Please Reconsider the Removal of Customer Contact for Critical Reviews
Legitimate sellers have been using this feature responsibly for years to improve the customer experience.
It allowed us to:
1. Offer courtesy refunds or solutions when appropriate.
Not in exchange for changing a review, but simply because it was the right thing to do. Products can be damaged in transit, arrive defective, or fail within the warranty period. Being able to reach out gave sellers an opportunity to make things right.
2. Start a constructive conversation.
Sometimes customers misunderstand how a product should be used, encounter an issue that is easily resolved, or simply have questions. A brief conversation often helps identify the root cause and leads to a better customer experience.
By removing the ability to contact customers who leave critical reviews, Amazon is eliminating one of the few meaningful ways that legitimate brands and sellers can proactively support customers after a negative experience.
This change does little to address the real problems on the platform, such as fake reviews or bad actors. Instead, it primarily impacts the brands that are genuinely trying to provide excellent products and customer service.
If you agree, UPVOTE and COMMENT to drive visibility, and ask Amazon to reconsider this decision for Brand Registered sellers who have demonstrated a commitment to customer satisfaction.
Please bring this functionality back - for sellers, for brands, and most importantly for Amazon customers, who will ultimately lose the opportunity to have their issues resolved directly and efficiently.
Ref: Effective immediately, the ability to initiate customer contacts on critical reviews has been removed.
The ability to initiate customer contacts on critical reviews has been removed to align with Amazon's communication policies. You can still respond when customers contact you first via the Messages.
Please Reconsider the Removal of Customer Contact for Critical Reviews
Legitimate sellers have been using this feature responsibly for years to improve the customer experience.
It allowed us to:
1. Offer courtesy refunds or solutions when appropriate.
Not in exchange for changing a review, but simply because it was the right thing to do. Products can be damaged in transit, arrive defective, or fail within the warranty period. Being able to reach out gave sellers an opportunity to make things right.
2. Start a constructive conversation.
Sometimes customers misunderstand how a product should be used, encounter an issue that is easily resolved, or simply have questions. A brief conversation often helps identify the root cause and leads to a better customer experience.
By removing the ability to contact customers who leave critical reviews, Amazon is eliminating one of the few meaningful ways that legitimate brands and sellers can proactively support customers after a negative experience.
This change does little to address the real problems on the platform, such as fake reviews or bad actors. Instead, it primarily impacts the brands that are genuinely trying to provide excellent products and customer service.
If you agree, UPVOTE and COMMENT to drive visibility, and ask Amazon to reconsider this decision for Brand Registered sellers who have demonstrated a commitment to customer satisfaction.
Please bring this functionality back - for sellers, for brands, and most importantly for Amazon customers, who will ultimately lose the opportunity to have their issues resolved directly and efficiently.
Ref: Effective immediately, the ability to initiate customer contacts on critical reviews has been removed.
The ability to initiate customer contacts on critical reviews has been removed to align with Amazon's communication policies. You can still respond when customers contact you first via the Messages.
23 replies
Seller_4zBzdtgCyS9EI
Contacting a buyer that left a critical review, would be a violation that gets your account permanently suspended, so no, they wont allow you to do that again.
Seller_j072FyxssffdS
I'd like to add weight to this - our products are complicated and the slightest misconfiguration can cause frustration vs. delight. Normally, once we help the customer, they are delighted. Since this is an expensive item, the reviews are slow to come in and a one-star review can massively impact our rating and sales.
From the customer's perspective, they would rather receive help (or a refund) if it's available than leave a bad review.
From Amazon's perspective, you will sell more products because they will be rated higher - this is especially important or higher priced items where you make the most money and they are most sensitive to reviews.
This capability is a win-win-win.
Seller_qnUj0DBcehuv3
Yes, has to agree 100% @Seller_ahcSSocO0Kaqj, @Seller_Lg4mBXF35fU5u and @Seller_j072FyxssffdS.
The "Contact Customer" option has been a key part of our customer service initiative. It gave us an avenue to contact our customers who did not know how to reach the seller when they encountered a problem with the product or delivery. Sometimes customers directly mention this fact in the review itself. When Amazon takes out this feature, we will no longer be able to help and work with the customers to resolve any problems.
Customer dissatisfaction rates will go up.
Seller_LwWwHijpWL5A9
This tool allowed us to:
-Replace defective items under warranty.
--Issue courtesy refunds when appropriate.
-Explain proper care and usage of natural-fiber products.
-Resolve shipping and fulfillment issues.
-Gather valuable feedback to improve our products.
Many customers who left critical reviews never contacted us directly. Without this tool, those issues often remain unresolved, and customers lose the opportunity to receive assistance.
Removing bad reviews was never the goal. Helping customers was.
We fully support Amazon's efforts to prevent review manipulation, but eliminating a legitimate customer-service channel hurts responsible brands far more than bad actors. Bringing this feature back—with appropriate safeguards—would benefit sellers and customers alike.
Josh_Amazon
Hello @Seller_ahcSSocO0Kaqj,
I understand the concern about this change, and I appreciate you sharing your perspective.
To align with Amazon's store-wide communication guidelines, the ability to use Brand Customer Reviews to initiate contact with buyers who leave critical reviews (1-3 stars) has been removed. This change was made to ensure authentic buyer reviews, which strengthens customer trust and drives confident purchasing decisions.
With this update, you will no longer be able to use the Customer Review template to contact buyers who submitted critical (1-3 star) reviews. However, you can still respond when customers contact you first about an issue.
I understand this may feel like a step back for sellers who used this feature responsibly, but the goal is to maintain the integrity of the review system for all customers and sellers on the platform.
Kind regards,
-Josh
Seller_xD5QA6twpbGwE
Agreed- this is frustrating for Brand registered companies trying to provide good customer follow up service regarding reviews or refunds etc . Why do they keep changing this - it does not benefit the sellers at all and makes your business look bad as we have no
Way to have common courtesy with a customer . Even if we are FBA - I always like to reach out to
A customer if there is an issue and make sure I can make it right for them ! Frustrating !!
Seller_TAK9geWJzVweb
Our customers oftentimes wish to return the product after the 30 day window and we usually are able to offer this option. Not all customers want to take the time to contact us or even know they can contact the seller. So many have shared their surprise that we do care about their experience and appreciate the follow up to the review they left.
The removal of the ability to assist customers, even in keeping with the strict guidelines, is extremely unhelpful to sellers.
Seller_234xCTILqrfiy
I agree with you. It allowed my business to be able to help support customers who needed help with the products and offer a courtesy refund. Restricting good sellers because of the bad is not the approach Amazon should be making. I’m surprised of this change because it genuinely helped us provide personalized guidance when customers needed help.
Seller_nvrGM26DmtKmi
I’m also shocked by this new ridiculous rule from Amazon. Contacting customers who left critical reviews was extremely helpful, and I was able to resolve many of their issues. Some customers updated their reviews afterward, while others didn't, but what mattered most to me was that I was able to make things right by providing a refund or replacement whenever needed.
This change is really disappointing and feels like a step backward for both sellers and customers.
Seller_lDD0jLSfQL7QI
If Amazon made it easier for customers to get support, whether that be an easier way to access buyer-seller messaging or allowing customers to actually create support tickets for sellers, the Amazon ecosystem would be such a happier place — especially for customers. They currently are left high-and-dry when they have a bad experience and the last recourse that sellers had (contact customer for a refund) is now gone. Literally, we have no options to offer support for customers. What type of healthy environment does Amazon think this creates? Mad customers just angry at brands not knowing there is nothing we can do to help. NOTHING.
