Well, that would explain a few things...

[jon_chaisson]

Amazon...well, you know, THAT problem...somewhat explained.

In all honesty, this explanation does make a lot of sense to me, as it sounds very much like a system screwup (manmade or otherwise) that might have happened at my own job--I've seen it happen before, and that's why I have the job I have, to catch it when it DOES happen and try to fix it. Apparently, data entry error upstream was the culprit, and the screwup just flowed downstream and caused the whole thing. As they say, the system is only as smart as the person who programmed it.

I'm actually kind of impressed that they mention it being a "Sev-1" issue--that's something we would have done in the same instance.

Comments

[ying-ko-4.livejournal.com]

BUT NO! This makes sense! It can't be "Real!" Amazon.com is out to GET PEOPLE!!!

Which is exactly the reaction from the lunatic fringe of the blogosphere is going to be. You know it. I know it.

Being a cynic is such a lazy way to approach things.

Thanks for the link, and your experience to give it credence. It makes sense to me as well.

[joncwriter.livejournal.com]

No prob! :)

I noticed a few commenters on Kos about it this morning complaining that it's been a few days already and it's still not completely fixed. O NOES!!1! I can also add that in my job, when there's a screw-up of this proportion, it DEFINITELY ain't gonna be all better by the end of the episode day. If anything, I'd say by the end of the week...IF that. Because they're probably not only fixing the rankings, but also doing a once-over for other items, as well as testing it to make sure it doesn't happen again.

Not to mention that they have to answer complaint emails and work on other non-related issues that might pop up. So yeah, I'm a little more patient than most. ;)

[head58.livejournal.com]

People who couldn't understand how this happened, who thought something was fishy in that the response from Amazon wasn't consistent from A to Z, and who thought it should be fixable instantaneously have never had to handle a even a small systems clusterfuck that somehow goes public, nevermind something on this scale.

[emilytheslayer.livejournal.com]

I don't necessarily think it's fishy that the response varied, but I still want more of an explanation for why "adult" materials would get the rankings stripped.