Amazon feedback removal is something all Amazon sellers will contemplate at some point in their selling career. Honestly, most likely more than once.
Yelp. Facebook. TripAdvisor. Google. Amazon.
We live in a time where customer reviews can make or break a business. And the buyer has more opportunities than ever before to let their voice be heard!
But the universal truth (no matter what kind of business you have) is that angry customers are much more likely to leave you negative amazon reviews than happy customers are to leave positive seller reviews.
Amazon Feedback Removal Will Be Needed Eventually
Amazon Seller Feedback is no exception.
New Amazon sellers are always wondering when that first seller review will come in. Even experienced sellers have a hard time acquiring seller feedback on Amazon.
So with seller reviews being the precious commodity that they are, it really stings when a negative review comes in. And you can really feel powerless when the nasty one-star review is about something totally out of your control!
If you're planning on growing your Amazon business, you should brace yourself for the following seller feedback….
- “this cost way more than it does at Walmart!”
- “Too orange! Hated it!”
- “I paid for PRIME TWO DAY SHIPPING and this came a day late and therefore ruined my child's birthday and caused her to run away from home.”
Ok, that last one's a bit extreme….but not by much! 😉
As an experienced FBA seller, I can tell you that the sting of negative feedback does lessen over time. But it's still no fun!
You can't prevent negative seller feedback, but you can follow the right steps to remove it or at least minimize the effect of one lone review on your overall seller rating.
Let's take a deeper look at Amazon Seller Feedback and then I'll show you 5 things you can do about your seller reviews.
What Is Amazon Seller Feedback?
Amazon shoppers have the opportunity to leave two different types of reviews: Product Feedback and Seller Feedback.
The average Amazon buyer is probably more interested in Product Feedback. If they're deciding which brand of coffee maker to buy, they most likely want the product with a 4.5-star rating, not the one with the 2-star rating that leaks on the counter.
But because Amazon lets third-party sellers (like us!) sell on their platform, they also allow customers to review their experience with the seller. Amazon encourages this and makes it easy to do. A buyer can leave a seller feedback directly from their Order Details page.
Amazon asks buyers to answer three yes/no questions about the service they received on their order:
- Did your order arrive on time?
- Did the item's condition match the seller's description?
- Prompt and courteous service? (If you contacted the seller)
Amazon also allows a space for the buyer to leave comments. These comments are what displays on your Seller Profile alongside your feedback score.
Every Amazon seller has a Seller Feedback Rating based on their total amount of customer feedback. This number is displayed as both a number on a 5-star rating system and as a percentage.
Here is how Amazon explains their rating system:
Note that 3-star “Neutral” feedback does not count towards your Positive percentage score. I tend to treat it as a Negative and try to get it removed.
Why Does Seller Feedback Matter?
You might be wondering if your seller feedback rating really matters all that much. After all, not that many buyers leave seller feedback anyway.
As far as Amazon is concerned, your seller feedback rating is a big deal. Amazon deeply values the buyer experience and they don't want bad sellers tarnishing their brand by providing bad service.
In any industry, people buy from websites that they trust. And seller and product reviews are just one of the many ways that Amazon builds trust on their site.
Amazon has an entire help page dedicated to helping sellers improve their feedback rating. Amazon is also quick to remind us that “customers often review feedback ratings when deciding whether to make a purchase from a seller”.
Imagine that you're shopping for a high-end item on Amazon. Amazon isn't selling the product so you're choosing between these two third-party sellers who are at the same price and both offer Prime 2-day shipping.
Who would you choose? I know I would go with the second seller with the 100% positive feedback. I would wonder why the first seller has so many negative reviews. Counterfeits? Late deliveries? A total scammer? Once I'm questioning the purchase, I'm more likely to buy elsewhere.
When Will I Get my First Feedback?
When you first become a seller on Amazon, your Seller Profile will say “Just Launched.” This is what will display to buyers when they are browsing on the offers page.
Until someone leaves you your first seller feedback rating, you are stuck with the “Just Launched” label instead of a feedback score.
Most new sellers are eager to shed the “Just Launched” label and think that it should happen right away. Unfortunately, because most buyers do not leave Seller Feedback, this can take a while!
The more products you sell, the sooner you will get your first feedback. For new sellers, this can take anywhere between a few weeks and a few months.
I'll be going over some options for paid services that can help you get feedback later on. But there's no reason to panic or feel down about being “Just Launched” on Amazon. All sellers were new at one point (yes, even the ones with thousands of reviews and 100% Feedback!).
Remember to be patient, keep sending in inventory, and you'll be on your way to your first review!
Understanding Amazon's Feedback Manager
Whether you're waiting on your first review or you've already got hundreds, you need to know how to view and respond to your seller feedback. Amazon displays all of the relevant information in the Feedback Manager.
There are a few different ways to get to the Feedback Manager page in Seller Central. Here are three easy options:
- Your “Customer Feedback” should display on the main dashboard when you log in to Seller Central. If you click your rating there, you'll be taken to the Feedback Manager
- From the main menu bar, go to Performance and then select Feedback
- From your “Account Health” page, select the third tab: Customer Feedback
However you get there, you'll be presented with a page with your seller reviews. Here is Amazon's explanation about what you'll see on the Feedback Manager:
Amazon also provides a link on the Feedback Manager to “See how your feedback displays to buyers on Amazon.” This lets you see your feedback rating from a buyer's perspective.
Get in the habit of checking the Feedback Manager page often. That way you can promptly handle any negative feedback scores that you might receive.
How To Remove Feedback On Amazon
Reality check.
Someone will eventually leave you bad seller feedback. I know that's not what you want to hear, but even the best seller will get a bad review at some point.
If you feel that you mistakenly received incorrect negative feedback, don't despair. There are plenty of things you can do to resolve the issue and, hopefully, get your feedback rating back up.
These are the 5 steps that I recommend for getting negative feedback removed on Amazon. Go through them in the order listed here and hopefully you'll have luck with the first method. If not, keep working your way down the list.
1. How To Remove Negative Feedback On Amazon By Asking Amazon Directly
Amazon has rules in place that buyers are supposed to follow when leaving a review. They also understand that sometimes an angry buyer will leave a seller a bad review for something that wasn't the seller's fault.
Amazon has a list of situations in which they will remove buyer feedback. If Amazon agrees to remove the negative feedback, the impact of the feedback will be removed from your overall feedback score.
Amazon will remove negative feedback on Amazon in the following cases:
- The feedback includes words commonly understood to be obscene or profane
- The feedback includes seller-specific, personally identifiable information, including email addresses, full names, or telephone numbers
- The entire feedback comment is a product review
Amazon elaborates on that last point by stating, “if the comment contains both a product review and feedback about your service, we will not remove the feedback.”
If you think that any of these situations apply to your case, you'll want to proceed with this step and submit an Amazon feedback removal request.
Even if you are unsure, I would still go through this simple process. This has a pretty high success rate, especially for FBA sellers.
The first thing you need to do is copy the Order Number associated with the negative feedback. You can find this on the Feedback Manager page.
Then you can click on Help (top right of any page in Seller Central) and “Contact Us.”
Amazon will offer some suggested topics, and you'll want to select “Manage customer feedback.”
This brings you to a screen where you can enter the relevant Order Number to proceed with the removal request. Go ahead and paste the Order Number in the “Order ID” field.
Amazon then displays a list of things they can help with for this particular order. You'll be selecting “Customer Feeback Removal Request.” (If you don't see this option, then you might be looking at the wrong order. This option only shows for Order IDs where the buyer has left feedback.)
Press Next and Amazon will show you the offending feedback. Once you've confirmed that, you'll be prompted to select the reason(s) for removal.
You'll see that these options are in line with Amazon's guidelines for feedback removal. Select the right checkbox and then leave some additional information.
I usually keep this brief like “Customer is only commenting on product price” or “Customer left a product review by mistake.”
Once you press send, this will create a new case in your Amazon Case Log. Sometimes these are resolved immediately. Other times, a Seller Support agent might need to take a closer look.
Either way, you'll be notified when they make their decision. Sometimes I see that the feedback has been removed from my Feedback Manager before I even hear back from a rep!
Here is a quick video from Seller Essentials to show you how to ask Amazon to remove a negative feedback from your seller account:
2. Have Amazon Strike-Through Buyer Feedback
In some cases, Amazon will not remove the feedback from your account, but they will strike-through it. Here's how that looks to buyers:
Amazon actually strikes through the original feedback and then adds a “Message from Amazon” with more information.
Like feedback removal, the strike-through will remove the impact of the feedback from your overall score. The only difference is that buyers can still see the comment and rating.
Amazon will strike-through feedback for two reasons. The first is relevant for FBA sellers and the second is for MF sellers.
1. The entire comment relates explicitly to fulfillment and service for an order fulfilled by Amazon. In addition to the strike-through, the following statement will appear: “This item was fulfilled by Amazon, and we take responsibility for this fulfillment experience.”
2. The entire comment is related to a delayed or undelivered order, which you shipped on time by using Buy Shipping services. In addition to the strike-through, the following statement will appear: “The fulfillment issues associated with this order were not due to the seller.”
A late shipment or missing package is the most common reason to request FBA-related feedback strike-throughs. But this may also work in other circumstances like:
- You sent in a new-in-box item and customer received a dented box. Amazon may take responsibility here for fulfillment-related damage
- You sent in red coffee mugs to an Amazon FC and your customer received a white one. Amazon may have picked the wrong item to send to the customer and may take responsibility
Amazon only started offering the Merchant Fulfilled strike-through in May of 2018. This is a good incentive to always purchase shipping through Amazon's Buy Shipping service!
The process for obtaining a strike-through is exactly the same as the steps outlined for Feedback Removal. In fact, once you submit the request, Amazon will determine whether your feedback should be fully removed or just receive a strike-through.
Either outcome is good for your account health, so don't be disappointed if you are granted a strike-through instead of removal.
3. Contact the Buyer Directly
Ideally, you'd have luck with getting a strike-through or removal. But sometimes a negative review does not meet the Amazon feedback removal request criteria.
In that case, if you still feel that the negative feedback was unwarranted, you can contact the buyer directly to resolve the issue.
Amazon encourages you to first resolve the buyer's concerns before reaching out to them about feedback. Here is the exact wording of their policy.
How you choose to resolve the issue is up to you. An apology is always a good place to start. If you feel that a refund is appropriate, you can issue one in Seller Central. But as Amazon states in the above policy: “pressuring or incentivizing a buyer to remove or modify negative feedback is a violation of our policies.”
Related Post: 5 Important Things to Do (or NOT Do) in Your Amazon Follow Up Emails
If you feel that the buyer truly made a mistake (like leaving a 1-star rating but then writing “Great!” as the comment), there may be nothing for you to resolve.
If your buyer wants to remove or change their feedback but they don't know how, you can direct them to this Help page from Amazon: “Remove Third-Party Seller Feedback“.
4. Respond to Buyer Feedback Publically
If you cannot reach your buyer, they ignore your email, or they choose not to remove or modify their original feedback, you still have an option.
Through the Feedback Manager, Amazon allows you to publically respond to any feedback you receive. Here's how:
- Locate the feedback in your Feedback Manager
- Click the “Actions” link next to the appropriate order
- Select “Post a public reply”
- Type your reply in the “Enter Your Response” field and hit Submit
Unlike feedback removals and strike-throughs, this will not change your overall feedback score. This is also not the appropriate place to try to resolve the buyer's problem (you should do that privately by email).
Think of this as your opportunity to turn a negative into a positive. Although you are unlikely to change the buyer's mind at this point, you will make your business look understanding and professional by replying publically.
If you are irritated at your buyer (it happens!), do NOT reply publically until you've had time to calm down. You'll want to write a brief, professional response (even if the buyer has been rude).
SalesBacker suggests: “When you respond, remember you don’t want to create an online argument with the customer, so no matter how wrong you may feel their opinion is, respond kindly and positively.” Also, alwasy make sure the reply includes an appology.
I have seen sellers leave very passive aggressive responses to buyers, and while I understand their frustration, that is simply not a professional thing to do. You can really make the most of a bad situation by having a calm response to an angry buyer.
After you've submitted your response, you can edit it but you can't delete it. So take the time to craft a polite response that makes you look like a professional business owner (after all, that's what you are!).
5. Get More Positive Feedback
Well, here we are at step 5. That means you're probably stuck with that negative feedback. Your best bet at this point for improving your overall rating?
Get more feedback!
This will happen naturally as you continue to sell more products. I find that sometimes I may go a few weeks without getting any feedback and then suddenly I'll get several right in a row. Things can change quickly on Amazon!
If patience isn't really your thing, you can always contact your buyers for a single feedback request. Amazon says you can send your buyer “no more than one polite request” for feedback after their package has been received.
Of course, this single email might also be an invitation to a grumpy buyer who will end up leaving you bad feedback.
If monitoring package tracking and tiptoeing around angry buyers sounds like a lot of work, you're right. If you don't have time for manual feedback acquisition, there are paid feedback services that will automate the feedback request process for you. They can also help write the kinds of messages that attract positive feedback.
Feedback Genius
Feedback Genius helps you automate your buyer-seller messaging. They can help you improve your account health by providing negative feedback notifications, professionally written messaging templates, and smartly-timed automated emails.
Pricing starts at $0 per month for up to 100 emails, with options to expand to higher volume tiers as necessary. You can join through this link to get a free 30-day trial (no credit card required).
Smart Feedback Management
Amazon recommends a proactive approach to feedback, and I happen to agree. At the end of the day, all you can do is focus on giving the buyer a good experience.
Some people will never be happy and it's not your job to please those people. But if you keep sourcing, sending, and selling, you'll see your feedback score rise over time.
Plus, the feedback score displayed to customers is calculated on a rolling 12-month basis. That means that one lousy negative review will eventually fall off your score entirely.
I hope you've learned that although it's important to resolve any negative feedback you receive, it's not the end of your business if you get one or two bad reviews.
Share Your Experience With Amazon Feedback Removal
Do you have a crazy feedback story you would like to share? Or a time when you had to go through this process of Amazon feedback removal? I'd love to hear about it below! 🙂
