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Your ability to get what you paid for has been greatly enhanced by a new capability on Amazon.com.  The online retailer recently gave customers the ability to upload video reviews of products they sell.  As we all know, a picture... or a video… can be more compelling than pages of printed text.

To understand the power of an online video, it’s important to be aware that the greatest leverage you have in any dispute with a company is the power of your own true story of how you’ve been mistreated.  The more compelling the soapbox from which you tell your story, the more interest the company will have in coming to terms with you.

For years, Amazon has given customers the ability to post written reviews and comments on the products they sell. The addition of video adds an entirely new dimension.  Imagine… you recently purchased a new gadget, but it’s not working properly and customer service is giving you the run-around.  Now, instead of just posting a negative review, you can upload a video of the miscreant gizmo.  It doesn’t even matter if you bought the product at Amazon; if you’ve got an Amazon account, you can write a review on any of their products.

Creating a video is quite easy these days, involving little more than a creating a text document. Most laptops and many desktop computers come equipped with built-in video cameras and recording software.  Uploading to Amazon is as simple as click and save.

Your video should be a factual description of what has happened to you, rather than plea to emotions or a slanderous indictment of the company.  If you are in the right, your story will sell itself.  You don’t need high production value, just the facts and yourself.

Now… for the important part. BEFORE YOU UPLOAD THE VIDEO…  contact customer service at the company one more time.  Let them know what you plan to do.  Ask for a supervisor. Let her know what you are going to do.  If she says, “Go ahead and upload it.” Make sure you let her know that you plan to include that quote along with her name in the video.  “Sally… then it’s fair for me to also mention in the video that you said it was okay for me to post it online. Is that correct?”

At this point, she will usually rethink her position and begin to work with you. Why? Few people are fond of the idea they will be the focus of a bad review posted online, and being mentioned in a video review is even worse.   

Actually, you should hope that you don’t have to post your review online, because that will mean that you hadn’t successfully leveraged your story. (Don’t expect an apology; just take the money.)     I know, you’re disappointed… you could have been an online video star.   However, you will be able to take great satisfaction in the fact that you successfully fought for your consumer rights, and won.

NOTE: If you want to post your story anyway, if only to alert other potential customers of how you’ve been treated. Make sure you do it AFTER the check has cleared. - RB