Is It Wrong To Leave A Bad Review For A WSO?

[mrmatt]

Everyone is talking about products. There is also many services being offered as well. I have been completely happy with every product I have purchased so far. (I've only bought 2)

But I've also bought and paid for two services. One was awesome. Fernando Veloso who has a minisite offer which I highly recommend.

The other service was completely awful. My own stupidity really. The old adage of "You get what you pay for" was so true for this particular transaction. I knew better but bit anyway.

I may or may not leave negative feedback for the current WSO he is running and any future WSO's after reading this thread.

But quite frankly the reason I have not is because I am waiting to see if he refunds my money. And two because I am new to the forum and don't want to get started off on the wrong foot. And finally when I do offer something for a WSO I don't want to have someone posting stuff in revenge.

In other words I think that people don't leave negative feedback because they don't want to get flamed(which seems to have happened to several people in this thread)
and the fear of revenge.

[MikeHumphreys]

Originally Posted by Andy1750

That's not the point. Reviews are only of any use to people if you get to see the good as well as the bad. If the products are junk then warn others not to waste their money.

If people write a crap product then they don't deserve to make any money. Isn't that fair?

Andy

The problem with reviews is keeping them from becoming subjective. What a veteran marketer considers to be rehashed basic material may be a virtual gold mine to someone who has never seen it before.

If you buy something that was crap, ask for a refund. If the merchant ignores it, then file a complaint with PayPal or the credit card company you made the purchase with. I'll tell you from personal experience as a buyer and as a seller, both PayPal and the c.c. companies make a lot of effort to protect the buyer, not the seller.

I've bought a lot of WSOs over the years... not as many in the last 2 years as before but that's another topic for another thread someday. Some of them were great. Some of them flat-out stunk.

In all cases, it was my opinion of their value.

I've only asked for a refund once and I did receive it.

The rest of the sellers of "bad" WSOs (by my scorecard not someone else's) lost something far more valuable: any repeat business from me. That repeat business also includes testimonials, referrals, and even potential endorsement mailings or JVs.

The folks who offered a "great" WSO (by my scorecard not someone else's) stay on my radar. When I see something else that they are selling, I make it a point to find out what it is and if it's something of interest, I buy it.

The Warriors who show me that they are only here for a quick cash grab or don't want to be bothered with answering a customer's email... I make it a point to never do business with them again.

The Warriors who show me that they are serious at offering top-quality products or services and are in it for the long-haul... well, I make it a point to do business with them whenever it's appropriate.

My 2 cents,

Mike

[mathiasc]

I don't think its wrong to leave a bad comment but its just not very nice. What i suggest is like what others have said is to get a refund. If they come down hard on you, then you should come down hard on them to be fair.

[sevenish]

I think it's important to leave proper feedback, be it positive or negative. The most important thing to remember is that you evaluate the product against the sales copy, in my opinion.

Did the sales copy exaggerate the potential of the product? Did the sales copy underplay the level of effort required. Did the sales copy guarantee a certain amount of profit if only you purchased the product?

Those are the criteria against which I measure method-based products. The delivered material measured against the sales copy is all that is needed to make an informed post -- be it positive or negative.

Of course, when a noted MMO method product vendor sells WSOs over and over, bump after bump, year after year ... ya gotta wonder how effective are those methods for him/her as opposed to selling that dream to you. That's just due diligence.

[AlbertF]

I would say to give a the review. Sellers should learn to take criticism. If they can't do that, they will never be a good marketer. If someone were to give a bad review, I would simply ask questions why and how to make it up for them. This is how it should be, and should always be. It is sort of like how we eat at a restaurant, you leave honest reviews, and the owner should have no impact on it, unless they want to make it up for those bad reviews and consider their mistakes.

[prashie91]

Hey..of course it's ok! you have the right to your opinion! if the WSO creator or any damn partner has a problem with you, tell him to sod off! you could easily get him banned from this forum, especially if he's been threatening you.

you are NOT obliged to write a good review just because you bought it.

[trax2]

How does one classifies a bad review, or for that matter a good one? Can't anyone stay objective and leave emotions out of what you write.

If it works (don't use word like good, excellent etc) just state the facts of why it works, give details etc etc

If it doesn't work (dont use words like bad, crap etc) again just state the facts why it does not work

There should be NO GOOD or BAD just facts

But more choice is GOOD

[sbucciarel]

To me it would only deserve a bad review if the product did not function as described and after contacting the owner, you got no remedy.

[Clyde Dennis]

An "Honest" review should never be a problem. Just don't make it personal and tell ALL of the facts. Keyword being "ALL" of the facts.

[banker0679]

please make sure to give honest reviews

i recently purchased something for another member here, and they exclaimed that it was a great product etc etc

they explained that it helped you out in seo, and it was a great resource

i purchased the product and realized that i lost $$$

most ppl dont know and think they got a great product, but a lot of ppl who purchased the product don't ANYTHING about SEO

it was a shame that i didn't do my due diligence and following ALL the posts that the OP did. I found out later through reading the Seller's posts, that they don't know much about SEO.

Here are some tips
1. Check to see if there are any reviews from well respected members of the forum
2. Check to see if there are reviews from members who are in the niche not something who may think this is the latest 'magic bullet'
3. Check the Posters post that are not on the thread. See how they interact with others, and how they demonstrate their knowledge in the forums.
4. If it's too good to be true...then it's usually false
5. Remember that 10% is someone telling you to do something, and the other 90% is you doing it. You can buy all the ebooks out there but you may never do it what it tells you because of laziness

[Steve Peters Benn]

I think you need to be fair to the WSO author - have you given the product the time, attention that it deserved, did you make a fair purchasing decision - eg was it right for you, and also have you contacted the author to discuss your issues. If you have then slate away, but most times I find (for myself) that I either havn't invested the effort or the author has helped me out.

[robertvance]

I do not think an honest review would be out of place but I do think you should try to resolve with the seller before posting. just my openion It is aways best to work it out so there are no hard feelings.

[powerspike]

At the end of the day, if the op of the wso has made misleading comments or lied outright, i'd contact the op first and give him an opportunity to fix it, if nothing was done then i'd leave a a negative review. But i would give the op a fair chance to fix up/resolve the issue(s) first. After all, maybe it wasn't communicated correctly, or perhaps you just misunderstand what was on offer.

[Eric Lorence]

Seems to me that a seller that can respond to criticism with poise and professionalism can leave a lasting impression.

So much so that I would in turn remember the seller, and consider products from them in the future.

A reasonable debate on the merits of a product goes a long way toward defining the personalities involved, beyond simple back slapping reviews.

In the same token, a seller who reacts to criticism with disdain and arrogance, and without addressing the issues directly will only hurt their own reputation. Simply implying that it is the buyer who has the problem or who has not "acted" is simply not enough to develop a solid reputation.

Yes, critical reviews are important, as long as it's business... not personal.

[John Blaisdale]

I haven't sold any WSO's nor have I bought any so I don't have much experience with the WSO section. However, the point you raise is one that can be applied to many areas of commerce online. I think that you shouldn't feel obligated to "go with the flow".

If you feel that a product you have purchased severely under delivered and you can back it up then go ahead and voice your opinion.

[internetwarrior97]

More people should step up and write honest reviews about a product. If people neglected to leave reviews (good or bad), you are not standing up for where your hard earned money went. You could also be saving other buyers of THEIR hard earned money (this comes full circle - don't you appreciate it when you can read reviews written by other people of the product you're considering purchasing?).

Plus, reviews pointing out a product's deficiency may help the creator improve their product (I'm going to assume that people aren't just creating crap...hopefully..).