# Why Amazon's "Request a Review" Might Not Actually Reach Your Customer Author: GetReviews Author URL: https://www.getreviews.ai/blog/author/getreviews Published: 2026-08-26 Category: Features Category URL: https://www.getreviews.ai/blog/category/features Tags: Tips, amazon, ecommerce sellers, integrations, automatic review requests Tag URLs: Tips (https://www.getreviews.ai/blog/tag/tips), amazon (https://www.getreviews.ai/blog/tag/amazon), ecommerce sellers (https://www.getreviews.ai/blog/tag/ecommerce-sellers), integrations (https://www.getreviews.ai/blog/tag/integrations), automatic review requests (https://www.getreviews.ai/blog/tag/automatic-review-requests) URL: https://www.getreviews.ai/blog/why-amazons-request-a-review-might-not-actually-reach-your-customer ![Why Amazon review requests fail to reach customers](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cl8eky1mg225641jnvadrsqgkc/images/philip-oroni-7rmd7zh5sko-unsplash-1787889008946-compressed.jpg) When GetReviews.ai launched its automated [**Request a Review**](https://www.getreviews.ai/blog/introducing-automatic-review-requests) feature, the idea was simple: stop making sellers manually click a button in Seller Central for every eligible order. Instead, the platform connects to a seller's account through Amazon's official Selling Partner API and fires the request the moment an order becomes eligible, within Amazon's mandated 5–30-day post-delivery window. But building that automation surfaced a pattern the team kept running into: even when every eligible order is requested exactly on time, the number of review requests "sent" often doesn't match the number of orders a seller actually shipped. Sellers would look at their dashboards, see a gap between orders and requests, and assume something was broken. In most cases, nothing was broken — it's just that Amazon's Request a Review system was never designed to guarantee delivery for 100% of orders in the first place. ![amazon review request](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cl8eky1mg225641jnvadrsqgkc/images/screen-shot-2026-08-28-at-12-1787889468800-compressed.png) That gap is worth understanding on its own, separate from any specific tool. Here's why review requests and order counts so often don't line up, and what's actually happening behind the scenes. * * * ## 1\. Not Every Order Is Eligible in the First Place Before a request can even be attempted, the order has to qualify. Common exclusions include: - Orders placed through Subscribe & Save - Business-only or B2B orders in some categories - Orders that were cancelled, returned, or refunded - Certain digital or gift card purchases - Orders fulfilled outside of Amazon's standard fulfillment tracking If an order doesn't meet Amazon's criteria, it's excluded from the requestable pool entirely — which alone can account for a meaningful chunk of the difference between total orders and total requests sent. ## 2\. The Buyer Has Opted Out of Marketing Communications This is a big one! Amazon gives customers granular control over what kinds of emails they receive. Many buyers proactively opt out of "marketing" or "solicited feedback" emails in their account settings. When this happens, Amazon's system will still register the request as "sent" on the seller's end, but it's suppressed before it ever reaches the buyer's inbox. Sellers have no visibility into who has opted out. ## 3\. The Order Falls Outside the Eligibility Window Even eligible orders have to be requested within a specific timeframe: 5 to 30 days after delivery (or after the order date for digital items). If a request is triggered too early or too late — which can happen with manual clicking or with delayed delivery confirmations - Amazon blocks it entirely, often without a clear explanation in the interface. ## 4\. The Product Category Has Review Restrictions Some categories - particularly those involving health, medical devices, or restricted goods - have additional review policies. Amazon may throttle or block review solicitation emails for these categories to reduce the risk of manipulated or non-compliant reviews. ## 5\. The Buyer Already Left a Review If the customer has already reviewed the product (even a short, low-star review), Amazon typically won't send a second request. This is by design, to prevent sellers from pressuring customers into revising or adding reviews. It also quietly reduces the requests-to-orders ratio for repeat buyers. ## 6\. Amazon's Anti-Spam Filters Amazon actively monitors for patterns that resemble review manipulation or excessive solicitation. If a seller account sends a very high volume of review requests in a short period, or if a particular buyer has received multiple requests from different sellers, Amazon's spam-prevention system may suppress the email - again, without notifying the seller. ## 7\. Seller Account Health Issues If a seller's account has active policy violations, a low health rating, or is under review for suspected manipulation of reviews or ratings, Amazon may quietly restrict access to review-request tools. The button might still appear clickable in Seller Central, but the backend can block the send. ## 8\. Marketplace and Regional Restrictions Sellers operating across multiple Amazon marketplaces (US, UK, EU, etc.) sometimes find that review requests behave differently by region due to local consumer protection laws, such as GDPR-driven consent requirements in the EU. A request that goes through fine in the US marketplace might be blocked in a market with stricter opt-in rules. What the Automatic Review Request _can't_ do is override Amazon's own suppression logic - opt-outs, spam throttling, masked emails, and category restrictions are all decided on Amazon's side, invisibly, regardless of who or what clicked the button. That's precisely why the requests-sent number will rarely equal the orders-shipped number, even with automation running perfectly. Note that we made a deliberate decision here: **automatic review requests are included in every active subscription - no additional cost.** Whether you're just getting started or running a multi-marketplace operation, it's yours. * * * ## What is GetReviews.ai? [GetReviews.ai](https://getreviews.ai) is a tool designed for e-commerce sellers on Amazon, Walmart, and more to increase post-purchase customer engagement platform through QR codes, and survey flows and help generate more authentic, compliant product reviews and build stronger relationships with their customers after every sale. Book a demo today to learn more: --- This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more. ---