OT online reviews

[hubops]

" It must be good - the pretty lady in the online review wouldn't lie, would she .. ? "

John T.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Reinforces what I've figured of most of those people. I do read some Amazon reviews about a specific feature but still have to be careful. I've seen poor rating for reasons like "the UPS guy dropped the box" or {I ordered the wrong color"

[hubops]

Reviews for _the wrong product_ give me a laugh ... John T.

[rbowman]

Last week I wrote a cat food review for Blue Wilderness. The cat would eat the salmon but wouldn't touch the chicken or duck. I put the stuff on the deck. There are several cats in the neighborhood that cruise around looking for food. No takers. I've verified with a game camera that there is a skunk and a raccoon that prowl around. No takers.

Anyway I figured this stuff must really suck, so I looked at the reviews. Most were one star citing the same problem. Somehow though the top line had 4 1/2 stars.

I have seen some reviews like 'I haven't used X yet but it looks really cool.'

Still, taking the online reviews with a grain of salt and seeking out more than one, they are more helpful than things like Consumer Reports. I used to look at their reviews of things I know nothing about like digital cameras. Then I realized that for thing where I did have knowledge the reports recommended plain vanilla safe bets.

Cars are a good example. For expensive cars they would conclude 'you could buy two Honda Civics'. For cheap cars, 'you would be better off with a used Honda Civic'. For equal priced cars the spinner always stopped on Honda Civic.

[Wade Garrett]

I like the reviews that down-rate the product or the seller because a timely-shipped package was delayed for several days by the post office...

[Mark Lloyd]

[snip]

Once I ordered a little tube of CPU grease, that I got a week late. According to the post office, it was delivered on time but to the wrong address. It took someone a week to notice they got something they shouldn't have.

[Scott Lurndal]

Or, perhaps they were out of town.

Or maybe they don't check their mail every day.

[Wade Garrett]

Had a similar experience years ago ordering a fairly expensive watch from Overstock.com (who was, bless their heart, quick to send out a replacement when I had first complained).

[Ralph Mowery]

I always hate the reviews that degrade the product due to either shipping or the suplier not being that great. Too bad that the reviewers do not rate the shipping and supliers seperte from the actual product. Another bad rating is if you get something that is damaged or defective on arriavle.

[Dean Hoffman]

She's just telling fishin' stories.

Actually, isn't she breaking some law when she claims to be some sort of licensed professional? Or maybe the professions she claimed don't require licensing?

[Ed Pawlowski]

Problem with her, she said she actually used the product. I've seen commercials for local car dealers and the same exact commercial and spokes person was toughing the benefits of buying from the local dealer. The difference, he never said he actually bought and used the product. In PA it is Bob's Ford, in VA it is Fred's Ford, etc. Makes for low production cost.

[hubops]

After the TV show's investigations - she was removed from the review-for-hire web site ; and they posted a small disclaimer that the "reviewers" were actors hired by the product/service company. ... which might let her off-the-hook retroactively ? Shysters be shysters - I strongly suspect that this one just created a different ID and bought a few wigs and make-up. John T.

[hubops]

Seriously ... _that's_ the problem with her ? Duh. .. she tells major bare-faced lies about her medical credentials and academic credentials and employment and pretty-much _ everything _ ... but the REAL problem is her white-lie about actually using the product/service ... John T.

[Tekkie©]

On Tue, 13 Apr 2021 11:29:00 -0500, Mark Lloyd posted for all of us to digest...

You didn't get all hot & bothered? ;)

[Tekkie©]

On Tue, 13 Apr 2021 14:09:25 -0400, Ed Pawlowski posted for all of us to digest...

Reminds me of "Better call Saul"

[Vic Smith]

Pretty sure online reviews really hurt Consumer Reports subscriptions. I know I dropped my CR subscription when online reviews became widely available. The main issue with using online reviews is you have to have enough of them, and use your judgement in reading them. Obviously, you don't pay any attention to reviewers who haven't even used the product, rave about feature that don't interest you, or down-rated it because of random shipping issues. If shipping is a chronic complaint, it's a real issue. When I built this computer, in 2015, I ordered my computer parts exclusively from Newegg. The reviews for the MB I bought - Asus Hero VII - were mediocre at best. But so were ALL the other reviews of new generation MB's, no matter the manufacturer. But the main problem was DOA's that reduced the scores. I surmised that the bulk of the DOA complaints was simply user incompetence, so I ordered anyway. The MB has been flawless. The quality probably increased as number of reviews increased, but I never checked. Maybe at that time Amazon had more reviews on that MB than Newegg, but I didn't look. I think Amazon has the most accurate reviews because it somehow has developed a "culture" for reviewing products. I know I have reviewed by far more Amazon products that anywhere else. On some sites it seems the bulk of the reviews are "complainers." Just some of my thoughts on it.

[Wade Garrett]

Hard to see how a bunch of jack-leg online reviews could compare with Consumer Reports' scientific testing or annual auto surveys.

Having said that though, CR really dropped the ball on their major kitchen appliance reviews and guidance about six or seven years ago.

We did a major kitchen remodel and bought all the new appliances based primarily on their recommendations. We were quite disappointed with the results.

Frigidaire top of the line glass-top slide in electric range: Dog. Frigidaire customer no-service- Useless.

Frigidaire matching top of the line over the range microwave: Dog. Frigidaire customer no-service- Useless.

Whirlpool top of the line French door refrigerator: Hard to use- and a reliability issue.

Bosch top of the line dishwasher: Major door leak initially- but after that, OK.

[Vic Smith]

Hell, at least 95% of what I buy isn't reviewed by CR.

Then there's that. You ever ask yourself where's the "scientific testing" that led you to buy those items?

[Wade Garrett]

Don't do much cooking so I don't run it much- just often enough to keep the seals pliable...

[Wade Garrett]

I was really pissed at them over that episode and stopped subscribing for several years.

Recently though, I bought a digital subscription just to for the auto ratings and reliability surveys which are generally pretty accurate.

I would not have paid full price for it- but stumbled across a deal for a big discount.