Hello,

I know what you might say: "Welcome to Amazon," but I wanted to share a bit of my story and seek advice.

I found a product and started making sales in my first month. The competition is low, but so are the sales. My main competitor is based in another country, let’s say "Spain" as an example. Naturally, I’ve been watching him closely to improve my listing and keyword research—something we’re all doing here, I imagine.

About 3 weeks ago, I received a purchase from "Spain," and I immediately suspected it would lead to a fake review. Six days later, after receiving the product, this person (using a friend’s account) claimed that the product was fake and stated they would return it (which never happened). They left negative feedback, labeled the product as defective, and put my account at risk of suspension. This review also dropped my brand rating from 4.8 stars to 4.1.

I reported the situation to Amazon using the REPORT ABUSE tool, explaining the issue. The distance between the zip codes of the fake reviewer and my competitor is just 1.5 miles. However, Amazon support responded 7 days later, stating they found no violations because "NO INVENTORY WAS HELD." I never mentioned inventory in my report, nor did I select that option. This led me to believe they didn’t even read my message and just sent a random response.

After that, I contacted Seller Support and explained the situation three times, but they kept telling me that every customer’s opinion is important. I then provided pictures that the fake reviewer had posted, comparing them with photos from the competitor’s social media. (By the way, the reviewer and the competitor are friends on social media; the reviewer comments and likes all of the competitor's posts. The account was created almost 3 years ago, while the competitor’s product on Amazon has only been sold for 1 year, leaving a 2-year gap.)

I also noticed that the video promoting the competitor’s product shows the same floor color, pattern (wood), and table as the fake reviewer’s photos. I sent Seller Support every social media post I could find where the competitor and the fake reviewer were interacting (around 20 instances), along with the country registration of the competitor's company under his name, proving the correlation between his social media and the reviewer.

It was a painful experience trying to recover from the damage caused by that fake review, and we’re still feeling the effects in terms of sales.

Now, the reason I’m writing this is because I suspect this competitor is planning to do it again. They made another purchase using the same uncommon last name (I’m familiar with the name since it’s from my country). I have already alerted Customer Support about the incoming fake review, which I anticipate between 09-20-2024 and 09-21-2024, as it takes five days for the product to arrive.

My concern is that I know many customer support agents don’t thoroughly read messages. It took me two weeks to validate my UPC because it was linked to another company. I sent letters and documentation, but nothing happened until one representative finally spent 30 minutes investigating and found that Amazon’s database pulls directly from GS1. After that, I had to send a screenshot of the GS1 database showing my company name before anything was resolved. It’s clear to me that many agents just copy-paste responses.

So, why am I writing this? I’m seeking guidance on how to deal with this upcoming fake review and, more importantly, how to prevent such issues in the future.

Thank you in advance for any advice.

P.S. If any moderator reviews this, I have the 4 case ID numbers available if needed.