Amazon reject another Welsh language book review after saying the issue was ‘resolved’

Amazon has rejected another book review written in the Welsh language after claiming the issue was “resolved”.

The online retail giant refused to publish a review by Andrew Dixey on its website, who has described the rejection as an “insult”.

The company claimed in an email that the review broke its “community guidelines”.

It had previously apologised for a “technical error” that prevented a dual-language review by Cathryn Sherrington of the book Lladd Duw, by Dewi Prysor being posted.

After reading a story on Nation.Cymru about the matter, Dixey, a retired former estate manager of the St Fagans history museum, wrote a review of Academi Pel-Droed: Dim Chwarae, a Welsh language translation of a children’s book by Tom Palmer, in order to see if the issue had actually been resolved.

His review said: “Good book. My son enjoyed reading it, the second in the series. I don’t know if it has been arranged this way, but some linguistic aspects are repeated, which is a big help to a new reader. There’s also a moral aspect that comes in.”

There are currently no reviews of the book on the website, but it does have two five star ratings. Welsh language reviews have been allowed on other books on the site.

‘Doesn’t make sense’ 

Following the rejection, Andrew Dixey told Nation.Cymru: “I see it as an insult to us to be honest. To sell a Welsh language book and then to ignore people to who read them. Well, you have to be able to speak Welsh to read them. It doesn’t make sense does it.

“I’m certainly not [happy with Amazon]. This is the third time I’ve tried. After last week I thought well ‘I’ll try again with another book’.

“I tried with a book that has been translated from English, a book for my son that I’ve read with him.

“I submitted a review that I thought was fair enough. Not that it’s a good book and that’s it, but to say why maybe some people would be interested in using the book to help a child.

“To tell the truth, I didn’t believe them that it was some sort of technical hitch. I never believed that. So I tried again.”

Dixey received a response from Amazon that said: “Thank you for submitting a customer review on Amazon.

“After carefully reviewing your submission, your review could not be posted to the website. While we appreciate your time and comments, reviews must adhere to the following guidelines:

“Your review should focus on specific features of the product and your experience with it. Feedback on the seller or your shipment experience should be provided at www.amazon.co.uk/feedback.

“We do not allow profane or obscene content. This applies to adult products too.

“Advertisements, promotional material or repeated posts that make the same point excessively are considered spam.

“Please do not include URLs external to Amazon or personally identifiable content in your review.

“Any attempt to manipulate Community content or features, including contributing false, misleading or inauthentic content, is strictly prohibited.

Amazon has been approached for a comment on why the Welsh language review by Andrew Dixey was rejected.