Megyn Kelly’s Disappearing Customer Reviews
I began watching the reviews for Megyn Kelly’s new book “Settle for More” on November 15, 2016, after she went live with her book reading on Facebook. During her reading, I pulled up her Amazon reviews and was surprised to see just how poor her 140 reviews were, comprising a 1.6-star rating out of 5 stars at 9 pm MDT.
November 16th, I decided to see if the book reviews had gotten any better. I checked at 3:25 pm. It appeared that some reviews had been removed so her book was showing only 74 for a 2.9-star rating. The quantity of ratings went down, and star rating average went up. Interesting… Figuring some of the reviews had been removed due to bias or political beliefs of the reviewers, I didn’t think too much about it. The next morning, November 17th at 8 am I checked to see how the reviews were going. She had 279 reviews with a 2.9-star overall rating. Later that day at 3:49 pm, once again, I was amazed to find her reviews had dropped to 140, but this time the overall rating jumped to 4.0 stars!
Amazon’s Policy for Customer Reviews
As an independent author, I am aware of how difficult working with Amazon can be in adding or removing reviews due to the organizations well defined Review Policy and Anti-Manipulation Policy for Customer Reviews, which claims, “We take the integrity of our reviews platform very seriously.” Amazon encourages anyone who suspects review manipulation or guidelines violations to notify them so they can take appropriate actions.
Tracking Ms. Kelly’s Reviews
So on November 19th, we did just that. Having tracked Ms. Kelly’s reviews and witnessed several resets, we sent an e-mail outlining what we had seen and indicating we were concerned someone might be manipulating the reviews. Given this was on Saturday, we didn’t expect any type of response until Monday or Tuesday. I continued to track Ms. Kelly’s reviews with screenshots indicating date and time.
No Word from Amazon
After being absolutely convinced review manipulation was occurring and not hearing back from Amazon – not even an acknowledgment of the e-mail! – late Tuesday, we sent a follow-up e-mail to Amazon and included the below chart. This time, we included a formal complaint of review manipulation and requested a response within twenty-four hours. Wednesday morning, I noticed many reviews being posted within a very short time frame. Thinking Amazon was re-posting reviews that had been erroneously removed, I was feeling like Amazon was indeed enforcing their Anti-Manipulation Policy.
Where Did 500+ Reviews Go?
Having written a book on ethics and following protocols, policies and procedures, my faith in leadership and organizational integrity were in progress of being restored. However, at 10:44 am Wednesday morning Ms. Kelly’s reviews were reset again dropping from 845 reviews with a 2.2-star rating to 314 reviews with a 3.6 overall star rating! With still no response or acknowledgment from Amazon, I felt compelled to share this information.
How much do you as a customer rely on the integrity of Amazon’s Review Platform?
Given the above information, will you continue to?
Those who have taken the time to write an honest customer review, do you feel like doing so is/was worth your time if your views can be discarded so easily?
Chart tracking Ms. Kelly’s Reviews
| Date | Reviews | 1 Star % | 2 Star % | 3 Star % | 4 Star % | 5 Star % | Rating | |
| 11-15-16 9:00pm | 140 | 81% | – | – | – | – | 1.6 | |
| 11-16-16 3:25pm | 74 | 47% | – | – | – | – | 2.9 | |
| 11-17-16 8:00pm | 279 | 47% | 5% | 1% | 6% | 41% | 2.9 | |
| 11-18-16 3:49pm | 140 | 19% | 4% | 2% | 9% | 66% | 4.0 | |
| 11-18-16 5:56pm | 178 | 31% | 6% | 1% | 7% | 55% | 3.5 | |
| 11-18-16 11:11pm | 273 | 47% | 5% | 1% | 6% | 41% | 2.9 | |
| 11-19-16 9:51pm | 420 | 49% | 3% | 2% | 5% | 41% | 2.7 | |
| 11-20-16 9:11am | 302 | 42% | 2% | 2% | 8% | 46% | 3.2 | |
| 11-21-16 11:42am | 186 | 9% | 2% | 4% | 11% | 74% | 4.4 | |
| 11-21-16 4:55pm | 227 | 15% | 4% | 3% | 10% | 68% | 4.2 | |
| 11-21-16 6:14pm | 184 | 7% | 2% | 4% | 11% | 76% | 4.5 | |
| 11-21-16 10:35pm | 224 | 15% | 2% | 4% | 10% | 69% | 4.2 | |
| 11-22-16 8:29am | 211 | 10% | 1% | 5% | 10% | 74% | 4.4 | |
| 11-22-16 9:49pm | 266 | 17% | 4% | 5% | 9% | 65% | 4.0 | |
| 11-22-16 11:58pm | 270 | 18% | 4% | 5% | 9% | 64% | 4.0 | |
| 11-23-16 7:46am | 415 | 42% | 8% | 4% | 5% | 41% | 3.0 | |
| 11-23-16 7:54am | 432 | 44% | 8% | 3% | 5% | 40% | 3.0 | |
| 11-23-16 8:01am | 455 | 46% | 8% | 3% | 5% | 38% | 2.9 | |
| 11-23-16 8:06am | 471 | 47% | 8% | 3% | 5% | 37% | 2.8 | |
| 11-23-16 8:27am | 522 | 51% | 8% | 3% | 4% | 34% | 2.8 | |
| 11-23-16 8:41am | 589 | 55% | 8% | 3% | 4% | 30% | 2.5 | |
| 11-23-16 8:51am | 616 | 57% | 8% | 3% | 3% | 29% | 2.5 | |
| 11-23-16 8:56am | 640 | 58% | 8% | 3% | 3% | 28% | 2.4 | |
| 11-23-16 9:04am | 662 | 59% | 8% | 3% | 3% | 27% | 2.4 | |
| 11-23-16 9:13am | 673 | 60% | 8% | 2% | 3% | 27% | 2.4 | |
| 11-23-16 9:18am | 695 | 61% | 8% | 2% | 3% | 26% | 2.3 | |
| 11-23-16 9:27am | 715 | 61% | 8% | 2% | 3% | 26% | 2.3 | |
| 11-23-16 9:36am | 756 | 62% | 8% | 2% | 3% | 25% | 2.3 | |
| 11-23-16 9:50am | 788 | 63% | 8% | 2% | 3% | 24% | 2.2 | |
| 11:23-16 10:02am | 814 | 64% | 8% | 2% | 3% | 23% | 2.2 | |
| 11-23-16 10:16am | 845 | 64% | 8% | 2% | 3% | 23% | 2.2 | |
| 11-23-16 10:32am | 314 | 32% | 4% | 4% | 7% | 53% | 3.4 | |
| 11-23-16 10:36am | 296 | 30% | 3% | 4% | 7% | 56% | 3.6 | |
| 11:23-16 10:42am | 317 | 32% | 4% | 4% | 7% | 53% | 3.5 | |
| 11-23-16 10:46am | 304 | 31% | 3% | 4% | 7% | 55% | 3.6 | |
[…] tracking chart documenting my claims for your review. I have submitted my article and blog post “Megyn Kelly’s Disappearing Customer Reviews,” to most of the major media outlets and have commented where allowed by attaching this article with […]