Amazon changed how it measures buyer satisfaction with sellers’ customer service last month, it announced this week. Instead of surveying customers about their satisfaction with a Yes/No question, it will use a 1-to-5 satisfaction scale. The change impacts self-ship sellers who provide their own customer service.
Amazon said the new way it calculates buyer dissatisfaction allows buyers to give more precise feedback on sellers’ customer service and gives sellers better insights.
Amazon said in its announcement:
“The buyer dissatisfaction rate measures buyer opinion on your customer service quality and indicates how well you resolved buyer issues. The lower your buyer dissatisfaction rate, the more often your customers are satisfied with the customer service you are providing.
“Currently, we calculate your buyer dissatisfaction rate based on survey responses to “Did this solve your problem?” where buyers answer Yes or No. We divide the number of No responses by the total number of surveys sent to your buyers to get your buyer dissatisfaction rate percentage.
“Starting April 17, 2026, buyers will rate their experience from 1 to 5 in a survey in response to “How satisfied are you with your recent customer service experience?” Ratings of 1 to 2 will count as dissatisfied (like “No” in the current survey), and ratings of 4 to 5 will count as satisfied (like “Yes”).
“Your buyer dissatisfaction rate will yield the same percentage as before. The only thing that’s changing is how we calculate it, using the new survey information. We’re dividing the number of dissatisfied responses (ratings 1 to 2) by the total number of surveys sent after your cases are resolved. A rating of 3 is neutral and won’t be included in calculating your buyer dissatisfaction rate.”
One seller reacted by asking if Amazon would share its own customer-service “dissatisfaction rate” with sellers.
Another seller questioned Amazon’s decision to make a rating of 3 “neutral” and not include it in the buyer dissatisfaction rate. “So, EXACTLY why has a ‘3’ been considered a NEGATIVE in our FEEDBACK SCORES and, is Amazon going to backtrack and REMOVE all the negatives that have resulted from all the ‘3’ scores over the past couple decades,” the seller asked.
The announcement and reaction can be found on the Amazon discussion boards.
