The Daily Background

41 Responses to “Belkin’s President Responds to The Daily Background Report About Faked Product Reviews”

1. The Daily Background » I’m waiting for an official comment from Belkin, on January 18th, 2009 at 10:36 pm Said:

   […] Update: Belkin’s President has responded to this report here. […]

2. The Daily Background » Exclusive: Belkin’s Development Rep is Hiring People to Write Fake Positive Amazon Reviews, on January 18th, 2009 at 10:37 pm Said:

   […] Update: Belkin’s president responds to The Daily Background’s report here. […]

3. Anonymoose, on January 18th, 2009 at 11:08 pm Said:

   Mike Bayard made several of his own reviews of Belkin products, as the user “B. Ekim”. You’ll find his Amazon profile here:

   http://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile/AC5CHSQTK8O9Z

   He only reviews Belkin products, he only gives them 5 stars, and the products he reviewed all had poor reviews before he added his own. His listmania is a series of Belkin products. The nickname for this account is “mikebayard”.

   The Amazon account R.Wood is also very suspicious:

   http://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile/A3U7TFAPHTIHZM

   User R.Wood only reviewed Belkin products, and only gave them 5 stars. R.Wood and B. Ekim both did 5 star reviews of a Belkin Cooling Pad on the same day. Prior to their reviews, the only other reviews were 1 or 2 stars.
   R. Wood submitted 32 product images. They are all Belkin products. Submitting images is fine, but this account is clearly affiliated with Belkin, and shouldn’t be writing reviews.

   Looks like Belkin and Amazon still have more clean up to do.

4. [TDB] Belkin Rep Hires People to Write Fake Amazon Reviews - Page 2 - Overclock.net - Overclocking.net, on January 19th, 2009 at 12:08 am Said:

   […] Sincerely, Mark Reynoso President, Belkin Belkin has also posted this letter on their website. Source Ha ha, this guy even looks like a tool! Also, updates to the story can be found here. I find […]

5. Dave Freedman, on January 19th, 2009 at 12:35 am Said:

   Nice job, Arlen. I posted an article in which I summarized your coverage of this story; and I give 5 tips for earning credibility for product reviews. (I’ve been writing and editing product reviews for 30 years).

   The permalink is http://how2monetize.typepad.com/snoozlooz_new_tools_for_m/2009/01/5-ways-to-earn-cred-for-your-product-reviews.html.
   Regards,
   Dave

6. Belkin Gets Caught Buying 5-Star Reviews & My Alternative Recipe for Ratings Success | Advertising Blog, on January 19th, 2009 at 11:08 am Said:

   […] exposed. Fortunately for Belkin, they responded with transparency and sincerity–and it appears to be an isolated incident: …it was with great surprise and dismay when we discovered that one of our employees may have […]

7. Abby Normal, on January 19th, 2009 at 11:32 am Said:

   I will never buy another Belkin product again. They sell overpriced trash that looks good on the outside but has poor functionality on the inside.

   Their products are much like their business model, they spend all their resources trying to look good so people buy from them… all the while their internal operation suffers because of cost-cutting shortcuts to maximize profits.

   But hey, its the American way!

8. Belkin Gets Caught Buying 5-Star Reviews & My Alternative Recipe for Ratings Success | Advertising Blog, on January 19th, 2009 at 2:13 pm Said:

   […] exposed. Fortunately for Belkin, they responded with transparency and sincerity–and it appears to be an isolated incident: …it was with great surprise and dismay when we discovered that one of our employees may […]

9. Belkin’s boontje komt om z’n loontje : Brandmerck.nl …weblog van Bureau Brandmerck, on January 19th, 2009 at 2:15 pm Said:

   […] heeft Belkin’s directeur Mark Reynoso inmiddels een reactie gepubliceerd waarin hij duidelijk maakt dat het gebeurde niet Belkin’s beleid is, het hier gaat om een […]

10. Rory Sinclair, on January 19th, 2009 at 3:53 pm Said:

    So…. is this asshole fired or what?

11. elliottcable, on January 19th, 2009 at 4:46 pm Said:

    Simply unacceptable, Belkin. You tell us your leadership had no knowledge of this, yet nobody got fired? Yeah. Right.

    I won’t be buying another Belkin product. Ever.

12. The Daily Background » Fresh evidence suggests Bekin’s Amazon sales Rep was engaged in more unethical activities, on January 19th, 2009 at 4:50 pm Said:

    […] than 48 hours later, Belkin’s president Mark Reynoso responded to my report, saying that “this is an isolated incident” and that “Belkin does not participate […]

13. Mark, on January 19th, 2009 at 5:35 pm Said:

    Belkin President, Mark Renyoso, and his team have taken the necessary first steps.

    However, unless he publicly fires Mike Bayard, the public won’t believe that this was the action of a rogue employee. Trust in the Belkin brand will be seriously damaged.

    Mark.

14. brett, on January 19th, 2009 at 6:55 pm Said:

    Give them credit for responding quickly and (so far) correctly. It’s a big decision to fire someone - maybe they just want to take a few hours to think about it.

15. The Day That Was | Sugar Mob, on January 19th, 2009 at 7:01 pm Said:

    […] keeps his BlackBerry, but must use a monster for official business ⌁ Belkin employee was buying good reviews via Mechanical Turk ⌁ The next Puzzle Quest teased, playable online ⌁ For the first time, the Toyota Prius […]

16. Belkin n’en veut !, on January 20th, 2009 at 2:45 am Said:

    […] dans le sac et c’est aujourd’hui le PDG de la société qui est obligé de présenter ses excuses et d’affirmer qu’il s’agit d’une initiative […]

17. Andrei, on January 20th, 2009 at 3:29 am Said:

    I was about to buy some Belkin products yesterday. I arrived late at the store so I postponed it for today. Now I read this posts and I’m not going to do it anymore. I’ll use another manufacturer.

18. Matto, on January 20th, 2009 at 8:49 am Said:

    No mention of any action taken against this “rogue” employee? I find that suspicious. Belkin should fire Mr. Bayard if they hold corporate ethics so highly. Whether they do or not, I am no longer purchasing their products.

19. shanecoyle.com » Blog Archive » At Belkin, Astroturfing Doesn’t Pay, on January 20th, 2009 at 8:57 am Said:

    […] their initial denials, and claims of this being an "isolated incident", it appears that further proof of Mr. […]

20. ex belkin client, on January 20th, 2009 at 10:14 am Said:

    i have to agree. any chance of a class action lawsuit.. be great to see them go under after they have lied to so many people. and they i guess have the guy still working there as well. haha. What a joke belkin is.. always have been . i am not surprised.. they sell shit and why not just accept that they are the same.. NEVER again will i buy belkin.. sucks really what he did . i think he should be fired at once. like now. the boss.. well i hope it sees them out of business.. i mean in this time in the worlld with money to like zero, they need to give everyone back the money that they got on false reviews.. You suck Belkin.

21. Scott Marlowe, on January 20th, 2009 at 4:10 pm Said:

    The problem with firing Bayard is that technically, it’s probably worse to work for such a shitty company as Belkin as to not be employeed, so, if they fired him they’d actually be punishing him less.

22. Belkin apologizes for fake reviewers ads - LiveAM - Your morning news 24/7, on January 20th, 2009 at 6:53 pm Said:

    […] what I’m sure was a looooong weekend at Belkin, Parsa finally got the expected response from the company, full of apologies and statements that they’re investigating the matter, […]

23. Belkin offered cash for positive reviews of router - The Network Hub, on January 22nd, 2009 at 2:21 pm Said:

    […] president Mark Reynoso has since issued a statement to The Daily Background which apologizes for the “isolated” incident and promises that […]

24. JoeShitTheRagMan, on January 22nd, 2009 at 10:12 pm Said:

    Having worked for Belkin for 10 years and this is only the tip of the ice berg, I used to do worse than this to gain market share and inside information on the competition. Belkin WAS the hands down leader in the market and was the greatest place to work. I can remember walking through CES, Comdex, MacWorld, or any retailers corporate office and watching my competition gasp in awe when Belkin was in the house. The day Chet brought back Mark Renoso was the second worst decision he has made (first was not manufacturing network cards when Linksys got out the the printer sharing business). Mark is the King of micro mangers and NOTHING at Belkin gets approved or done without his stamp of approval. I was once a person that did dirty deeds for Mark Renoso in the market place to gain share and information. I even kept hard copies of emails with such requests. The best thing Belkin can do to repair this major damage is to get rid of Mark Renoso. He is the only one pulling the puppet strings.
    Jeff Mc

25. The Daily Background » Another anonymous person, claiming to be a former Belkin employee, weighs in, on January 25th, 2009 at 2:00 pm Said:

    […] anonymous commenter writes on one of my blog posts from this week regarding the Belkin situation: Having worked for Belkin […]

26. Zelfgeschreven 5-star rating reviews op Amazon | justecommerce.nl, on January 26th, 2009 at 3:17 am Said:

    […] Via Techcrunch las ik dat juist op een van de meest toonaangevende webshops van de wereld deze fout is gemaakt. Op Mechanical Turk ( een site waarop Amazon op basis van een freelancevergoeding opdrachten wegzet ) heeft ene Michael Bayard (Werkzaam bij Belkin international) de opdracht geplaatst om 5-star reviews te schrijven op relevante productpagina’s op Amazon. Hiervoor kregen de freelancers per geschreven review een vergoeding van 65 Dollarcent. Het verhaal is verder uitgezocht door thedailybackground en het blijkt dat er ook op andere platformen ongeldige reviews waren geplaatst. Vanuit Belkin international is een reactie gekomen die ook te vinden is op thedailybackground. […]

27. GOODLINX: Campaign Grief, Clinique mess it up, the new Cadbury’s ad « mUmBRELLA, on January 26th, 2009 at 3:32 pm Said:

    […] Queensland Tourism who’ve been indulging in social media fakery. Electronics manufacturer Belkin has been caught at it too (spotter: Frontiering […]

28. Van Leasing, on April 3rd, 2009 at 11:34 pm Said:

    The day Chet brought back Mark Renoso was the second worst decision he has made (first was not manufacturing network cards when Linksys got out the the printer sharing business). Mark is the King of micro mangers and NOTHING at Belkin gets approved or done without his stamp of approval. I was once a person that did dirty deeds for Mark Renoso in the market place to gain share and information. I even kept hard copies of emails with such requests. The best thing Belkin can do to repair this major damage is to get rid of Mark Renoso. He is the only one pulling the puppet strings.

29. Todd Berry, on November 20th, 2009 at 12:57 am Said:

    “…and we will work earnestly to regain the trust we have lost.”

    They could start by hiring a customer service department. I have a faulty Belkin battery back-up that has never worked properly, and now beeps randomly. I’ve been writing them since March about it for any kind of support or help and all I have EVER received are automated emails saying they will get back to me within 24 hours, and calls have me on hold waiting for a rep for 30+ minutes (before I finally just hang up). I’ll never buy a Belkin product again in my life and I have since been advising others not to as well.

30. Zelfgeschreven 5-star rating reviews op Amazon | Fonq Blog, on June 1st, 2010 at 5:15 am Said:

    […] Via Techcrunch las ik dat juist op een van de meest toonaangevende webshops van de wereld deze fout is gemaakt. Op Mechanical Turk ( een site waarop Amazon op basis van een freelancevergoeding opdrachten wegzet ) heeft ene Michael Bayard (Werkzaam bij Belkin international) de opdracht geplaatst om 5-star reviews te schrijven op relevante productpagina’s op Amazon. Hiervoor kregen de freelancers per geschreven review een vergoeding van 65 Dollarcent. Het verhaal is verder uitgezocht door thedailybackground en het blijkt dat er ook op andere platformen ongeldige reviews waren geplaatst. Vanuit Belkin international is een reactie gekomen die ook te vinden is op thedailybackground. […]

31. How to Tell if Online Reviews Can Be Trusted | Notebooks.com, on February 4th, 2011 at 1:31 pm Said:

    […] there are problems with consumer reviews. Companies can pose as reviewers and leave positive comments that look like they are left by a real shopper instead of a company […]

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35. gamesliga, on April 1st, 2011 at 10:19 am Said:

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    Once again, we apologize for this occurrence, and we will work earnestly to regain the trust we have lost.

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