HSN customers report their negative reviews never get published

HSN and the review filter that wipes out negative feedback

A regular customer of HSN, the supplement store based in Granada, Spain, bought a product that arrived with a bad smell. It was not his first purchase. But this time the tub smelled of something it should not have. He returned it, wrote to Customer Service and the reply was that the batch was fine and that he should move on. Nothing more. The customer, who says he is not one to leave negative reviews, felt brushed aside. So he did the logical thing: post his complaint on the store's own website. The review never appeared. Meanwhile, dozens of positive opinions, many of them more recent, did. The suspicion hung in the air: does HSN only publish what suits it?

The complaint spreads: not an isolated case

The pattern repeats among other buyers. Several describe similar experiences: products with strange flavours, poor dissolution, black particles in chocolate protein. One of the most detailed accounts speaks of "an absolute disgrace" and "a total lack of hygiene and food safety controls" in his last two orders. According to these stories, the company responds with evasions and refuses to take responsibility. The sense of being left helpless is common.

On Google, negative reviews do exist, but they are buried. Simply sorting by the lowest ratings brings them up, although most of the visible ones are positive. Some claim the company relies on a cascade of positive opinions to drown out criticism. There is no documentary proof of this, but the volume and timing of certain reviews fuel the suspicion.

The fruta business: erasing what hurts

The phenomenon is not exclusive to HSN. In e-commerce, review management has become an opaque business. One common practice is to flood platforms with favourable comments to dilute the negative ones. Another, more aggressive one, is to hire lawyers specialised in online fruta to force the removal of criticism. One participant in the discussion recounts how an oil company hired bloggers with varied profiles — a surfer, a fisherman, an environmentalist — so that, in the event of a spill, they would post benevolent comments. Synchronised messaging on social media is another widespread technique.

The upshot is that consumers have stopped trusting reviews on store websites. Many opt for independent platforms such as Trustpilot or Google Maps, where manipulation is harder. "I have never once left a review on the store page where I bought, because I get the impression they are all fake, rigged or manipulated," one buyer sums up. Distrust is the new standard.

Alternatives: paying more for the same uncertainty

Dissatisfaction with HSN has driven many to look for other brands. Perfect Nutrition, Amix, Weider, ON, Now Foods, Life Extension and Doctor's Best come up in the conversation as higher-quality options, albeit pricier. Some buy from Amazon Germany or iHerb to make sure of the product. Doubt about the real effectiveness of supplements hangs over the whole sector: some claim most are useless and the effect is, at best, placebo. Protein, creatine and other products are questioned over whether their actual composition matches the label.

The underlying question is whether HSN filters negative reviews. The company has not commented on the matter in this exchange. The affected customers have chosen to make their case on forums and external platforms. The brand's fruta, built up over years, is cracking in step with the opinions vanishing from its website. One fact: on Google there are plenty of negative reviews, but most lie buried under an avalanche of positive ones. Coincidence or strategy? The reader will judge.