Censoring reviews

[alemone]

I have seen reports that MarineDepot may selectively censor negative reviews.

I submitted a 1* review on a product and it was never published. CS reassured me that it takes up to two business weeks. I emailed them again and was told that may take longer.
It has been 2 months now and still nothing. The review system at Marine Depot does not instill any confidence in me. Just FYI.

 

[MarineDepot]

I have seen reports that MarineDepot may selectively censor negative reviews.

I submitted a 1* review on a product and it was never published. CS reassured me that it takes up to two business weeks. I emailed them again and was told that may take longer.
It has been 2 months now and still nothing. The review system at Marine Depot does not instill any confidence in me. Just FYI.

I totally understand where you are coming from. I am happy to check on your review today. Would you mind sending me a PM with the email address used to submit the review? Alternatively you can email me at jjohnston@marinedepot.com.

I wouldn't say it's a matter of policy, but very often negative reviews are flagged during moderation for a supervisor to review later so that they may offer additional support or assistance. Whether the reviewer purchased a product from us is also taken into consideration since it's easier to substantiate if what is said occurred.

We have over 40K customer product reviews published on our website and we do our best to moderate them fairly. But we are human and we make mistakes, too. Thank you for caring enough to share this with us.

Jeff @ Marine Depot

 

[alemone]

It was a negative but fair and honest review with clean language and strictly on the product and manufacturer. Nothing about Marine Depot.

 

[MarineDepot]

It was a negative but fair and honest review with clean language and strictly on the product and manufacturer. Nothing about Marine Depot.

I logged in and saw the review. It was assigned for review by a supervisor but there isn't a time stamp so I'm not sure when that occurred. It was not denied publication, just sort of sitting in this limbo state (which I apologize for).

It's not showing you purchased the product from us within our moderation tool (a verified buyer badge shows up with your review on the website when you do). There are no other product reviews from you I can reference. I looked up your email address in our customer database and wasn't able to find that particular item in your order history. There are not notes or returns on the account so I'm not gleaning much insight from our internal tools. Bear in mind I have not spoken to our support department about this yet, so they may remember speaking with you or may have a log of interactions in our email/chat logs.

So there is much I don't know. But I do know you've been shopping with us for a couple of years now. And, obviously subjective, but ... looking at what you've ordered, I personally feel you have a good grasp of the hobby and have made wise equipment selections.

I published the review and you can read it now here: https://www.marinedepot.com/Ultrali...er_Aquariums-Ultralife-YUL3111-FIUVUU-vi.html

Thank you for bringing this to our attention and for shopping with us. You are welcome to contact me directly in the future if you'd like. I am pretty responsive except (except for weekends, perhaps!).

Best wishes,

Jeff @ Marine Depot

 

[alemone]

Jeff,

The item was NOT purchased from Marine Depot. Thank you for fixing this. The community relies on these reviews and it would be a pity if we lost faith.
It's still missing but maybe it will take a few minutes to show up.

 

[MarineDepot]

Jeff,

The item was NOT purchased from Marine Depot. Thank you for fixing this. The community relies on these reviews and it would be a pity if we lost faith.
It's still missing but maybe it will take a few minutes to show up.

It does sometimes take a little bit for a review to get pushed to the site but it should be there shortly since I can see it on my side.

We know how serious people take these reviews. We know that they play a huge role in helping you decide which products to use to care for your live pets.

I didn't mean to get too into the weeds with my explanation but I think it's important that all parties (past reviewers, current/future shoppers, brands who create these products) who read threads like this understand we care deeply about publishing fact-based and unbiased reviews.

Jeff @ Marine Depot