CINXE.COM
Five-Star Lawsuit – Consumerist
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en" xml:lang="en"> <head profile="http://gmpg.org/xfn/11"> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /> <title>Five-Star Lawsuit – Consumerist</title> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" /><meta name="google" content="notranslate" /> <meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image"> <meta name="twitter:title" content="Consumerist"> <meta name="twitter:site" content="https://consumermediallc.wordpress.com"> <meta name="twitter:creator" content="@consumerist"> <meta name="twitter:description" content="Consumerist"> <meta name="twitter:image:src" content="../../s2.wp.com/wp-content/themes/vip/consumerist2/images/logo.jpg"> <meta name="google-site-verification" content="9LN2ANQdloei4Y0cgQLG83NVGd5Dd2eDPH2g0s2Gal8" /> <meta name="msvalidate.01" content="E2E5B3AF87A11A875597CF4E8B412F6E" /> <script src='../../../r-login.wordpress.com/remote-login.php%3Faction=js&host=consumerist.com&id=40783744&t=1525660863&back=https:%252F%252Fconsumerist.com%252Ftag%252Ffive-star-lawsuit%252F' type="text/javascript"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> /* <![CDATA[ */ if ( 'function' === typeof WPRemoteLogin ) { document.cookie = "wordpress_test_cookie=test; path=/"; if ( document.cookie.match( /(;|^)\s*wordpress_test_cookie\=/ ) ) { WPRemoteLogin(); } } /* ]]> */ </script> <link rel='dns-prefetch' href='../../s2.wp.com/index.html' /> <link rel='dns-prefetch' href='https://use.typekit.net/' /> <link rel='dns-prefetch' href='../../s1.wp.com/index.html' /> <link rel='dns-prefetch' href='../../s0.wp.com/index.html' /> <link rel='dns-prefetch' href='../../consumermediallc.wordpress.com/index.html' /> <link rel='dns-prefetch' href='https://netdna.bootstrapcdn.com/' /> <script type="text/javascript"> /* <![CDATA[ */ function addLoadEvent(func) { var oldonload = window.onload; if (typeof window.onload != 'function') { window.onload = func; } else { window.onload = function () { oldonload(); func(); } } } /* ]]> */ </script> <script type="text/javascript"> window._wpemojiSettings = {"baseUrl":"https:\/\/s0.wp.com\/wp-content\/mu-plugins\/wpcom-smileys\/twemoji\/2\/72x72\/","ext":".png","svgUrl":"https:\/\/s0.wp.com\/wp-content\/mu-plugins\/wpcom-smileys\/twemoji\/2\/svg\/","svgExt":".svg","source":{"concatemoji":"https:\/\/s1.wp.com\/wp-includes\/js\/wp-emoji-release.min.js?m=1516999477h&ver=4.9.5"}}; !function(a,b,c){function d(a,b){var c=String.fromCharCode;l.clearRect(0,0,k.width,k.height),l.fillText(c.apply(this,a),0,0);var d=k.toDataURL();l.clearRect(0,0,k.width,k.height),l.fillText(c.apply(this,b),0,0);var e=k.toDataURL();return d===e}function e(a){var b;if(!l||!l.fillText)return!1;switch(l.textBaseline="top",l.font="600 32px Arial",a){case"flag":return!(b=d([55356,56826,55356,56819],[55356,56826,8203,55356,56819]))&&(b=d([55356,57332,56128,56423,56128,56418,56128,56421,56128,56430,56128,56423,56128,56447],[55356,57332,8203,56128,56423,8203,56128,56418,8203,56128,56421,8203,56128,56430,8203,56128,56423,8203,56128,56447]),!b);case"emoji":return b=d([55357,56692,8205,9792,65039],[55357,56692,8203,9792,65039]),!b}return!1}function f(a){var c=b.createElement("script");c.src=a,c.defer=c.type="text/javascript",b.getElementsByTagName("head")[0].appendChild(c)}var g,h,i,j,k=b.createElement("canvas"),l=k.getContext&&k.getContext("2d");for(j=Array("flag","emoji"),c.supports={everything:!0,everythingExceptFlag:!0},i=0;i<j.length;i++)c.supports[j[i]]=e(j[i]),c.supports.everything=c.supports.everything&&c.supports[j[i]],"flag"!==j[i]&&(c.supports.everythingExceptFlag=c.supports.everythingExceptFlag&&c.supports[j[i]]);c.supports.everythingExceptFlag=c.supports.everythingExceptFlag&&!c.supports.flag,c.DOMReady=!1,c.readyCallback=function(){c.DOMReady=!0},c.supports.everything||(h=function(){c.readyCallback()},b.addEventListener?(b.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",h,!1),a.addEventListener("load",h,!1)):(a.attachEvent("onload",h),b.attachEvent("onreadystatechange",function(){"complete"===b.readyState&&c.readyCallback()})),g=c.source||{},g.concatemoji?f(g.concatemoji):g.wpemoji&&g.twemoji&&(f(g.twemoji),f(g.wpemoji)))}(window,document,window._wpemojiSettings); </script> <style type="text/css"> img.wp-smiley, img.emoji { display: inline !important; border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; height: 1em !important; width: 1em !important; margin: 0 .07em !important; vertical-align: -0.1em !important; background: none !important; padding: 0 !important; } </style> <link rel='stylesheet' id='all-css-0-1' href='../../s0.wp.com/_static/static0.css' type='text/css' media='all' /> <link rel='stylesheet' id='fontawesome-css' href='https://netdna.bootstrapcdn.com/font-awesome/4.0.3/css/font-awesome.css?ver=4.9.5' type='text/css' media='all' /> <link rel='stylesheet' id='all-css-2-1' href='../../s1.wp.com/_static/index.html%3F%3F-eJx9j+EOgjAMhF%252FI0UBAfxmfZcwyarqVrANeXxCNEhP+3V37XXIwD8ZJzBgz5B4DKkw0wBLpGDCR5gqcKrBE30kKRaBYLMEJfsAwmoFHT1FhprvHrKDiyLKhtWhnNpggSt6OH3HU6lEMi7OZJO6M6dhSOkITtix+kf6142v%252FoPf8vgbP0lpeH27hWjZlVZfnS9U8nlVpb+w=%3Fcssminify=yes.css' type='text/css' media='all' /> <script type='text/javascript' src='../../s0.wp.com/_static/index.html%3F%3F-eJyFjssKwkAMRX%252FI6VitYBciLrtz5b7WWDN2Hk4yLfr1pqALsSgEAjcnJ9FDUOiaLp2AtJG6JYj3V8sMzfQvQFlsY82QWXRvuPGOwfHIWn%252FEDlQiiHUrmYjOfoILntgCkUAT08+X0PUIw1%252FMAIe6uaoIhI8vK19A7ukeg5aIkoWIxItRc0BC9nG3r2Rpazd5US7LeZGv1uYJsM1voA=='></script> <script type='text/javascript' src='../../s2.wp.com/wp-content/themes/vip/consumerist2/js/fonts.js%3Fm=1360207792h'></script> <link rel="shortcut icon" type="image/x-icon" href="https://secure.gravatar.com/blavatar/498da4a1827c0de26bc1854d0c809a17?s=32" sizes="16x16" /> <link rel="icon" type="image/x-icon" href="https://secure.gravatar.com/blavatar/498da4a1827c0de26bc1854d0c809a17?s=32" sizes="16x16" /> <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" href="https://secure.gravatar.com/blavatar/498da4a1827c0de26bc1854d0c809a17?s=114" /> <link rel='openid.server' href='../../consumermediallc.wordpress.com/index.html%3Fopenidserver=1.html' /> <link rel='openid.delegate' href='../../consumermediallc.wordpress.com/index.html' /> <link rel="search" type="application/opensearchdescription+xml" href="../../consumermediallc.wordpress.com/osd.xml" title="Consumerist" /> <link rel="search" type="application/opensearchdescription+xml" href="../../s1.wp.com/opensearch.xml" title="WordPress.com" /> <script type="text/javascript">var _sf_startpt=(new Date()).getTime()</script> <style> .wpcom-related-posts ul li { list-style-type: none; display: inline-block; } </style> <style type="text/css"> .recentcomments a { display: inline !important; padding: 0 !important; margin: 0 !important; } table.recentcommentsavatartop img.avatar, table.recentcommentsavatarend img.avatar { border: 0px; margin: 0; } table.recentcommentsavatartop a, table.recentcommentsavatarend a { border: 0px !important; background-color: transparent !important; } td.recentcommentsavatarend, td.recentcommentsavatartop { padding: 0px 0px 1px 0px; margin: 0px; } td.recentcommentstextend { border: none !important; padding: 0px 0px 2px 10px; } .rtl td.recentcommentstextend { padding: 0px 10px 2px 0px; } td.recentcommentstexttop { border: none; padding: 0px 0px 0px 10px; } .rtl td.recentcommentstexttop { padding: 0px 10px 0px 0px; } </style> <meta name="application-name" content="Consumerist" /><meta name="msapplication-window" content="width=device-width;height=device-height" /><meta name="msapplication-task" content="name=Subscribe;action-uri=../..//feed/;icon-uri=https://secure.gravatar.com/blavatar/498da4a1827c0de26bc1854d0c809a17?s=16" /><style type="text/css" id="syntaxhighlighteranchor"></style> </head> <body class="archive tag tag-five-star-lawsuit tag-345063795 mp6 customizer-styles-applied custom-header header-full-width news-red longform-archive full-width-content"> <span class="no-css-warning" aria-hidden="true" style="background-color:red;font-size:larger;speak:none">Whoops! It looks like portions of our site are being blocked! Check your browser settings or contact your network administrator.</span> <div id="header"><div class="wrap"> <header class="lf-header clearfix"> <div class="lf-logo"> <a href="../../../index.html"><img src="../../s2.wp.com/wp-content/themes/vip/consumerist2/images/logo-small.jpg" /></a> </div> <h1 class="lf-title"><a href="index.html">Five-Star Lawsuit</a></h1> </div> </header> </div></div><div id="wrap"><div id="fb-root"></div> <div id="notification-area" class="black hidden"> <div class="notification-modal"></div> <div class="wrap"> <header class="entry-header"> <div class="tag-wrap"> <a class="remove-notice" href="index.html#" id="remove-notice" rel="10293012" data-nonce="5f748d689a">×</a> </div> </header> <h3 class="notice-title">Welcome to the Consumerist Archives</h3> <p>Thanks for visiting Consumerist.com. As of October 2017, Consumerist is no longer producing new content, but feel free to browse through our archives. Here you can find 12 years worth of articles on everything from how to avoid dodgy scams to writing an effective complaint letter. Check out some of our greatest hits below, explore the categories listed on the left-hand side of the page, or head to <a href="https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/index.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CR.org</a> for ratings, reviews, and consumer news.</p> <p class="full-width"><a class="notice-cr-logo" href="https://www.consumerreports.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://cdn.consumerreports.org/etc/designs/cr/images/common/footer-logo.svg" alt="Consumer Reports" /></a></p> <div class="clear"></div> </div> <!-- end .wrap --> </div> <!-- end #notification-area --> <div id="inner"><div class="wrap"><div id="content-sidebar-wrap"><div id="content" class="hfeed"> <div class="cs-archive-top"> <h2 class="cs-archive-title">Five-Star Lawsuit</h2> </div> <div class="post-10201220 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-media-entertainment category-retail-services category-telecom-technology category-uncategorized tag-five-star-lawsuit tag-is-that-really-five-stars tag-amazon tag-reviews tag-fake-reviews tag-lawsuits tag-washington tag-retailers tag-paying-for-reviews entry longform-archive-entry has-post-thumbnail"> <header class="entry-header"> <div class="tag-wrap"> <a href="index.html" class="post-tag" rel="tag"> Five-Star Lawsuit </a> </div> <div class="clear"></div> </header> <!-- end .entry-header --> <a href="../../2015/04/09/amazon-files-first-lawsuit-to-block-companies-from-selling-fraudulent-positive-reviews/index.html" title="Amazon Files First Lawsuit To Block Companies From Selling Fraudulent Positive Reviews"><img src="../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/amazon1-e1464037119783.png?w=300&h=215&crop=1" alt="Louis Abate" class="Thumbnail thumbnail longform-thumb alignleft post-image" /></a><h2 class="entry-title"><a href="../../2015/04/09/amazon-files-first-lawsuit-to-block-companies-from-selling-fraudulent-positive-reviews/index.html" title="Amazon Files First Lawsuit To Block Companies From Selling Fraudulent Positive Reviews" rel="bookmark">Amazon Files First Lawsuit To Block Companies From Selling Fraudulent Positive Reviews</a></h2> <div class="post-info">By <span class="author vcard"><span class="fn"><a href="../../author/ashleekielerconsumerist/index.html" title="Posts by Ashlee Kieler" class="author url fn" rel="author">Ashlee Kieler</a></span></span> 4.9.15</div><div class="entry-content"><p>For the first time in the 20 years that Amazon has allowed users to review products, the company is taking legal action against businesses it claims sells fake reviews to third-party sellers. <a href="../../2015/04/09/amazon-files-first-lawsuit-to-block-companies-from-selling-fraudulent-positive-reviews/index.html#more-10201220" class="more-link">[More]</a></p> </div></div></div></div><script type='text/javascript'> var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-10697639-1']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); </script> </div></div></div><div id="footer-widgets" class="footer-widgets"><div class="wrap"><div class="footer-widgets-1 widget-area"><div id="black-studio-tinymce-6" class="widget widget_black_studio_tinymce"><div class="widget-wrap"><div class="textwidget"><p><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-10247868" src="../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2016/07/footer-logo.png%3Fw=300" alt="Consumerist" width="300" height="38" /></p> <p>Part of <img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-10254758" src="../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2016/09/consumer-reports-logo.png" alt="Consumer Reports" width="212" height="22" /></p> </div></div></div> </div><div class="footer-widgets-2 widget-area"><div id="black-studio-tinymce-2" class="widget widget_black_studio_tinymce"><div class="widget-wrap"><div class="textwidget"><p>Founded in 2005, Consumerist® is an independent source of consumer news and information published by Consumer Reports.</p> </div></div></div> </div><div class="footer-widgets-3 widget-area"><div id="nav_menu-3" class="widget widget_nav_menu"><div class="widget-wrap"><div class="menu-footer-menu-container"><ul id="menu-footer-menu" class="menu"><li id="menu-item-10247861" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-10247861"><a href="../../about-us/index.html">About Us</a></li> <li id="menu-item-10254867" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-10254867"><a href="../../connect-with-us/index.html">Connect With Us</a></li> <li id="menu-item-10247864" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-10247864"><a href="../../no-commercial-use/index.html">No Commercial Use Policy</a></li> <li id="menu-item-10288226" class="menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-10288226"><a target="_blank" href="https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/customerservice/privacy-policy/highlights/index.htm">Privacy Policy</a></li> <li id="menu-item-10247866" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-10247866"><a href="../../user-agreement/index.html">User Agreement</a></li> <li id="menu-item-10247867" class="menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-10247867"><a href="https://jobs-consumers.icims.com/jobs/search?pr=0">Work With Us</a></li> </ul></div></div></div> </div><div class="footer-widgets-4 widget-area"></div><div class="footer-widgets-5 widget-area"></div></div></div><div id="footer" class="footer"><div class="wrap"><ul id="menu-bottom-footer-menu" class="menu"><li id="menu-item-10288225" class="menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-10288225"><a target="_blank" href="https://www.consumerreports.org/privacy-policy/highlights/index.htm">Privacy Policy</a></li> <li id="menu-item-10287493" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-10287493"><a href="../../user-agreement/index.html">User Agreement</a></li> </ul> <div class="footer--copyright">© 2018 Consumer Reports </div> </div></div><!-- wpcom_wp_footer --> <script type="text/javascript"> var _sf_async_config={}; _sf_async_config.uid = "28487"; _sf_async_config.domain = "consumerist.com"; _sf_async_config.useCanonical = "false"; _sf_async_config.authors = null; _sf_async_config.sections = null; (function(){ function loadChartbeat() { window._sf_endpt=(new Date()).getTime(); var e = document.createElement('script'); e.setAttribute('language', 'javascript'); e.setAttribute('type', 'text/javascript'); e.setAttribute('src', "\/\/static.chartbeat.com\/js\/chartbeat.js" ); document.body.appendChild(e); } var oldonload = window.onload; window.onload = (typeof window.onload != 'function') ? loadChartbeat : function() { try { oldonload(); } catch (e) { loadChartbeat(); throw e} loadChartbeat(); }; })(); </script> <div style="display:none"> </div> <script type='text/javascript'> /* <![CDATA[ */ var consumeristAdobeAnalytics = {"pageName":"tag:five-star-lawsuit"}; /* ]]> */ </script> <script type='text/javascript'> /* <![CDATA[ */ var consumerist_ajax = {"ajaxurl":"https:\/\/consumerist.com\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php","edit_nonce":"5afd7792b4","encrypt_token_nonce":"d6790275aa","profile_nonce":"bb428a8893"}; /* ]]> */ </script> <script type='text/javascript'> /* <![CDATA[ */ var notices_ajax_script = {"ajaxurl":"https:\/\/consumerist.com\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php"}; /* ]]> */ </script> <script type='text/javascript'> /* <![CDATA[ */ var wpcomVipAnalytics = {"is_404":"0","is_home":"0","is_single":"0","is_front_page":"0","is_archive":"1","percentToTrack":"1"}; /* ]]> */ </script> <script type='text/javascript' src='../../s0.wp.com/_static/static0-2'></script> <script type="text/javascript"> // <![CDATA[ (function() { try{ if ( window.external &&'msIsSiteMode' in window.external) { if (window.external.msIsSiteMode()) { var jl = document.createElement('script'); jl.type='text/javascript'; jl.async=true; jl.src='/wp-content/plugins/ie-sitemode/custom-jumplist.php'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(jl, s); } } }catch(e){} })(); // ]]> </script><script type="text/javascript">jQuery(document).ready(function($) { $(".ui-tabs").tabs(); });</script> </body> </html>