Why I don't trust online review sites

by SJL
12 replies
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There is alot of different kind of review sites around today, but I have hard time trusting any of them. Here's the main arguments I have against them.
  • Most sites review products they are affiliated to, they get money or products for doing it, or from the customers they bring in.
  • There's no way to know if visitor reviewing the product has an affiliation to the product/service he/she is reviewing.
  • Happy customers rarely seek out ways to that the company, so most visitors are looking ways to complain about their experience.
I the worst-case scenario an employee that publishes honest bad review, get fired for it. (ref. GameSpot reviewer Jeff Gerstmann)


Thoughts?
  • Profile picture of the author JustinDupre
    It all depends.. there are bad and good people everywhere. I agree that it's much harder to trust a review online, but I mean a suggestion or two couldn't hurt. It would probably work better if there were a mutual exchange like barutiwa suggested. A win win concept is the way to go!
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  • Profile picture of the author MichaelRay
    Same thing with tv commercials I guess. We see famous people endorsing products and we know they are paid but somehow we still believe on what they say.
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  • Profile picture of the author Rick B
    I always try to get what appear to be unbiased reviews. If I want to check out software, for example, I go to Google and type the software's name in quotes and also the word "reply" or "forum". That way I tend to get search results for threads at forums where people are talking about their experiences with the software. Of course, you still have to determine whether that person might be affiliated with the software.

    Good luck!
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  • Profile picture of the author cheap_hosting
    well...there are few sites that do legit reviews...hard to find them though. I was gonna buy a phone from wirefly but after i read reviews i backed out...so there are a few.
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  • Profile picture of the author jeancrook
    because most of them are fake.
    online review sites are not doing review seriously many times.
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    • Profile picture of the author surgematrix
      I can see where you are coming from. I do not trust them either. It is business. These companies pays to get good reviews to attract customers. I say if you need to get review about a company, come to forum like this and post your question. You might most likely found someone that had interacted or knew something. you can also google the company. It will amaze you what you will find.
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  • Profile picture of the author KimW
    The worst (glowing) reviews actually come from forums like these.
    You see someone post in the forum "I've used this, it did this,yadda yadda yadda" and you think its legit when it really was posted by en employee or something.
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  • Profile picture of the author FostinWD
    to be completely honest, Im an affiliate marketer and i dont read online reviews. I usually check message boards or forums like this one if i want to buy something.
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    • Profile picture of the author KimW
      Originally Posted by FostinWD View Post

      to be completely honest, Im an affiliate marketer and i dont read online reviews. I usually check message boards or forums like this one if i want to buy something.
      See above post.
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  • Profile picture of the author MikeAmbrosio
    Depends on what I am looking to buy, but I find that if I am buying a physical product (like a TV or a lawn mower, etc.) I read a TON of reviews to get an overall picture.

    However, I don't use a review site. I read the reviews on the shopping site, such as Amazon, or Best Buy, etc.

    On line products - I trust the word of an actual customer that I know personally. But I only look for those reviews if the product I am looking at is pricey. Typically, $97 and under, I will buy without a review if it either appeals to me, or is something that I was searching for to begin with.
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  • Profile picture of the author Weteran
    You have right it looks like they do this only for money, even if product is a scam.
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  • Profile picture of the author Rick B
    I've also noticed that if there is a strong reason for not purchasing something, including software, there are usually a bunch of people bad-mouthing the item at forums. If I see many positive comments AND few or no negative comments, I feel pretty safe purchasing the item.
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