Reb Yidd makes an excellent point. In most online product sales, the merchant is simply an intermediary and unlike a service provider, really doesn’t have any role in the quality of the product he/she is marketing. In some cases a fragile product may not have been adequately packaged for shipment or as increasingly happens, a refurbished product may be sold as “new”. In those cases, clearly the merchant bears some responsibility and may be publicly criticized if he fails to remedy the problem after he has been made aware and given an opportunity to do so. If the merchant is KNOWN to be a frum yid and is willing, a local beis din might be willing to arbitrate the dispute (if the dollar amounts make it worthwhile) but for the vast majority of online transactions where there is a commercial dispute, reliance on a beis din to adjudicate is impractical. At the same time, posting a negative review may give you some satisfaction but won’t fix your original problem. Indeed in some cases, agressive merchants have actually sued those who post negative reviews.
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