We were flying high with a 4.6 review rating average, the highest among sodium alginate supplements, when Prime Day started. Our sales had been steadily increasing daily, as we expected since we had only received glowing emails from our customers stating how happy they were with Refluxter. Then it happened around noon. Our very first negative review arrived. A 1* review that dropped our average by a whopping 0.4 points to 4.2. Our sales velocity immediately plummeted. One review among 16 had affected the rating average that much. Contrast this with a single 4* or 5* review, which barely moves the average, usually by 0.1 points.
If you ever read Meta seller forums, horror stories abound with tales of competitors playing dirty tricks resorting to most likely having friends and family leave negative ratings on competing new products. It is very easy for a competitor to tank another's new product launch with just 1 or 2 negative reviews. We were very suspicious of the timing and quality of this review, which left no details other than a one liner. We tried reaching out to this customer and offered a refund and were truly wondering what went wrong so we could fix the problem for them. No response. Highly unusual as customers usually take up an offer for a full refund when they are unhappy.
Couple this with the actual nature of reviews. Unfortunately, the psychology of reviews is such that people with positive experiences rarely leave a review. If a product works as expected, how often do you go online and say a product met your expectations? Thats just the nature of reviews. While those with negative experiences love to rush to leave a review. A negative review is rarely nuanced. Its usually a 1*. Ever notice how rarely you see a negative 2* and 3* review?
Its also easier for the algorithm to let in negative reviews while denying positive reviews. We have received multiple emails from customers stating their reviews were rejected for violating "community guidelines".
Now do you really think the customer is going to click on a link to review the community guidelines, actually read and analyze the guidelines, go ahead and edit their review, and then re-submit it? What is the incentive for them to do so? They already took the time to write a review, which in itself is rare. Spending even more time editing a review is something that most people would not do. Also, the customer is not getting any feedback on what was wrong with the review. We ourselves could not get any guidance on what was going on after we contacted customer support other than receiving a link to the community guidelines. Upon reading the recent reviews of many supplements, not just in our space, it seems that something has changed. Many people are complaining that reviews are being rejected. We perused the community guidelines and came upon a section which states:
Medical claims
"We don't allow any statements or claims related to preventing or curing serious medical conditions or severe symptoms. This applies to all products, including foods, beverages, supplements, cosmetics, and personal care/general products."
So it seems that mention of anything that could be construed as a "serious medical condition or severe symptom" is being banned from a review. Normally, one would not think that terms such as "acid reflux" or "heartburn" would meet this criteria, but apparently they do. So, if you are leaving a review for any dietary supplement please note this. If you read the most recent reviews for Refluxter you will see that they are sparse, and frankly don't tell the customer anything truly informative. This is rather unfortunate and we hope the powers that be at Amazon notice this, and as the alleged "most customer-centric company in the world" would do something to help the customer be more informed when buying dietary supplements. Personally, when we buy dietary supplements for our own use we want to see other customers mentioning how the supplement helped out with their specific medical conditions. We don't want to read vague statements because that doesn't help us make a purchase decision.
However, Amazon is allowing negative reviews that mention these medical terms, which goes against its own community guidelines. This leads to an unfair, skewed perception since all positive reviews that mention these terms are flagged and the remaining positive reviews are general reviews only without being able to go into specifics how Refluxter helped with these medical conditions.
So, this is what it ultimately comes down to: does Refluxter work to help out with your acid reflux issues? Obviously, we think it does. We take it ourselves every night. The physicians who requested samples from us report that Refluxter is working well for them and they are recommending it to their patients. It seems customers also think Refluxter works based on feedback via emails and the sales velocity. We soft launched in May 4 when our inventory was available for sale. We truly launched on June 1 when our listing was finally finished. During these past 2 months we have sold as many units as we did of Refluxly in 6 months. Our Subscribe and Save numbers have already exceeded Refluxly's. People wouldn't be purchasing on auto-repeat if Refluxter didn't work for them. Word of mouth is happening, which wouldn't for a product that didn't work.
Reviews and review manipulation are a dirty game. Recently, one of our customers alerted us to the fact that lies were being spread about Nutritist and Refluxter on a prominent GERD/Acid Reflux support forum on Facebook. Actually, these statements were not just lies but libel. Nutritist's owner confronted this person. We wonder who this person could be working for to have an incentive to attack us like this?
This again brings back the point how easy it is to spread malicious lies online and how easily reviews can be manipulated by associates of competitors posting negative reviews and anonymous, unverified reviews. Instead of relying on reviews, try Refluxter for yourself and if you aren't happy with it email our support and we'll make things right.
That's all well and good, but the fact remains we only have 38 ratings/reviews at the time of writing this article (September 4, 2024). A potential new buyer probably would think that Refluxter doesn't work with only 38 reviews, especially compared to the giant in the field with 5,000+ reviews (side note: the better product doesn't always get the attention it deserves, such as when VHS beat out Betamax). We wouldn't fault them for thinking that way, its only natural. The lack of reviews also makes it much more expensive to advertise on the platform in direct and indirect ways. Our goal is to keep the price of Refluxter as low as possible so many people can afford it. We need your help to achieve this. Can you please leave a review with your honest feedback right now? It shouldn't take long, and it doesn't cost you anything, but it means the world to us. Thank You.
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