Community Chat

[Mominohio]

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@Plaid Pants2 wrote:

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@Bagaholic wrote:

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@Plaid Pants2 wrote:

What gets me is when a "reviewer" will say, "I was given this item for free or reduced cost in exchange for an honest review", and the "review" is 5 stars.

No, you were given the item for free or reduced cost in exchange for a glowing 5 star review.

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I can't speak for every reviewer, but I've been provided products to review and found some of them to be excellent. I wouldn't post that I liked something if I did not, regardless of how I got access to the item.

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If I were given an item to try and to leave a review about, I would not say in my review, "I was given this item for free or reduced cost, in exchange for a review".

I would just give the review.

Nobody has to know that I was given the item for free, or reduced cost, in exchange for a review, so why say it in the review?

It's when they include that sentence in their review, that makes me suspect, and even disreguard the whole review.

It would be like if a reviewer were to say, "I was paid money to try the item and leave a review"

It kinda throws the whole review in to a shady light.

I hope that I'm explaining myself well.

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I prefer knowing how the product was obtained. Although one could say they 'rat themselves out' to appear more honest and unbiased, I suppose.

[Mominohio]

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@ALRATIBA wrote:

I first read the one and two star reviews to see what problems a person might have had with a product.  Then on to the five stars.  

For books (my main Amazon purchases) - bad reviews tell me more about the reviewer than the book!  ;~}

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I read the bad reviews first as well. 

I look for certain things in reviews, regardless of where they are found or whether they are positive or negative.

Did they buy it?

Did they have it long enough to give a good review?

Are their positive or negative comments things I even care about. ("I give it two stars because it is the wrong shade of blue to match my eyes"....who cares, not me) or ("I give it five stars because it is very sturdy, the seams are well sewn, the fabric is high quality and the fit runs like other garments in this designer's line"...all important to me kind of information)

Are the reviews on a site where people can come back and add to or change their review over time, as they experience and use the product longer. A company allowing this is proving much more helpful reviews than those that are a 'one and done' kind of thing. We can change our opinion of something as we have more experience with the product, both for the positive as well as the negative. 

[Mominohio]

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@JustJazzmom wrote:

I also like the fact that if I have a question about a product from Amazon, many reviewers will answer it to the best of their ability.

Example: a makeup mirror that I bought for a bathroom remodel a year ago, one person asked if it had a light on it. This particular model didn't have a light around the mirror edge. I saw all the responses, and we basically said the same thing -- no light.

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I like this feature from Amazon as well. I have answered many questions about products I have purchased on Amazon, and I think that feature should be available everywhere.

[VanSleepy]

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@Plaid Pants2 wrote:

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@Bagaholic wrote:

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@Plaid Pants2 wrote:

What gets me is when a "reviewer" will say, "I was given this item for free or reduced cost in exchange for an honest review", and the "review" is 5 stars.

No, you were given the item for free or reduced cost in exchange for a glowing 5 star review.

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I can't speak for every reviewer, but I've been provided products to review and found some of them to be excellent. I wouldn't post that I liked something if I did not, regardless of how I got access to the item.

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If I were given an item to try and to leave a review about, I would not say in my review, "I was given this item for free or reduced cost, in exchange for a review".

I would just give the review.

Nobody has to know that I was given the item for free, or reduced cost, in exchange for a review, so why say it in the review?

It's when they include that sentence in their review, that makes me suspect, and even disreguard the whole review.

It would be like if a reviewer were to say, "I was paid money to try the item and leave a review"

It kinda throws the whole review in to a shady light.

I hope that I'm explaining myself well.

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If you get an item for free/discounted, you are required to disclose that in your review.  (Only speaking about Amazon; don't know about everywhere else.)

[VaBelle35]

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@ALRATIBA wrote:

I first read the one and two star reviews to see what problems a person might have had with a product.  Then on to the five stars.  

For books (my main Amazon purchases) - bad reviews tell me more about the reviewer than the book!  ;~}

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I do the same exact thing.

[willdob3]

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@Plaid Pants2 wrote:

What gets me is when a "reviewer" will say, "I was given this item for free or reduced cost in exchange for an honest review", and the "review" is 5 stars.

No, you were given the item for free or reduced cost in exchange for a glowing 5 star review.

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That is really not true, at least not in all cases. I do agree the comment makes it sound that way.

I've been offered free items before and asked to give my honest review in return. I've done it a few times; sometimes the product does rate a 5, other times it does not and it doesn't get one. I'm knowledgeable about the type of products I have reviewed and have received positive feedback (from other customers) for my helpful reviews.

I don't know of any companies that ask for 5 star views in return for something free. 

The company I have done it for has pretty great products & I buy some on a regular basis. I recommend them to friends when they ask about where to get this or that.

[Spurt]

One of the reasons I stopped buying from Amazon was one of the vendors pictured and described that they were selling a name brand item, BUT what I got was a cheap knockoff.......I wrote a negative review and returned the item.  Amazon deleted my review---I contacted them but they never replied back as to why they deleted my review......

I have seen book reviews where the customer critqued the author's lifestyle rather than give a review of the book---I reported it as an inappropriate review but it remained....

I don't trust Amazon at all!!

[hckynut]

(thread title)

No I do not believe it. I do however believe that Google uses their search engines(and have humans override their algorithms) to falsely steer me to another search engine to find negative information about certain people that are well connected.

hckynut(john)

[Bagaholic]

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I would just give the review.

Nobody has to know that I was given the item for free, or reduced cost, in exchange for a review, so why say it in the review?

It's when they include that sentence in their review, that makes me suspect, and even disreguard the whole review.

It would be like if a reviewer were to say, "I was paid money to try the item and leave a review"

It kinda throws the whole review in to a shady light.

I hope that I'm explaining myself well.

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If I were given an item to try and to leave a review about, I would not say in my review, "I was given this item for free or reduced cost, in exchange for a review".

You are required to let people know you received the product. It's an FCC regulation.

[itiswhatitis]

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@Plaid Pants2 wrote:

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@Bagaholic wrote:

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@Plaid Pants2 wrote:

What gets me is when a "reviewer" will say, "I was given this item for free or reduced cost in exchange for an honest review", and the "review" is 5 stars.

No, you were given the item for free or reduced cost in exchange for a glowing 5 star review.

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I can't speak for every reviewer, but I've been provided products to review and found some of them to be excellent. I wouldn't post that I liked something if I did not, regardless of how I got access to the item.

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If I were given an item to try and to leave a review about, I would not say in my review, "I was given this item for free or reduced cost, in exchange for a review".

I would just give the review.

Nobody has to know that I was given the item for free, or reduced cost, in exchange for a review, so why say it in the review?

It's when they include that sentence in their review, that makes me suspect, and even disreguard the whole review.

It would be like if a reviewer were to say, "I was paid money to try the item and leave a review"

It kinda throws the whole review in to a shady light.

I hope that I'm explaining myself well.

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You have to.  You probably have to sign something stating you will.  That's why it's done.  Nordstrom's does this all the time, but they say something like Sweepstakes Winners or something.