Dirty diaper resold on Amazon ruined a family business, report says: SoylentNews Submission

Dirty diaper resold on Amazon ruined a family business, report says

Accepted submission by Freeman at 2024-07-15 19:00:58 from the poop dept.

Freeman [soylentnews.org] writes:

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/07/dirty-diaper-resold-on-amazon-ruined-a-family-business-report-says/ [arstechnica.com]

A feces-encrusted swim diaper tanked a family business after Amazon re-sold it as new, Bloomberg reported, triggering a bad review that quickly turned a million-dollar mom-and-pop shop into a $600,000 pile of debt.

Paul and Rachelle Baron, owners of Beau & Belle Littles, told Bloomberg that Amazon is supposed to inspect returned items before reselling them. But the company failed to detect the poop stains before reselling a damaged item that triggered a one-star review in 2020 that the couple says doomed their business after more than 100 buyers flagged it as "helpful."

"The diaper arrived used and was covered in poop stains," the review said, urging readers to "see pics."
[...]
Amazon says [amazon.com] that it prohibits negative reviews that violate community guidelines, including by focusing on seller, order, or shipping feedback rather than on the item's quality. Other one-star reviews for the same product that the Barons seemingly accept as valid comment on quality, leaving feedback like the diaper fitting too tightly or leaking.
[...]
But Amazon ultimately declined to remove the bad review, Paul Baron told Bloomberg. The buyer who left the review, a teacher named Erin Elizabeth Herbert, told Bloomberg that the Barons had reached out directly to explain what happened, but she forgot to update the review and still has not as of this writing.

"I always meant to go back and revise my review to reflect that, and life got busy and I never did," Herbert told Bloomberg.

Her review remains online, serving as a warning for parents to avoid buying from the family business.
[...]
On Amazon's site [amazon.com], other sellers have complained about the company's failure to remove reviews that clearly violate community guidelines. In one case, an Amazon support specialist named Danika acknowledged that the use of profanity in a review, for example, "seems particularly cut and dry as a violation," promising to escalate the complaint. However, Danika appeared to abandon the thread after that, with the user commenting that the review remained up after the escalation.
[...]
The Barons told Ars they've given up on resolving the issue with Amazon after a support specialist appeared demoralized, admitting that "it's completely" Amazon's "fault" but there was nothing he could do.
[...]
Amazon promises [aboutamazon.com] on its site that "each item at an Amazon return center is carefully inspected and evaluated to determine if it meets Amazon’s high bar to be re-listed for sale."

The company supposedly evaluates the packaging for broken seals, then opens the package to "confirm the item matches the description, check for any signs of use, and assess any product damage" before it's deemed to meet Amazon's "high standards" and can be resold as new.
[...]
Earlier this year, the company apologized for selling a customer in India a "new" laptop that was obviously used and had a warranty that had started six months before it was purchased, Hindustan Times reported [hindustantimes.com]. In one Reddit thread [reddit.com] accusing Amazon of a "laptop scam" viewed by thousands, a user claimed that Amazon's refund process resulted in an investigation on his account for "suspicious activity."
[...]
The Federal Trade Commission is currently focused more on probing [ftc.gov] how Amazon allegedly stifles competition [arstechnica.com] rather than on reports of harms to consumers and sellers through allegedly deceptive advertising, though. That investigation will take years to wrap up, Reuters reported [reuters.com], with the trial not expected to start until 2026.
[...]
For the Barons, the damage control continues despite a decade of mostly glowing reviews for their baby products and years of contacting Amazon seeking assistance. They worry Amazon might still be reselling used items, but they cannot stop using the platform because Amazon remains their primary source of sales, the couple told Ars. Last summer, The Strategist ranked [nymag.com] the item hit by the bad review among the "best swim diapers," and this summer, so did Parents.com [parents.com]. So far, though, hoping to bury the bad review with positive endorsements seems to have done little to help the Barons turn their business around.

“Amazon talks a big game about helping small businesses,” Paul Baron told Bloomberg. “But they really don’t.”

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Dirty diaper resold on Amazon ruined a family business, report says