Customer says hoverboard company asked him to leave positive review before trying to help him

LANCASTER, S.C. — A Lancaster man was excited to get a hoverboard until it stopped working properly. He says the company said it might make things right, but there was a catch.

Andrew Plyler owns a snow cone business. Bahama Mama. Lemon Lime. Banana. The list of flavors he offers goes on.

“We do birthday parties, community events, church events,” he said.

In his free time, he rides his hoverboard. He says his uncle spent hundreds on Amazon for it, but that it stopped holding the charge a few weeks in.

“I just want to get back on the road and just enjoy my freedom,” he said.

He says he complained and the company responded.

He showed Action 9′s Jason Stoogenke emails he says the business sent him back. But a few things gave Plyler pause.

First, one says the business will “try” to give him a “90% new hoverboard” for free. That’s right, try, and 90% of a new hoverboard, whatever that means.

But this is the part that really rubbed Plyler the wrong way: it says “leaving a positive review ... will greatly increase the possibility of success.”

He says the business emailed him a few days later, reiterating, “Once you submit a comment, please send me a screenshot and I will immediately help you submit a request for a free replacement of a brand new hoverboard.”

“I don’t think I ought to give somebody a good review if they’re not going to make it right,” he said.

So, he didn’t, saying he’d never ask his snow cone customers for positive reviews before fixing their problem.

Amazon’s review policy says it doesn’t “allow reviews that are created” in exchange for compensation, including refunds.

Compensated reviews

Reviews should reflect your honest opinion. We don’t allow reviews that are created, edited, or removed in exchange for compensation. Compensation includes cash, discounts, free products, gift cards, and refunds. Some common examples of what’s not allowed:

Your order arrives, and there’s a gift card in the package. To redeem it, you first have to post a positive review.

After leaving a negative review, you get an email offering a refund if you change or remove the review.

You receive a text message that promises full reimbursement for buying a product and posting a review about it.

Exceptions:

We allow reviews of free products received through the Amazon Vine program. We label these reviews with “Vine Customer Review of Free Product.”

It’s OK to review a free or discounted book (advanced reader copy) that you received from an author or publisher. However, they can’t require a review in exchange or try to influence the review.

Stoogenke has asked the hoverboard company, Gyroor, for its side of the story multiple times since Sept. 12. It didn’t respond in time for this report. But Plyler says after Action 9 got involved, it replaced the hoverboard and it appears to be working.

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