Issue No. 449 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting was not sent via email—but is only posted online here.
Amazon Says "No" to My Review of
Citizen Trump Film
Sadly, Amazon has blocked my review of a documentary film—but refuses to tell me why. My disappointment with the people at Amazon is so, so frustrating. And that’s sad, because on so many levels I’m a raving fan of Amazon.
And—get this—the multiple communications from Amazon to me are so uncharacteristic of their 14 principles (core values) as detailed on their website here and in the book I reviewed in January 2020, The Amazon Management System: The Ultimate Digital Business Engine That Creates Extraordinary Value for Both Customers and Shareholders, by Ram Charan and Julia Yang. (Read my review.)
Hang with me here—and perhaps you’ll see “customer service” from a new perspective and discern if your organization’s “walk” equals your “talk.”
SEPT. 9, 2020. I posted my review of the documentary film, Citizen Trump, on my blogsite (click here and read the second article). This informative video contrasts the character in the film, Citizen Kane (President Trump’s favorite film), with Trump’s leadership style—and the savvy use of the media. As noted in my review, the film by Robert Orlando is neither a hit piece nor a promo piece. I’ve learned that some Democrats and some Republicans are not fans of the film, but others are. My take: the film is absolutely fascinating.
SEPT. 15, 2020 (Tues. 2:17 p.m. PDT). As per my routine, I always post my book and film reviews also on Amazon’s website. But…shockeroo! It was rejected! So I emailed Amazon: “I just tried to post a review of the Citizen Trump documentary film and got this message:
‘We apologize but Amazon is not accepting reviews on this product from this account. If you would like to contact us about this decision, please email community-help@amazon.com.’”
I also alerted Amazon, in this email, that I was legit. I noted, “I have posted 409 reviews of books and videos, with 3,075 helpful votes, and 50,000+ views. My ‘Reviewer ranking’ is #14,123.”
No response!
SEPT. 19, 2020 (Sat. 8:10 a.m. PDT). OK, I thought, Amazon is busy. Maybe I should send a gentle nudge? I emailed again:
“See my inquiry from Sept. 15, 2020 (Tuesday). As of today (Sept. 19, Saturday), I have not received a response.
“If there was something inappropriate with my first review (or it violated a guideline), I’ve written a new review here, but Amazon will still not let me post it. I continue to get this message:
“’We apologize but Amazon is not accepting reviews on this product from this account. If you would like to contact us about this decision, please email community-help@amazon.com.’”
I could not post my revised review. (See below to read it.)
No response!
SEPT. 25, 2020 (Fri. 10:13 a.m. PDT). Hmmm. Even though I’m a long-time Amazon Prime Member and I can view the video for free—maybe I need to purchase the video in order to write a review.
So…I purchase the video for $1.99 and receive a confirmation email from Amazon at 10:13 a.m., and since I had already viewed the video, I clicked on the link “REVIEW THIS ITEM.”
No dice! Amazon’s ingenious “AI” must have recognized the guy who has successfully posted 409 reviews on Amazon, and thought: “Here’s Pearson, again. Block that guy!” Huh?
SEPT. 25, 2020 (Fri. 11 a.m. PDT). And now this is why (at least in the past) I’ve been a raving fan of Amazon. I find the Customer Service webpages and ask a customer service rep to call me. I enjoyed a 19-minute phone call with “Sonika S.” She was pleasant, eager to help, and very responsive to my requests.
I explained the dilemma (Amazon was blocking me from posting a review of Citizen Trump) and she agreed to go to bat for me.
She promised to call back—specifically—on Sept. 27, 2020, Sunday 8:00 a.m. Pacific Time. Wow! Finally…I’ll have an empathetic live person to help me. I love Amazon!
Note: I also mentioned to my new friend, Sonika, that—ironically—I had received a “spoofing email” this same morning at 10:28 a.m. The message looked legit (no typos!) but the “Amazon Proclamation - Account Usage Suspension” was bogus. She offered to inform the “Spoofing Dept.” I thank her. (And, I received a helpful email from stop-spoofing@amazon.com at 11:54 a.m. PDT, which I responded to. That was fast!)
SEPT. 25, 2020 (Fri. 11:32 a.m. PDT). I received a personal follow-up email from “Sonika S.” confirming the Sept. 27 call-back. (But, I had hoped not to be called “Ms. John!”)
Hello Ms. [sic] John,
This is Sonika, Thanks for contacting Amazon Customer Service I hope your [sic] having a great day.
I relayed your information to the team trained to handle this scenario. You should hear back from them in the next 1-2 business days.
Keep in mind Ms. [sic] John that I'll be calling you back within the next 24-48 hours to check about the updates of your forms, I'll call September 27, 2020, at 8am Pacific Time.
We hope to see you again soon.
SEPT. 25, 2020 (Fri. 2:14 p.m. PDT). I received a “Message From Customer Service” that, I assume, was prompted by my new friend, Sonika. This was from another new friend, “Lou C.”
Hello,
Your review on "Citizen Trump: A One Man Show" was removed because your account is related to another reviewer of this title. I’m sorry for any frustrations this may cause but our guidelines prohibit related accounts from submitting reviews on the same items.
Lou signed his email, “Best regards.” That was nice.
SEPT. 25, 2020 (Fri. 2:50 p.m. PDT). Never one to let grass grow under my PC, I responded within the hour to my new friend, Lou. I write:
Now…I’m trying to make sense of your response.
What does this mean? “Your review on ‘Citizen Trump: A One Man Show’ was removed because your account is related to another reviewer of this title.”
My proposed review was never accepted by Amazon, so it was never “removed.”
Instead, when I tried to post a review, this is the message that appeared on the screen:
We apologize but Amazon is not accepting reviews on this product from this account. If you would like to contact us about this decision, please email community-help@amazon.com.
I don’t understand how my account is “related” to another reviewer of this title. I have just one account on Amazon, and I’m a Prime Member. I am including (below) the two previous emails I sent to community-help@amazon.com (for which I never received a response).
[Note: I included the emails I had sent on Sept. 15 and 19.]
Are we still having fun with this David and Goliath story? How will it end?
SEPT. 26, 2020 (Sat. 1:47 a.m. PDT). I received yet one more “Message From Customer Service”—but this time, it’s from another new friend, “Robbie A” who thinks, apparently, this might be an IT problem!
Hello,
I'm sorry you had problems using our website. I wasn't able to reproduce the problem you had, but I'd like to report this problem to our technical team for further research.
Please write back to us with the following information:
* URL for the page where you experienced the problem
* ASIN/ISBN of the item you're trying to review, which you can find at the product page under product information
* Any error messages you received
* The operating system on your computer (for example, Windows 10 or Mac OS X)
* Your browser type and version (for example, Google Chrome)
We look forward to hearing from you.
SEPT. 26, 2020 (Sat. 6:45 a.m. PDT). Unfortunately, I was not awake when my new friend, Robbie, emailed me. But…I got up early on Saturday morning, with Great Hope, that I could continue being a raving fan of Amazon. Uh…nope!
In my 6:45 a.m. email, I responded to all of Robbie’s questions and added, “If you prefer, please call me and I can explain further.” I gave him my mobile number.
No response.
SEPT. 27, 2020 (Sun. 2:55 a.m. PDT). Wow…these Amazon people are night owls! This email was unsigned (mysterious!) but looked like it had gone up the chain a bit. I’m no longer being addressed as “Ms. John,” or “Hello,” but “Hello John W. Pearson.” Now…we’re getting somewhere!
Here’s what the “Amazon Review Moderation” department emailed me:
From: review-appeals@amazon.com [mailto:review-appeals@amazon.com]
Sent: Sunday, September 27, 2020 2:55 AM
To: john@johnpearsonassociates.com
Subject: A Message From Amazon Review Moderation
Hello John W. Pearson,
Amazon is unable to post the customer review because some of the details of this account indicate a relationship to sellers, publishers, or other reviewers of the product.
Why is this happening?
Customer reviews are meant to give customers unbiased product feedback from other Amazon shoppers. Because the goal of customer reviews is to help customers make informed purchase decisions, any reviews that could be viewed as advertising, promotional, or biased will not be posted.
Once a review is removed because it does not comply with Amazon's Community Guidelines, the account may not submit any new reviews on the same product.
If you would like to learn more, please see our Community Guidelines (https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=14279631).
To contact us about this decision, please email community-help@amazon.com.
Huh?
SEPT. 27, 2020 (Sun. 8:00 a.m. PDT). I’m standing by for the promised Customer Service follow-up phone call from Sonika per our conversation and her email confirmation. No call! And…I had such high hopes. My “raving fan” enthusiasm dropped a few points.
No response.
SEPT. 27, 2020 (Sun. 9:33 a.m. PDT). I took a deep breath, after re-reading the “Amazon Review Moderation” email three times. At least some anonymous soul is responding.
So…I respond to the “Amazon Review Moderation” emailer (no name) and ask several questions:
“Would you be kind enough to explain what ‘relationship’ I have that would prevent me from posting a review?”
I noted that Sonika did not call at 8:00 a.m., as promised (nor has she called yet). Then (maybe this will help?) I reiterated the series of emails—with these comments and questions:
What’s perplexing—even more—is that every communique from Amazon has listed a DIFFERENT REASON for rejecting my review. This makes absolutely no sense!
• Sept. 25, 2020 (Friday 2:14 pm PDT) – the review was “removed because…” (Actually—the review was never posted!)
• Sept. 26, 2020 (Saturday 1:47 am PDT) – “…I’d like to report this problem to our technical team…” (So…is it technical or is it about content?)
• Sept. 27, 2020 (Sunday 2:55 am PDT) – “…some of the details of this account indicate a relationship…” (So…this is a new one? What should I believe?)
I add:
There are media reports that other reviewers have been blocked from posting reviews of Citizen Trump. Something is fishy, here—would you not agree?
My suggestion: we both could save a lot of time if you would ask an appropriate person (with both knowledge and authority) to call me on my mobile phone. (I listed the number.)
This is really so simple—just unblock me and I can post the review. Whew!
Thank you for reading this!
I closed with the reminder of my Amazon Review Ranking, with 409 reviews posted, and I also noted that Amazon had invited me, some years back, to be “Vine Reviewer,” which I did for several years. (You can’t join the program, you must be invited.)
SEPT. 28, 2020 (Mon. 7:38 p.m.). I was making progress—or so I thought! But I was totally unprepared for this one-sentence response, this time from “review-appeals.” No name, no next steps. Just this take-it-or-leave-it very-un-Amazon-like customer “service” response:
From: review-appeals@amazon.com [mailto:review-appeals@amazon.com]
Sent: Monday, September 28, 2020 7:38 PM
To: john@johnpearsonassociates.com
Subject: A Message From Amazon Review Moderation
Hello John,
Due to the proprietary nature of our business, we do not provide detailed information on how we determine that accounts are related nor the related accounts.
What? Seriously? I ask a simple question about why my review was rejected and I get a one-sentence response, without the name of the email writer—and it still sheds no light on the topic? Thanks, Amazon, and have a nice day, yourself.
SEPT. 30, 2020 (Wed. 12:15 p.m.). So…is Amazon blocking me or just blocking the review of Citizen Trump, for some strange or fishy reason? To find out if they’re just blocking me, I tried to post a short review of the Cartoons from The New Yorker 2020 Day-to-Day Calendar (which I had purchased last year). Within two hours, Amazon posted the review. Success! Maybe they still love me?
But…why, oh why, will Amazon not allow me to post a review of Citizen Trump?
Stay tuned...and see you at the movies.
John
P.S. “Alexa…you’re always so helpful. How do I post a film review on Amazon?”
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My New Favorite Documentary!
SEE BELOW TO READ MY REVISED REVIEW OF CITIZEN TRUMP, in case my original review did not meet Amazon guidelines. (Amazon would not let me post this either!) The film is available on demand on Vimeo and Amazon Prime.
JOHN W. PEARSON’S REVIEW OF CITIZEN TRUMP: A ONE MAN SHOW
September 19, 2020 – 2nd try!
I’ve read my fair share of presidential biographies and histories, including The President’s Club: Inside the World’s Most Exclusive Fraternity, by Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duff. Up until this month, my favorite White House documentary has been The Presidents’ Gatekeepers (see also the book and my review of The Gatekeepers: How the White House Chiefs of Staff Define Every Presidency, by Chris Whipple).
My new favorite documentary: Citizen Trump: A One Man Show.
What a brilliant theme—exploring President Trump’s favorite movie, Citizen Kane, and then comparing and contrasting Citizen Kane with Citizen Trump.
President Trump does not survive unscathed (facts are facts), but—refreshingly—this is not a Republican nor Democrat documentary. Absolutely fascinating!
You’ll watch it again, after viewing the 1941 classic, Citizen Kane, considered by many critics, filmmakers, and fans to be the greatest film ever made.
Note: Robert Orlando is also the filmmaker behind the documentary and co-author of the book, The Divine Plan: John Paul II, Ronald Reagan, and the Dramatic End of the Cold War.
My vote goes to Robert Orlando!
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Wow that was a great quest :)
Thanks for posting this. I got the same message on a product and now I know it's not worth my time bothering.
Your post was also very funny, specially the P.S with Alexa looool
Posted by: Cris | November 15, 2021 at 11:59 PM
Horrified at AMAZON.COM and its censorship.
Posted by: Gerald All Fingers | April 5, 2021 at 05:21 AM
Just curious as to what ever happened with your reviews as this is ow something that is happening to me as well after 8 years of reviews with no issues. this is crazy and ow happening to many people. Did you ever get anywhere?
Posted by: Kirstin | January 27, 2021 at 06:55 PM