Should I review the FREE stuff I got through Amazon?
4I’ve reviewed a lot of stuff, all items I’ve actually purchased on Amazon.
Recently, I’ve had two offers for FREE items.
I purchased a ‘Cravegreens Pest Control Ultrasonic Repeller’ last spring when I found a mouse in our travel trailer. I purchased a pack of four, sealed any openings in the trailer & scrubbed it out. I had two plugged into my trailer & two in my workshop when I got an offer from the company to try their newest ‘Pest controller’ for free. I thought “hell yes”…
The new FREE one has been plugged into my well-house for months now and it just does not work. There are still damn spiders & crawly things everywhere in there. I’m hoping it keeps mice out at least. Shit. I can’t spray toxic shit in my well-house!
So… I was gonna leave a ‘1 star’ review. But I didn’t pay for it.
I’ll go with the consensus on this meh thread.
The other item is a FREE ‘Dental Guard’ to stop tooth grinding at night. I haven’t received it yet.
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Sure you should. Or maybe not.
Skip the dental guard review.
The pest repellent - what does it promise to get rid of? Review it on that criteria and if it can’t deliver on that, you could even cite that “I got this for free and it still wasn’t worth it!” If you haven’t seen any of the pests that it does claim to get rid of, though, then it’s up to you whether you say “it seems to be working as advertised” or “meh, it might be working, but not for everything.”
Don’t review either of the items you got for free. Amazon recently changed their Terms of Service and people are not allowed to review items they received free or at a discount in exchange for a review. However, Amazon has no way to tell if you received it for a review, and they’re aggressively banning review accounts that violate their new policy. There’s a good chance they’ll simply see you got it for free, ban your review account and delete all your reviews.
tl;dr I wouldn’t. You risk the ban-hammer.
edit: I received a knee brace from Amazon for free recently that not only didn’t help, but gave me a rash. I’m not reviewing it for the same reason.
@DaveInSoCal I didn’t know that. I wasn’t asked to review it, but I still like to leave reviews for stuff I purchase. I try to leave an ‘honest’ review, though I may add a star if I’ve had a beer or two… I’d HATE to get the ban-hammer & it sure ain’t worth it.
Thank you.
was it part of the vine thingy?
@StrangerDanger I dunno what that is, but I’m not signed up for anything & just got these free things offered for an unknown reason…
As I didn’t have to give any info to them (they went through my Amazon account) and they were FREE, I figured ‘Why not, what could go wrong’ (famous last words)…
@daveinwarsh
This, anything the answer to the question is no.
It depends on whether the seller/maker sells/makes anything else you think you might like but are not willing to pay for.
If yes, then yes. With a 5-star review please.
(Don’t worry, we’ve all been conditioned to ignore free/discounted product reviews. Hopefully your review will not cause Amazon to put a demerit mark on your account due to the new policy.)
OK. It’s NO reviews for free stuff.
…unless they send FREE stuff AND a bottle of good Scotch. Then, I may review it.
@daveinwarsh Review the scotch I presume
@daveinwarsh I too will risk the ban-hammer for a good bottle of Scotch. Incidentally, you can order whiskey delivered via Amazon Now.
Yeah and make sure they’re all excellent 5 star reviews or you won’t get any more free stuff
@cranky1950
If the tossup is between free stuff and having issues with Amazon, why should someone take the free stuff?
@PlacidPenguinNah Nah Nah, this is meherica money talks bullshit walks.
@cranky1950 That’s not true. I gave plenty of 1-3 star reviews and get plenty of free stuff, including bluetooth over-ear headphones, dual monitor mount (my current favorite), mechanical keyboards, gaming mouse (BRIGHT ORANGE!), and wireless chargers.
Love free stuff!!!
@medz
@thismyusername
Why not just be like the other jerks and leave excellent 5 star reviews to keep getting free stuff and ruin it for us normal Amazon shoppers who have a false sense of security when we sort our search results on highest rating?
@phatmass Because this.
Ultrasonic pest control gadgets plain don’t work. The principle upon which they work is flawed. Pan it in the review. Stop shady businesses from selling us frauducts.
@PocketBrain Yup. Also all those mosquito repellent bracelets are garbage.