Suggestion Box

[CalminHeart]

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@Caaareful Shopper wrote:

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@CalminHeart wrote:

Items sold on Q are often sold elsewhere and it's possible people have purchased the items.  We can't control others but we can control how we react.  The older I get the more I wish I'd known long ago to not sweat the small stuff. jmo.

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But that's not the case in this specific instance @CalminHeart . 

Those reviews are clearly stating they have not purchased the handbag.  Both the 1-star, and 5-star reviews have their bone to pick and they admit it's not a review of the handbag.  Most complaints are about the high shipping cost; the 5 star reviews say they are "evening out the score" because of all the bogus 1-star reviews.   Pages & pages of this.   

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Reviews are managed by an IT system. They aren't reviewed by a live person prior to being posted. To catch all the possible abuses would make the system too expensive for any company.  I know, I don't care for reviews from people who haven't purchased the products either.  But nothing is perfect and we have to be able to recognize and discount the ones that shouldn't count.  

Sure, it'd be nice to have legit reviews all the time.  But it isn't going to happen.  If there are too many demands, a company may just remove the option to review.  To me this is an insignificant  issue and it boggles my mind that people are in such an uproar.

[Caaareful Shopper]

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@CalminHeart wrote:

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@Caaareful Shopper wrote:

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@CalminHeart wrote:

Items sold on Q are often sold elsewhere and it's possible people have purchased the items.  We can't control others but we can control how we react.  The older I get the more I wish I'd known long ago to not sweat the small stuff. jmo.

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But that's not the case in this specific instance @CalminHeart . 

Those reviews are clearly stating they have not purchased the handbag.  Both the 1-star, and 5-star reviews have their bone to pick and they admit it's not a review of the handbag.  Most complaints are about the high shipping cost; the 5 star reviews say they are "evening out the score" because of all the bogus 1-star reviews.   Pages & pages of this.   

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Reviews are managed by an IT system. They aren't reviewed by a live person prior to being posted. To catch all the possible abuses would make the system too expensive for any company.  I know, I don't care for reviews from people who haven't purchased the products either.  But nothing is perfect and we have to be able to recognize and discount the ones that shouldn't count.  

Sure, it'd be nice to have legit reviews all the time.  But it isn't going to happen.  If there are too many demands, a company may just remove the option to review.  To me this is an insignificant  issue and it boggles my mind that people are in such an uproar.

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@CalminHeart  It's not a 3rd world problem, and uproar is in the eye of the beholder.  You've spent just as much time on this issue, with several posts, trying to quiet the noise about it, as those of us that want to bring it to QVC's attention.  It's just everyone's opinion on the matter, which is a good thing to voice. 

It should matter to have a legit system.  Ordering online is already risky, not having the item in our hands before purchase.  I always weed out lousy reviews, but I'm also grateful for the good ones that are descriptive and useful.  That's what the reviews are for, aren't they?  To be useful for both the customer and the business. 

No, it doesn't keep me up at night, but I try to make very informed purchasing decisions before getting caught in the return fee merry-go-round.  If there are 25 reviews out of 30 that say to "size up," I size up.   I use the reviews on Amazon, HSN, and every online retailer as one more step to making a decision.  

I don't use QVC as entertainment TV, I shop here a lot.  The Reviews, with all its flaws, are still very helpful. 

[JavaQueen]

This whole site is a First World "thing."  You're on a shopping forum owned by the parent company of QVC. Shopping  (most of the time) on this web site is a friviolous, materialistic activity.

To be fair, I put my thread in the Suggestion Box, so it wasn't totally a rant.  I didn't know whether to put it in Q Talk or the Suggesion Box. 

It is an automated process and the stars factor in. For the consumer, they are important. For the buyers, they are important. Ultimately, they are in important to the success of the Q. Wouldn't you like them to surivive? So many retailers going under these days.

[loriqvc]

One thing that's frustrating in this situation is that QVC at least tried to address the problem by adding a requirement that reviewers select "Yes" or "No" in answer to the question, "Did you purchase and receive the item you are currently reviewing?" which should hopefully make people think a little bit before posting reviews. (I've never chosen "No," so I'm not sure if doing so prevents a review from being published.)

Reviews also require that a box be checked for "I confirm that this review is based on my personal experience and is my genuine opinion. I have no personal or business relationship with this brand, its owners or employees, and have not been offered any incentive or payment to write this review. Find out more about QVC's Ratings & Reviews Standards."

These efforts are a step in the right direction, but unfortunately, they appear to have had little to no impact on irresponsible (or downright useless or untrue) reviews. Since there seems to be only automated machine checking of reviews before they are posted, I'm not sure the current system can support a requirement that items be vetted as something a customer purchased in order to allow a review to be posted. And if the past is any indication, this is not an area QVC is going to invest its dollars in updating, no matter how many complaints are received. However, I will say that I've reported a few "inappropriate" reviews of items that had not yet been released, and some of them were deleted. When the crazy reviews all pile up as they did in the OP's reference, though, I'm pretty sure that's not as simple to fix. Fortunately, there are now at least three pages' worth of reviews from people who received the bag, so hopefully the ratings will become more valuable and balanced.

[Tissyanne]

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@loriqvc wrote:

One thing that's frustrating in this situation is that QVC at least tried to address the problem by adding a requirement that reviewers select "Yes" or "No" in answer to the question, "Did you purchase and receive the item you are currently reviewing?" which should hopefully make people think a little bit before posting reviews. (I've never chosen "No," so I'm not sure if doing so prevents a review from being published.)

Reviews also require that a box be checked for "I confirm that this review is based on my personal experience and is my genuine opinion. I have no personal or business relationship with this brand, its owners or employees, and have not been offered any incentive or payment to write this review. Find out more about QVC's Ratings & Reviews Standards."

These efforts are a step in the right direction, but unfortunately, they appear to have had little to no impact on irresponsible (or downright useless or untrue) reviews. Since there seems to be only automated machine checking of reviews before they are posted, I'm not sure the current system can support a requirement that items be vetted as something a customer purchased in order to allow a review to be posted. And if the past is any indication, this is not an area QVC is going to invest its dollars in updating, no matter how many complaints are received. However, I will say that I've reported a few "inappropriate" reviews of items that had not yet been released, and some of them were deleted. When the crazy reviews all pile up as they did in the OP's reference, though, I'm pretty sure that's not as simple to fix. Fortunately, there are now at least three pages' worth of reviews from people who received the bag, so hopefully the ratings will become more valuable and balanced.

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@loriqvc , 

  I review here at QVC often, and have never seen the box to be checked you speak of. I do use the QVC app. 

It is interesting that HSN will not allow a review if you did not make the purchase with them. 

[LTT1]

@JavaQueen @Tissyanne @loriqvc @Caaareful Shopper @CalminHeart 

Has anybody noticed the reviews that ask the question “Did you purchase this item.”

Often it answers “no,”

but obviously the reviewer left the question blank,

so it defaults to “no.” Lol

[loriqvc]

@Tissyanne - Here's a screenshot of the bottom part of the review form, taken from my desktop computer; it appears right after the options for adding photos/videos:

[loriqvc]

@LTT1 - The system will not allow users to proceed with submitting their reviews if they do not answer that question; error messages are automatically generated if any starred items on the review form are left unanswered.

[LTT1]

@loriqvc 

Here is a screen shot as an example of what I have been seeing:

[loriqvc]

@LTT1 - I think that's exactly what bothers many of us so much about the review system here; if you didn't buy an item, you shouldn't be reviewing it (some may have received items as gifts, but that's likely a small percentage). If the system requires an answer to that question, it would be nice if there were a way for anyone answering "no" to be prevented from posting a review, since it is far less likely to be valuable to others. (Of course, like now, people could just lie, though. Boo.)