Over on Channel 4 last night Helen Skelton and Sabrina Grant suggested people are making big money from writing bogus five-star reviews for things that don’t deserve that rating.
Which may lead you to ask yourself whether the reason I only gave this documentary three stars was a) it wasn’t very good or b) the cheque from Channel 4 didn’t clear in time.
It was a) of course. For a start, Channel 4 only ever pays me in cash. (JOKE!)
Helen was actually referring to the mainly anonymous online reviews you might see when you are umming and ahing over a non-slip bath mat.
Whether you were that shocked by the news that these reviews are often not all that they seem probably depends on whether you’re the sort of person who actually buys products on the strength of some badly-written praise posted by someone called something like MummyShopper£$5423.
I’m not that sort of person. Which is why I was hoping for some meatier revelations about the online monster.
Some discussion of how Amazon has got away with coughing up less to the taxman in two decades than some major UK retailers pay in just one year would have been nice. Or perhaps an undercover look behind the scenes at one of their warehouses.
Instead we got a breezy run through all the things we’ve already heard about Amazon on every consumer telly slot going.
How it stores your data. How often Alexa listens to and records your private conversations. How dodgy counterfeit gear sometimes makes its way onto Amazon’s listings. How big ticket items can work out cheaper if you buy them on the German site.
All useful consumer advice, admittedly. It was hardly deserving of a dramatic “Truth About” tag though.
It didn’t even address the one simple question many everyday Amazon customers would like an answer to.
Why the delivery guys keep leaving parcels in full view on your doorstep when you clearly wrote “BEHIND THE WHEELIE BIN!”
