I’ve been on the hunt for earbuds that are similar to the Apple Airpods Gen 1 because I’m not willing to invest $159.00 for Gen 1 when Gen 2 will be released soon. I want to see the comparison.
With this in mind, I’ve been searching through Amazon for potential options of similar performance and appearance – and before you say it, I know there are some really good ones available like the Bragi Headphones at $89.99 – but I want earbuds that aren’t fully submerged in my ear lobes (i.e. I kind of want to be able to hear when I’m older, you know?).
Thus the search begins.
The first purchase I made for $19.99 was a flop because the volumes were reversed on the buttons. Bad engineering. There was also no brand name attached to them… so that probably should have alerted me too. But, Amazon Prime is awesome and I returned them with no issues.
The second purchase I made for $39.88 seemed more promising with 100+ reviews and 4.5 stars. Unfortunately, I didn’t think to actually “look” at the reviews. I assumed that because it was approved for Amazon Prime that the product was good. No. Overwhelmingly, no.
The company had photoshopped the image to display their brand name, Xinhen, but in reality, the item I received was made by i7S. Plus, once I started looking through the comments, I realized that those 100+ reviews were all posted on June 20, 2018. In addition, many of those posts were under people who had not purchased the product.
Just look at the Q & A section:
- QUESTION: How long does it stay charged
ANSWER: “I never bought them. Any review that says I did is fake. I wouldn’t buy a product that uses false reviews for their product.” - QUESTION: Is there an LED that continuously lights up by the button on the earbud when turned on
ANSWER: “I did not write this review so I can’t answer your question. I”m still waiting to hear from Amazon as to why reviews are being made in my name (lots of them) through my account on products I didn’t buy. It’s downright creepy. I may have to ask them to cancel my account and open a new one.”
And this is just on the product I purchased. As I’ve been looking for other options, I’ve begun investigating ALL comments prior to making a decision.
“Buyer beware..full of fake 5 star reviews Don’t be scammed, notice these fake 5 star reviews aren’t event for earphones.”
In addition, I’ve been reporting comments that are unrelated to the actual product – or ones that are like mine where there were a ridiculous amount of 5-star reviews posted on the same day. If nothing else, my hope is that reporting these comments will alert users that their accounts have been compromised. Good news is, it seems to be working because the comment count for my second purchase fell from 100+ to a current total of 53.
But, where does this ultimately leave the buyer? We think we can trust Amazon Prime, but really, all we can guarantee is that Amazon will let you return it at no charge.
Does this mean that our payments are in question? How safe is our information every time we purchase from a fraudulent company? What is Amazon doing to protect us? And WHY haven’t they addressed these “bot-made” comments issue?
Kiminy Cricket 