5

For some products on Amazon, there is a "Questions and Answers" page that allows people to ask a question about the product and then other people can answer them. Here is an example.

I have asked questions about products before and I usually get an answer from at least one person within a day. I'm curious if Amazon emails some of the people who have purchased the product and asks them to provide an answer when a question about the product has been posted?

Improve this question
1
  • 1
    Yes it does, and the wording in the emails is of such nature that a lot of people feel compelled to answer the questions, even if the answer is "I don't know". This is quite infuriating.
    – Dan Dascalescu
    Oct 8, 2018 at 23:36

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
2

Amazon does indeed send an email to some owners of a product when a question about that product is posted.

This article mentions that Jeff Bezos (CEO of Amazon) wrote the following in a letter to shareholders:

From a product page, customers can ask any question related to the product. [...] We then route these questions to owners of the product.

The article also mentions the Subject line those emails will contain, as well as how often product owners can expect to receive such emails:

In addition, Amazon also emails owners - Email questions come from "Amazon Answers" ([email protected]) with the subject line, "(First Name): Can you answer this question about (product)?"

It says it will send customer questions "no more than once every two weeks, and probably much less often."

There is also an Amazon discussion thread in which people mention having received these emails.

In addition, I posted a question about a product a couple days ago and did not receive an answer, and Amazon sent me an email saying they sent my question to people who bought the product as well as people selling the product:

We sent your question about [product] to other customers who bought the product and sellers of the product, and unfortunately none of them have yet responded.

Based on what I have seen, Amazon doesn't just email people who have bought the product from Amazon and people selling the product on Amazon. Amazon probably also emails people who didn't buy the product from Amazon but did submit a product review on Amazon. This is because I posted a question about a certain product and within less than 12 hours I received answers from 2 people who I noticed had written reviews about the product, and each of those product reviews did not say "Verified Purchase" next to it, meaning they did not buy the product from Amazon.

Improve this answer
-1

I'm fairly certain Amazon does NOT email customers who have previously purchased an item when new questions appear. I do believe Amazon does email the vendor, as I have had answers to my questions. And the sellers of items where my questions were left unanswered are obviously not Amazon savvy, as there is generally quite a bit of info missing from their listing.

Amazon email notifications I have received (and noticed) are:

  • Comments on my reviews.
  • Answers to questions I posted.
  • Comments to my answers of other customers' questions.
  • When other customers upvote my reviews.
Improve this answer
1
  • That is incorrect. I regularly receive emails with questions about products I bought months or years ago.
    – Dan Dascalescu
    Oct 8, 2018 at 23:35
-1

Thanks for the info about what Bezos said (it helps to understand this a lot), BUT it is still not apparent to me: WHY have I, a VERY high volume Amazon shopper and long-term Amazon customer, NEVER get asked a question? I figured maybe it was a setting in my "email preferences and notifications" but it is not. Also, it is not a spam filter, since I allow ALL amazon.com email into my mail program.

So, I sent Amazon an email and asked them all these things. Their reply was vague and unsatisfying. It said everything I already knew EXCEPT why I do NOT ever get asked. Frustrating. Here is the reply I got:

=======================

Customer Questions and Answers is a website feature that allows you to connect with other customers to ask or answer questions about products. You can ask questions about a product or use your own expertise to answer other customers' questions.

To answer a question, just click on the Answer link in the e-mail you received. This link will take you to the website, where you'll be able to enter your answer. Also, you will receive a question automatically from other customer once you reviewed or purchased the item.

=======================

I would love to get asked a question from time to time, but it seems we have no control over this feature.

Improve this answer
1
  • 1
    How does this answer the original question?
    – ale
    Feb 4, 2015 at 1:23

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.