Eforcity Bribes User To Remove Negative Amazon Feedback

By Ben Popken July 8, 2008

Sarah bought some car chargers from Eforcity through Amazon, and was disappointed to find that the charger plug doesn’t stay in the phone unless you hold it in. She said as much in her Amazon feedback. In response, Eforcity said they would be happy to give her a refund, as long as she deleted her negative feedback. In other words, a bribe for self-censorship. Eforcity’s email, inside…

Dear Sarah X XXXXXXXX

RE: Amazon order #XXX-XXXXXXX-XXXXXXX
Invoice #XXXXXXX
Item title: SAM M300… Car Charger

Thank you for your recent purchase with Eforcity on Amazon.com.

We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience. We would like to offer you a refund, if the negative feedback is removed.

Please reply to this email directly and let us know. As soon as the feedback is removed, we will go ahead and process a refund.

Please follow the below instructions to remove feedback on Amazon:

1. Go to http://www.amazon.com/your-account.
2. Find the pull-down menu next to View by Order. Select ORDERS PLACED IN THE LAST 6 MONTHS, and hit the GO button.
3. After you sign in, you’ll find a listing of your recent orders. Select the relevant order and click the VIEW ORDER button.
4. You will find a feedback section 2/3rds of the way down the page. To remove feedback, click on the REMOVE link in the feedback section of the order summary.
5. You may only remove feedback if it is 60 days or less since you left the feedback.

We appreciate your business, and again would like to extend our sincere apology. Please feel free to let us know how we may further assist you with your order.

Sincerely,

Salina

Customer Service Team

Getting good service shouldn’t be contingent on the customer taking down reports of a product that doesn’t work. This kind of quid pro quo approach to customer service is dishonest and shameful.

Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,
«
»

Comments

  1. Jamie All Over says:
    July 9, 2008 at 2:59 pm

    I used a different cell phone company (WebTreo) on Amazon a few months ago, and the same thing happened. They sent me the wrong charger, and it took close to 4 emails just to get a response. First, they kept going on about how it was the right charger (when it clearly didn’t come close to fitting) and then they finally started promising they would refund my money and send me a new one. They didn’t even follow through on that. I would’ve fought it, but it was only a matter of about $5.

  2. dorianh49 says:
    July 9, 2008 at 3:03 pm

    @dorianh49: Sorry, I meant to direct that first sentence (about seller feedback being for the seller, not the product) to overbysara, not to rpt1700.

  3. ras_d says:
    July 9, 2008 at 3:12 pm

    fuck eforcity

    apparently amazon feedback is worth more than money

  4. ianmac47 says:
    July 9, 2008 at 3:36 pm

    Why would anyone remove the feedback BEFORE getting the refund anyway?

  5. LouDobbsChivasJersey says:
    July 9, 2008 at 4:50 pm

    @AngryEwok: I agree, but do stores have a right to have feedback updated once they make good on their shortcomings?

    Once something is posted on the web, it can stay there FOREVER. I wouldn’t want my business to suffer because someone was justifiably angry enough to complain but not sufficiently satisfied to warrant a partial retraction.

  6. Stoogie says:
    July 9, 2008 at 5:28 pm

    @meadandale: I don’t get it. You know what the shipping and handling charges are BEFORE you make the purchase, but then leave negative feedback about the charges after you paid? And then gloat about leaving negative feedback for all the mom & pop shops on Amazon? Maybe because they ARE mom & pop shops, they don’t get the discounts that larger, high volume, companies enjoy.

  7. chynezriceboi says:
    July 9, 2008 at 7:12 pm

    Here’s an easy solution. Remove that feedback, then after getting the refund leave TWO new feedbacks, one for defectiveness and one for bribery. Problem solved, and they’ll think twice before bribing again.

  8. Anonymous says:
    April 8, 2009 at 4:54 am

    I have dealt with eforcity and have purchased a laptop battery for $99 that doesn’t charge anymore and recently purchased items that were missing items and I had to pay the shipping back and wait indefinitely for a refund. If anyone has a phone number let me know. They don’t list one and emails take 24hrs to get a response basically generic with no customer relations to better the situation

  9. mchance818 says:
    March 31, 2011 at 11:11 pm

    This is the email I received from them about a defective VGA to HDMI cable (keep in mind I work with networks and set up computers all day). I tried this cable with a brand new laptop with a very good video card, 2 other laptops which are less than 2 years old, 2 TVs, through and HDMI hub and all other cables (including other VGA to HDMI cables) work.

    Dear Client,

    Thank you for contacting us.

    We apologize for the inconvenience. Please kindly note your Video card must support digital signal output through VGA port function. Please consult with your VGA card’s user manual for more information.

    Thank you for your checking again.

    Sincerely,
    Cindy
    Customer Service Team

« Older Comments