Before buying anything online, we read product reviews and invariably there is at least one negative review. Maybe it’s just me but that one review can sour my impression of the product. Are you influenced by the reviews, good or bad?
One bad(even a string of them) doesn't have effect until I look at dates. Sometimes for whatever reason the bad ones are the oldest.
I trust everyone knows there are groups/firms whose business is to write online reviews, good and bad, for whoever hires them.
I do read reviews and sift through them for information I want to know. I also write a lot of reviews but try to make them worthwhile and not just "I love this!!!" I'm glad that many businesses have added the "verified purchase" disclaimer to reviews. I find it annoying when reviewers post their dissatisfaction with speed of delivery or other nonsense that has nothing to do with product quality. I am an Amazon Vine reviewer and have received a lot of very nice products for review over the years, free to me. I always provided an honest evaluation of the product and never submitted unwarranted positives.
I have had a negative review of a product removed by the company, who admitted reading all the reviews of their products before they were visible to the public. They DID notify me they were doing it, however, but it made me think they removed many bad reviews and only posted mostly positive reviews.
@Beth Gallagher , how do you get to be an Amazon Vine reviewer? That sounds like a good job for me. I Like giving my opinion.
I wanted to do that, too. When I looked , it said that they choose people, so we just started trying to be sure to leave a review for everything that we bought on Amazon. That was several years ago, so maybe there is something that I didn’t know to do. I would love to know how you got to be an Amazon vine reviewer, too, @Beth Gallagher. https://www.amazon.com/vine/about
When reading reviews on Amazon, Google or wherever, I tend to discount those that don't have both pros and cons. Those are the ones I pay attention to, thinking the reviewer was likely paying attention to the realities of the product.
Recently I've been leaning on the 3 Star reviews instead of the 1 Star reviews. They seem to be more informative and balanced. But I agree...I have been dissuaded from buying products because of low reviews. In fact, I'm in the process of setting up a couple of different air hose configurations for my compressor and wanted a reel (self-retracting or manual crank), and because of all the bad reviews, I decided to get a generic garden hose rack to hang the hoses on.
Shirley and Yvonne--I have had an Amazon account since 1995, and started writing reviews way back then. It was books at that time, and I have since developed a real aversion to reviewing books. Books are so subjective. Anyhow, one day out of the blue I received an email from Amazon about the kickoff of the Vine program and asking if I'd care to participate. I believe that was in 2007 or so. I decided to give it a whirl and enjoyed it for many years. A lot of people have asked me how to be a Vine Voice but the answer hasn't changed in all these years... you have to be "invited." As a Vine Voice you are offered a selection of merchandise monthly and can select something to receive and evaluate. I used to be much more active in the program; I'd receive an item monthly and had 30 days to write my review. My interest has dwindled (and so have my reviews). I keep expecting them to "uninvite" me but so far they are just letting it rock along.
I do reviews also-but only if they are really good or really bad. Had terrible service at a Olive Garden few years ago, and after my review manger sent me $60 gift card. I do look at reviews, but make a decision based on how recent their review is, their needs vs my needs, and a few other things. So far has panned out well. I hate sending things back, but do not want to get stuck with faulty un useable items either. I have a sauce pan coming today from Amazon. Am replacing all teflon or plastic items with metal or glass. Will let you know how that goes.
I was perusing twitter and reading that the whole Russian invasion thing is probably a psyop to distract from the Biden criminal activity, and along the way, I found this Amazon ad for their influencers. Yes, they really think that this ad is going to influence me to purchase this dress…….
I have since back then been invited to Amazon Vine. They have "Recommended for you items" and have a long list of additional items. I have received some nice things from them. Some of it is not as nice. I always give my honest opinion except if it's a piece of shit, I word it a little more politely. They won't accept vulgar language.