cobalt pet shortwave / mediumwave weblog

08 August 2009

kaito ceo reviews his own products on amazon

I was reading the Amazon reviews for the AN-200 loop antenna when I saw the reviewer name "W. Zhao". I thought that the name sounded familiar, so I searched my email. I found one email from one Walter Zhao who was responding to a question that I submitted to Kaito USA. Then I searched Google for "Walter Zhao" and found a LinkedIn page for Walter Zhao, listed as the CEO of Kaito Electronics in Los Angeles. Kaito is a distributor of radio and electronic products manufactured in China.

Walter Zhao has reviewed 17 products on Amazon so far, giving all of them five stars, all of which are offered by Kaito Electronics. The reviews were published on Amazon between February and May, 2009.

Further, as the CEO of Kaito Electronics would surely have direct knowledge of his company's retail products, the reviews appear to contain lies. W. Zhao reports "I call Hisonic" to ask about a karaoke system, and claiming that "I saw this color" when shopping for a radio for his wife (in a review which he signs as "Walter"). In three of the radio reviews, he even complains that "I have to buy the AC adaptor separately from Kaito" in a shallow attempt to disguise his identity.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good catch. It's sad that someone at this firm decided to do this.

I have a Kaito AN-03L - Radio antenna from these guys that I purchased from Amazon, like very much, and gave a four star Amazon rating. Why? Because it is a very good product and I like it very much.

I'm no shill. No manufacturer needs one when they make good products.

weatherall said...

zeusiswatching:

Agreed! Many of the reviews are for their lesser-known products. I didn't see any reviews from Walter on the KA1101, KA1102, or KA1103 (presumably their best sellers).