Some Amazon customers are idiots

The Original Idiot

Amazon (and its vendors) have largely farmed tech support and pre-sales support to customers. Whether it's a product review that goes into detail about how something works or an answer to a public question about a product, you rarely see seller interaction. Fine and dandy. But there's a dark side.

Today we're going to pay a visit to the cesspool known as Amazon's Customer Questions & Answers that appears for all products. Want to know what size a product is measured in a peculiar way? Need to find out if it includes a cover? Or whether it fits your particular device not listed specifically? How about the length of the fingers in a pair of gloves? Instead of having online sales or tech people that actually know shit, Amazon sends you blindfolded into the River Styx on your way to product answer hell.

The Unhelpful Answer

First complaint are customers who answer questions in idiotic ways. These have actually come up in my recent searches for aftermarket replacement batteries for a Canon digicam. Check this out:

Uh no dude, Canon won't answer a question about an aftermarket (Wasabi) battery. And then, one month later, the SAME guy gives another helpful answer to a legit question.

What? You actually came BACK to annoy another customer with a dumbass answer a second time?? How about this one...

Sort of sounds like Dr. McCoy from StarTrek doesn't he? JIM, I'M A CUSTOMER, NOT A TECHNICIAN!

The Really Unhelpful Answer

These answers take unhelpful to the next level. 

At least she's used this product (bug spray) but she personally hasn't used it in Asia! Oh my. Here's  one from a guy who makes sure he let's the questioner know he doesn't know the answer but it's OK to ask. Does this guy lurk the Q&A sections to pass judgment on other's questions?

I also see the extreme of unhelpful where random Amazon Customers answer\ with "I don't know. I haven't used it." or the ultimate "I don't know. I haven't bought it yet.". Think I'm kidding? Here's a double dumb:

Not only has this guy not used the product, he apparently hasn't even opened the package to see if it came with extra cleats! Truly a 9 out of 10 on the unhelpful scale.

It's almost as if people are lurking in the Q&A sections just to answer questions they have no clue about. The "I don't know. I haven't used it." response is actually common. And of course once someone has answered a question moronically, it looks like the question has been answered. So from that point forward, it gets no more responses.

The Funny Answer

Everyone's read phony and often funny reviews before. Amazon is filled with them (not counting the shill reviews). Occasionally though, someone asks a tongue-in-cheek question and you're rewarded with some creative replies. Like this:

For some reason, the Ninja blenders seem to attract nonsense questions and replies. Of course I'd want to know if you can blend whole fresh fish like the Bass-O-Matic.

How about you?

So what do you think about Amazon's Q&A? Similar problems?