Compton, Calif. – Computer peripherals maker Belkin has posted a public apology, and taken steps to remove positive Amazon.com reviews of its products that an employee of the company apparently paid consumers to write.
The Daily Background reported that Belkin business development representative Mark Bayard used Amazon’s Mechanical Turk, a site where anyone can post small jobs for hire, to solicit consumers to write the false product reviews.
"Belkin does not participate in, nor does it endorse, unethical practices like this," Belkin president Mark Reynoso wrote in a post on the company’s website.
"We know that people look to online user reviews for unbiased opinions from fellow users and instances like this challenge the implicit trust that is placed in this interaction.
"We regard our responsibility to our user community as sacred, and we are extremely sorry that this happened." The company also noted that its retail partners had no knowledge of or participation in posting the fake product reviews.
Related Links:
http://www.belkin.com/pressroom/letter.html
http://snipurl.com/afu9a (The Daily Background)
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