Factual, respectful, yet negative product review is not published.

[whee-ric]

I submitted an accurate unfavorable review, including pictures quite some time ago for this product:

"Kinswood 7-1/4" 5/8" 48T Carbide Tip Circular Saw Blade For Metal cutting new"

The review has never been published. In fact the product page continues to show that there are no reviews and says "Be the first to write a review". Since there is nothing offensive or controversial in the review, it seems to be either squashed by the seller, or experiencing technical problems within eBay. If the review is being blocked by the seller (whom I have no issues with), then the unwarranted censorship positions the eBay platform as one that does not serve its buyer community. The review is about the product, not the seller. It would be okay to allow counter commentary on a negative product review, but allowing overt censorship promotes disinformation by omission. If the review not showing up is a technical problem within eBay, please try to fix it.

Thanks,

Rick Wheeler

[itscalledapostingid]

How long has it been since you made the review?

[itscalledapostingid]

I am not sure that ebay actually manages the reviews themselves. It may be managed by google or some third party.

[whee-ric]

I believe it has been between a week and 10 days since I submitted the initial review. Today (9/5/2021) I resubmitted it. 

[whee-ric]

I suppose anything is possible. If reviews are handled by some third party, some oversight on performance of said service by eBay would be in order and in their best interest.

[itscalledapostingid]

It would be a good topic to bring up in the Community Weekly Chat with Ebay staff on Wednesday. I am curious to know more about how this review system works.

[whee-ric]

@itscalledapostingid - I won't have a chance to directly participate in the chat you mentioned. But if you raise the issue and learn anything interesting, I would appreciate you letting me know. It's really hard to imagine that an e-commerce platform like eBay would employ a system that does not adequately value and protect product review feedback, or that would allow it to be censored by those with an interest in keeping the information quiet. That integrity in a review process is paramount for a buyer community to have trust. Certainly other e-commerce platforms do.

[whee-ric]

Still no action several weeks after correspondence with eBay. The response I received (paraphrased) is that they "are aware of the problem and have received similar reports". Not sure if this link can be traversed by others than me, but it reflects my review. The net outcome, by circumstance, is that review censorship exists.

https://www.ebay.com/urw/write-review/25047240974?_itm=143473977775