Sandy21 Posted November 27, 2023 Report Share Posted November 27, 2023 I was shocked the other day when I was asked to review a product and when I clicked to review it I was told that I was ineligible to post the review. I am an Amazon Prime member, have been with Amazon since their inception, and have always posted reviews. When I investigated further I found the following: We apologize but this account has not met the minimum eligibility requirements to write a review. If you would like to learn more about our eligibility requirements, please see our community guidelines. After delving into community guidelines I found the following: You must have spent $50 on Amazon.com, using a credit or debit card, in the past 12 months to: Create reviews (including star ratings) Answer customer questions Submit helpful votes Create idea lists Follow other contributors Create posts on Amazon Inspire Comment on Shop by Interest posts, reply to others comments Promotional discounts don't count towards the $50 minimum spending requirement. _________________________________________________________________ The KEY words here are USING A CREDIT OR DEBIT CARD! I guess this is the first year I have paid for all my Amazon purchases with gift cards so I don't qualify to be a full-fledged member of the Amazon community. Seems odd and rather strange that gift cards are not the same as credit cards or debit cards. I can surely live without posting reviews but I truly don't think this is fair. Were you aware of this rule? Have you ever run into this yourself? Thanks 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommabear Posted November 27, 2023 Report Share Posted November 27, 2023 13 minutes ago, Sandy21 said: I was shocked the other day when I was asked to review a product and when I clicked to review it I was told that I was ineligible to post the review. I am an Amazon Prime member, have been with Amazon since their inception, and have always posted reviews. When I investigated further I found the following: We apologize but this account has not met the minimum eligibility requirements to write a review. If you would like to learn more about our eligibility requirements, please see our community guidelines. After delving into community guidelines I found the following: You must have spent $50 on Amazon.com, using a credit or debit card, in the past 12 months to: Create reviews (including star ratings) Answer customer questions Submit helpful votes Create idea lists Follow other contributors Create posts on Amazon Inspire Comment on Shop by Interest posts, reply to others comments Promotional discounts don't count towards the $50 minimum spending requirement. _________________________________________________________________ The KEY words here are USING A CREDIT OR DEBIT CARD! I guess this is the first year I have paid for all my Amazon purchases with gift cards so I don't qualify to be a full-fledged member of the Amazon community. Seems odd and rather strange that gift cards are not the same as credit cards or debit cards. I can surely live without posting reviews but I truly don't think this is fair. Were you aware of this rule? Have you ever run into this yourself? Thanks Yes.. same happened to me.. not fair at all, imo 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peach6 Posted November 27, 2023 Report Share Posted November 27, 2023 16 minutes ago, Sandy21 said: I was shocked the other day when I was asked to review a product and when I clicked to review it I was told that I was ineligible to post the review. I am an Amazon Prime member, have been with Amazon since their inception, and have always posted reviews. When I investigated further I found the following: We apologize but this account has not met the minimum eligibility requirements to write a review. If you would like to learn more about our eligibility requirements, please see our community guidelines. After delving into community guidelines I found the following: You must have spent $50 on Amazon.com, using a credit or debit card, in the past 12 months to: Create reviews (including star ratings) Answer customer questions Submit helpful votes Create idea lists Follow other contributors Create posts on Amazon Inspire Comment on Shop by Interest posts, reply to others comments Promotional discounts don't count towards the $50 minimum spending requirement. _________________________________________________________________ The KEY words here are USING A CREDIT OR DEBIT CARD! I guess this is the first year I have paid for all my Amazon purchases with gift cards so I don't qualify to be a full-fledged member of the Amazon community. Seems odd and rather strange that gift cards are not the same as credit cards or debit cards. I can surely live without posting reviews but I truly don't think this is fair. Were you aware of this rule? Have you ever run into this yourself? Thanks Same here not able to write a review since I always pay with my gift card That seems so wrong 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandy21 Posted November 27, 2023 Author Report Share Posted November 27, 2023 Thank You peach6 and Mommabear for your response. I was so totally shocked by this but I guess it is longstanding. WOW! SO UNFAIR! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spider Posted November 28, 2023 Report Share Posted November 28, 2023 I'm seriously considering banning amazon. I bought vitamins that were expired and they wouldn't accept my review because ' it isn't relevant to other buyers'. It kinda is relevant, if I'd seen another review saying that I probably would've bought them elsewhere or at least known it was a possibility. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandy21 Posted November 28, 2023 Author Report Share Posted November 28, 2023 3 hours ago, spider said: I'm seriously considering banning amazon. I bought vitamins that were expired and they wouldn't accept my review because ' it isn't relevant to other buyers'. It kinda is relevant, if I'd seen another review saying that I probably would've bought them elsewhere or at least known it was a possibility. I am wondering if Amazon sent you a replacement or reimbursed you. As far as not accepting your review, that's ridiculous. It's obviously relevant to other shoppers. Be happy you are permitted to write reviews. I am truly miffed that i can't. I don't think I could live without Amazon as I depend on Amazon for so much. I just got an amazing pair of slippers delivered today and I love them. But you gotta do what's best for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neminem Posted November 28, 2023 Report Share Posted November 28, 2023 This must be brand new. I haven't paid $50 in actual cash on Amazon in ages, and last year I went through a brief period where I was trying to keep up with reviewing stuff I bought... that is insane that they would want to give up free user-created data just because we haven't spent enough real cash. Well anyway, I just submitted a review, which I hadn't done in a while, but had been on my todo list (reviewing a small business's brand I've loved for years, that just got their products onto Amazon a couple weeks ago) - did you get that error immediately on clicking submit, or later in an email? Because I submitted it, and did get the usual "it will be reviewed by a moderator before posting" type message. Pretty confident I haven't spent $50 in actual money in the past year on Amazon, given I always have a stockpile of AGC from this hobby... That said, if you use any of the myriad other services that have gift cards and whose gift cards are sold on Amazon, you could always just reload one of those? Especially since they've updated their backend to disallow you from buying them with AGC now (which makes me sad; this hobby used to also fund our Netflix subscription, until just now.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spider Posted November 28, 2023 Report Share Posted November 28, 2023 15 hours ago, Sandy21 said: I am wondering if Amazon sent you a replacement or reimbursed you. As far as not accepting your review, that's ridiculous. It's obviously relevant to other shoppers. Be happy you are permitted to write reviews. I am truly miffed that i can't. I don't think I could live without Amazon as I depend on Amazon for so much. I just got an amazing pair of slippers delivered today and I love them. But you gotta do what's best for you. Amazon does at least allow you to return them. I chose not to have a new one sent because I'm not interested in getting another expired one since they don't seem to have quality control. I was already mad at amazon, that was just another annoyance and it happened all within a week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
episemion Posted November 28, 2023 Report Share Posted November 28, 2023 Have run into that since I normally use the earned gift cards to pay. However , during the 4th quarter of the year , Discover has 5% cashback on Amazon purchases , so I use my card then and spend over $50. Not hard to do as I buy squirrel peanuts and those add up quickly , especially when the free shipping starts at $35. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandy21 Posted November 28, 2023 Author Report Share Posted November 28, 2023 3 hours ago, spider said: Amazon does at least allow you to return them. I chose not to have a new one sent because I'm not interested in getting another expired one since they don't seem to have quality control. I was already mad at amazon, that was just another annoyance and it happened all within a week. I surely feel your pain. I received 3 or 4 items that expired and each time I opted NOT to have the item sent again for fear that I'd have the same problem yet again. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandy21 Posted November 28, 2023 Author Report Share Posted November 28, 2023 8 hours ago, neminem said: This must be brand new. I haven't paid $50 in actual cash on Amazon in ages, and last year I went through a brief period where I was trying to keep up with reviewing stuff I bought... that is insane that they would want to give up free user-created data just because we haven't spent enough real cash. Well anyway, I just submitted a review, which I hadn't done in a while, but had been on my todo list (reviewing a small business's brand I've loved for years, that just got their products onto Amazon a couple weeks ago) - did you get that error immediately on clicking submit, or later in an email? Because I submitted it, and did get the usual "it will be reviewed by a moderator before posting" type message. Pretty confident I haven't spent $50 in actual money in the past year on Amazon, given I always have a stockpile of AGC from this hobby... That said, if you use any of the myriad other services that have gift cards and whose gift cards are sold on Amazon, you could always just reload one of those? Especially since they've updated their backend to disallow you from buying them with AGC now (which makes me sad; this hobby used to also fund our Netflix subscription, until just now.) I am cut off at the pass so to speak. As soon as I click on the link to write a review I get the message i initially posted. Have no idea why you are not in the same boat as those if us that have posted our discontent here. Guess you are just lucky! I totally agree that Amazon is defeating there own purpose by not allowing those of us who pay with gift cards to write reviews. Lastly, I have NO IDEA why a gift card isn't as good as a credit card. Makes no sense whatsoever. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandy21 Posted November 29, 2023 Author Report Share Posted November 29, 2023 Does anyone have a clue as to why gift cards are "inferior" to credit cards? They both can buy the same things! We are actually being punished by choosing to use gift certificates, no matter what the source is of the gift certificates. Amazon should be delighted that we want to buy their products. But unfortunately we are not permitted to fully be a part of the Amazon community because we don't use credit cards. I just don't understand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErgoProxy Posted November 29, 2023 Report Share Posted November 29, 2023 yeah, I've gone through that too. You have to spend $50 of your own money every two years to be able to keep posting reviews. So that's not too bad. I use gift cards all the time from the reward points I earn from mypoints and Swagbucks. Plus I get free stuff from Amazon Vine which I'm obligated to review. So I look at i this way, I only have to spend $50 of my own money every two years in order to get everything else for free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandy21 Posted November 29, 2023 Author Report Share Posted November 29, 2023 6 hours ago, ErgoProxy said: yeah, I've gone through that too. You have to spend $50 of your own money every two years to be able to keep posting reviews. So that's not too bad. I use gift cards all the time from the reward points I earn from mypoints and Swagbucks. Plus I get free stuff from Amazon Vine which I'm obligated to review. So I look at i this way, I only have to spend $50 of my own money every two years in order to get everything else for free. Thanks for your reply. I didn't realize it was every 2 years. What is Amazon Vine? I looked it up and found the following: Launched in 2007, Amazon Vine is an internal service of Amazon.com that allows manufacturers and publishers to receive reviews for their products on Amazon. Companies pay a fee to Amazon and provide products for review. The products are then passed to Amazon reviewers, who can publish a review. Wikipedia Maybe others had no idea what it was so I posted it here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oshawott Posted November 30, 2023 Report Share Posted November 30, 2023 I think I've only ever submitted one product review on Amazon, and only because they sent me an email. It was about a year ago and I remember that after submitting my review, it didn't show up on the product's review page. I didn't actually care enough to ask their customer support people why it wasn't visible though. I remember that I did pay with a gift card on that occasion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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