On Line Reviews

[Bazile]

How much attention do you pay to on line reviews ?

Perhaps we should take them with a pinch of salt ?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-47952165

We recently took delivery of an item of furniture from a company .
Before we bought it , we looked at the reviews on their own website , for their products and their customer service - which were glowing .

We are happy with the product by the way - but should we have relied on the reviews on their website ?

[Old_Geezer]

It's your only guide though. Need to check independent review sites, and even then be aware of the potential issue.

[pixie374]

I use reviews as a guide if it's somewhere I don't know, but generally prefer to ask people who have tried them already.

[Bazile]

But there are problems with independent sites - eg trust pilot etc

[Mamyalynne]

My first port of call for reviews is family and friends, then I have a good look round before making my decision.

Any online reviews I give are honest whether I've bought the product or it has been a free one to try following a survey.

[Bazile]

Trouble is pixie / mamy , there are occasions you don't know anyone who has bought a particular product or service from a particular provider

[Mamyalynne]

Of course, so you research and then make your own mind up.

[ummmm]

I don't pay heed to them generally, especially about hotels.

[ToraToraTora]

Most online reviews are written by the seller or agents of the seller. Not worth a J'arthur.

[ummmm]

And the competition.

[ummmm]

I pay heed to reviews when the seller answers questions.

[spathiphyllum]

I take a lot of attention to reviews. However if there is one bad review, and 15 good ones, i'll ignore the bad review. If it's one good review, 15 bad ones.. You get the picture i'm sure.

[237SJ]

I don't tend to take much notice of reviews on a company's website (apart from Amazon) because they are not going to post the bad ones. I look at independent sites such as trustpilot and Tripadvisor. Some people only take to review sites in a fit of pique when they have been treated badly so there isn't always a balanced opinion.

[spathiphyllum]

I agree with every point you make SJ, especially regarding the people mostly leave reviews when something hasn't gone expected.

[ummmm]

I stayed in a nice hotel when someone gave it 1* because it had a loose roof tile!

People expect too much. I stayed in a hotel in Malta that has really bad reviews. Nothing wrong with it. It was nice and clean, staff were nice. People want 5* for the price of 1*

[douglas9401]

That may have been the one star they could see through the hole in the roof, ummmm

[ummmm]

lol..but no.

[237SJ]

I tend to study reviews on Tripadvisor from UK customers as ( I know from my own job) different nationalities have different expectations. If someone says there's a scamble for sunbeds and shade every morning, I won't touch the place with a bargepole but if they complain because the minibar doesn't have enough stock then I wouldn't care. You have to look for what's important for you and then take an overview

[Bazile]

This is about fake reviews though - that's where the problem seems to lie , according to the report .

You don't know which are genuine or fake reviews on a company website or an independent review site like trustpilot

[ummmm]

You're right, 237, I'm not interested in sunbeds, so that issue wouldn't register with me.

I do read reviews but I don't take them as gospel.

[ummmm]

Baz...yes, rivals post negative things, people are paid to write reviews even though the haven't used a product/stayed at a hotel.