RIP: Prolific Amazon Customer Reviewer Harriet Klausner (1952-2015) (teleread.com)

Robotech_Master writes: Prolific Amazon customer reviewer Harriet Klausner passed away last week at the age of 67. Klausner was a controversial figure: She never gave anything a negative review, her review blurbs cast doubt on how closely she actually read what she reviewed, and received dozens of free books per week (which ended up resold on Half.com via her son's account). Nonetheless, for a time she was one of the most recognizable names to any frequent Amazon.com customer; it was rare to come across any popular title that didn't have a Klausner review. Not many reviewers have ever inspired snarky sites tracking their contributions.

Comments

Re:Does anyone care?

[maeka]

Accusing someone of a fake review is not the same as accusing them of fraud.

How is it not? She financially benefited from writing fake reviews while claiming they were real. She violated multiple Amazon terms of service to receive compensation.

Re:Does anyone care?

[Robotech_Master]

It's not that the reviews were "fake," it's that they were done for compensation (in the form of free books that she could then resell) without overtly saying so, which the FTC considers deceptive.