service, because that is what buyers want to know. Unlike most posters so far, I hope reviewers continue to include all this extra detail.
A positive update however. I emailed the seller to check they really were prepared to refund me so much postage to receive a defective item and they emailed back to say they’ are sending me replacement parts for the damaged items. If my review does appear again I will upgrade it to reflect better customer service and the quality of the product once I am able to use it.

Buy you can review the seller separately on their own amazon page/shop. I always read those reviews before I choose a buyer. The product page is for just that.

Glad you've made progress with the seller.

Sellers can request to remove negative posts pertaining delivery. Not anything else.