Garadget is a "cloud-enabled garage door opener" sold for $99 on Amazon.
The manufacturer seemingly disabled the product, or primary advertised features of the product, in retribution for a short negative review left on Amazon.
IMO Amazon should immediately drop the product when they catch wind of that, and so should any other retailer that carries it. The manufacturer's abused their relationship with the retailer (which now has to handle a return of a perfectly good device they sold) and the customers (who now have to fear retribution for reviewing products they purchased at retailers).
Regardless of whether the content of the review was justified or not, this probably won't go well for Garadget, whoever he is. A journalist has already reached out to the customer.
I can sympathize with being frustrated with customers. It takes a lot of self-control to remain professional at times. If you don't have that kind of self-control, you need to hire someone else to do customer support that does, or you won't have a very successful business. Being the boss doesn't mean there are no repercussions for your actions.
Amazon lets far worse things go unnoticed, like fake medical products. Why? Because of the money.
Amazon has already bricked a Kindle (and the full user account) because it had "a pirate PDF", according to their automations.
Just, don't but from Amazon. Even Alibaba is better.
Do you have a reference? Googling dont reveal any cases, only people speculating if they might do it.
Yes: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4682392 . There are speculations on whether the Kindle was actually wiped or whether she just couldn't use it: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4684392
Well, turns out my strategy of de-DRMing Kindle books[0] is more than a good suggestion, just to be on the safe side.
Under my moral compass, after I have purchased one edition of the book, I have the right to convert it to whatever the hell I want.