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.”
Because others marked the review as helpful, Amazon increased its visibility on the product page, just as the Barons “were executing a plan to triple their annual sales to $3 million in 2020.” No matter how many 5-star reviews were left, this one bad review blaming the seller for the issue continued to “haunt” the family business, the Barons said.
“Nothing could have been more disgusting!!” the review continued. “I am assuming someone returned it after using it and the company simply did not check the item and then shipped it to us as if it was brand new.”
Amazon says 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 the bad review focused on the dirty item being resold as new likely should have been removed, Bloomberg reported, since it “suggests the item had already been used.” The review also seemingly violated community guidelines by focusing on “the company” not checking the item before shipping, blaming the seller for Amazon’s return inspection process.
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.
“These were not small stains either,” Herbert’s review said. “I was extremely grossed out. Thank god I saw the stains and didn’t put it on my baby! I will be returning this ASAP, and I sure hope they check it out when they get it back, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they just ship it to some other unsuspecting parent.”
The Barons told Ars they think the buyer hasn’t updated the review because she doesn’t understand how damaging it has been to their business.
Ars could not immediately reach Amazon for comment, but a spokesperson, Maria Boschetti, seemed to suggest to Bloomberg that there was little the Barons could do to correct the issue now.
“We are sorry to hear that a seller feels their return was not evaluated correctly and resulted in a negative review,” Boschetti told Bloomberg. “We encourage selling partners to reach out with any concerns, and we listen to their feedback to help us continue improving the selling experience.”
On Amazon’s site, 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 are now selling enough inventory through Beau & Belle Littles to pay down their debt, but they are struggling to make a living after becoming a prominent Amazon success story after launching their business a decade ago. The couple told Bloomberg that a “loan secured by their home” has complicated “the prospect of filing for bankruptcy,” and both have taken on other jobs to make ends meet since the review was posted.
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.
“The last four years have been an emotional train wreck,” Paul Baron told Bloomberg. “Shoppers might think returning a poopy diaper to Amazon is a victimless way to get their money back, but we’re a small, family business, and this is how we pay our mortgage.”
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