If it has more than about 10% one star I am cautious but more than 20% I will pass. You can give people a stack of $100 bills and there will be those few that will complain about something.
I just ordered a Toslink cable. I looked at four of them, Three had 1 star reviews with the same complaint about the fit. 10%, 4%, 4%. Then another brand that cost a dollar more had no bad reviews out of 966. I'll spend another buck to eliminate the potential for problems.
I've been fortunate as nothing I bought on line had to be returned. I do some research though. Amazon has been a major source of "stuff" for me but I have bought elsewhere. If I can buy the same item locally at close to the same price I will as it give me a chance to touch the item too.
Depends on the item. I canceled my subscription to Consumers Reports many years ago because their car surveys were far from my reality. They used circles instead of stars. In general if the item is on Amazon I look for a 3 star minimum. Having hundreds of reviews simplifies the winnowing process. Occasionally, if there aren't enough reviews, I'll go as low as
2 1/2 stars. Did that with a washing machine and a motherboard, and had no problems with either. But felt compelled to buy a replacement warranty for the washer, which added a couple hundred to the price.
I missed the point of the OP first time around....
I look at the Amazon reviews a couple different ways.
First thing, I look for 4-5 stars average.
then I select the low reviews (1 and 2 stars) and read through some of them - trying so spot some quality or basic design issue.
Then I select all reviews and look for situations where shills are posting fake positive reviews - there's a certain feel to the descriptive language that will make me conclude it's a fake review.
My caveat with Amazon reviews is that Amazon will request you doing them when you have not yet even opened the package or just opened it. When the purchase is time tested, your opinion of it could change considerably.
Cancelled many years ago for the same reason. What they considered a fault on an appliance I thought was one of the best features. They definitely have a bias.
This became blatantly apparent when CR rated a Toyota vehicle as being superior to a similar GM branded vehicle. Turns out both vehicles were the exact same vehicle produced on the exact same factory assembly line (Fremont, CA, NUMMI plant).
IOW, zero difference, other than the biased reviews. ;)
I've been caught in that exact same situation, only I lost.
Amazon had 100+ five-star reviews, witha nary a single negative. Turns out the item was junk and I re-evaluated those positive reviews and finally noticed they all used similar terms to describe the item. This after being a Prime member fer a couple yrs. Fortunately, I spent less than $20 on this particular Amazon scam. ;)
I always get suspicious of anything that has all positive reviews. As someone mentioned it people were given $ 100 bills someone would complain about the color, or not being fresh enough, or some other equally negative review.
Unless I know someone whose opinion I value has one I try not to buy that item.
I can't find it right now, but I read a detailed 1? review for a pr oduct where the author included 4 bullet points labeled 1-4. It was a well writte n review and clearly explained what the author didn't like.
Further down was another 1? review, written by a (supposedly) diffe rent author and dated 2 years later. It was a detailed 1? review where t he author include 2 bullet points labeled 1-2. Those 2 bullet points were word for wo rd the same as bullet points 3 & 4 of the earlier review.
In addition, while not 100% word for word, the opening paragraphs in both reviews were probably 85-90% word for word.
Either the later reviewer was too lazy to write his own review and just use copy/paste from the earlier review or the first reviewer decided to come back and slam the product again, 2 years later.
Then again, maybe the first reviewer forgot that he hated the product and bought it again 2 years later. ;-)
I'll agree with the painless returns, but don't be fooled by the "free shipping".
Less than a minute ago I ordered an new clock movement for my classic "circular saw blade shop clock".
$11.99 Prime, arrives by March 14.
$10.99 with free shipping from a different seller, arrives March 14-17. If things go as they typically do, it'll be here no later than the 15th, but even the 17th is fine.
The other day I was looking at LED bulbs for my trailer. $12.98 Prime, $9.99 + $2.99 shipping ($12.98) from a different seller. So maybe they show up a day or 2 later. Rarely is the shipping time that critical, at least not for me.
What some folks call "free shipping" with Prime, I usually describe as "free guaranteed 2 day delivery". That's what you actually get with Prime, but it's often built into the price and subsidized by your membership fee.
Now, one thing I am impressed with as far as Amazon goes is their phone-based customer service. I don't think I've ever been on-hold for even a minute waiting for a rep. I don't know how many call centers they have or how big they are, but for a company with as many customers as Amazon to have virtually no wait time for a live person is pretty amazing.
Sounds like you have mucho practice on returning stuff to Amazon.
When I had Prime, I discovered I tended to order a lotta stuff I didn't really need. One good thing! Amazon Prime will ship most anything. I ordered something as cheap as $2.35USD and, by dog, it was on my doorstep two days later! ;)
My computer at work is on a network that causes websites to think that I am in NYC.
Some of the items on Amazon come up as available for *same day* delivery until I give Amazon the real shipping address. Then I get the Prime 2 Day Guarantee.
I don't consider anything under 4 unless the qty of reviews are under
Then I will read them to determine the irrelevant ones as you stated.
Occasionally there is/are reviews where a person(s) provides very precise detail which clearly displays they know what they are talking about. Sometimes I may simply take their word for it and risk a purchase. Overall, the more reviews the better with a 4+ rating is my option.
Consumer Reports is handy because it will bring up issues I wouldn't have thought of on my own. That said, they're tree huggers. And I get the idea kids would never be able to run without helmets if CR writers had their way.
If it is on sale and the reviews are 4 plus look at the dates of the reviews. Batteries included could arrive dead. Both a flashlight from ledlenser and an rca tablet i bought had 4 plus reviews but the items werre old and dead upon arrival. The light was destroyed by an installed leaker and the tab wont hold a charge.
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