Paul and Rachel Baron’s small company, Beau & Belle Littles, came up with a reusable, easily removable and washable swim diaper after their baby’s first swimming lesson, and quickly achieved $1 million in sales. They were featured in Forbes and on the Rachael Ray show, and had plans to triple their annual sales to $3 million in 2020. But a one-star review “ruined” everything, according to Bloomberg, which investigated the Barons’ story in detail. What went wrong? A customer ordered their diapers, received a returned used diaper, and left a terrible review because it was still covered in feces. But it happened to Amazon, not the Barons. Amazon employees are supposed to check all returned products before allowing them to be resold.
But sources told Bloomberg that it’s not uncommon for Amazon to restock returned products without thoroughly inspecting them. The Barrons asked for the review to be removed, saying they were not at fault, but it remained up for years (until Bloomberg published the story), and attracted many views because it featured a photo of a soiled diaper. As a result, the Barrons are $600,000 in debt and barely scraping by on their once-thriving business. Paul has a second job, and Rachel is looking for one. Meanwhile, the woman who left the negative review says she intended to change her review after the Barrons reached out to her, changed her diaper, and explained what had happened, but “got busy and never did.” Read the full story at Bloomberg. (More from Amazon)
