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Gets right on my nerves! Yeah I know, first world problems etc. Like a lot of people I expect, and especially since lockdown, I buy a lot of stuff online. From big expensive items to run of the mill stuff and every single one of the sellers pesters you by email to write a review. Often repeatedly if you ignore them
When did sellers get so needy? What makes them think my product evaluation skills, feedback and precious time are theirs to demand for free!
Very occasionally, if something is much better or worse than expected I might oblige, but the rest of the time they can **** right off!
A lot of these will be in breach of GDPR as well if they are are third party review sites / companies as the person you have bought from is either using your email address in a way yo uhave not given permission or passed it on to a third party.
I agree. The thing that really pisses me off (with Amazon) is that if I leave a really bad review it won't be published.
Same happened on John Lewis, when I dared to bring in to question their delivery times. 10 days instead of 3
When reviewing stuff online (again Amazon) half of the reviews seem ridiculous. I would never sit down and right war and bloody peace reviewing a lamp shade I bought for £4.99 yet they are there, totally obviously paid for by Amazon.
Its the reminders that go on for weeks as well, 'please review your purchase' 'don't forget to review' 'there's still time to review' on and on.
Yes, reviews can go into room 101 for me.
It is annoying, but last year I realised that I spent a lot of time reading reviews before buying anything, but never contributed anything back in return. So I went through a period of reviewing everything I bought online (usually Amazon) if the opportunity was there. It lasted about 6 months before I trailed off, but I do still try and leave reviews where possible.
The ones I don't like are where they ask for your feedback then only publish if it suits them - Mercure hotels I'm looking at you.
Why not just ignore them. Its not like they are knocking on your front door like Jehova Witness earnestly trying to save your soul 🙂
Why not just ignore them. Its not like they are knocking on your front door like Jehova Witness earnestly trying to save your soul 🙂
Because then I wouldn't have any banal chit chat about mince and trivia to post in the 'chat' forum. 😄
totally obviously paid for by Amazon.
Paid for by the sellers. You buy it from Amazon, leave them a review then the seller refunds you via Paypal from some random Chinese account. Completely against Amazon T&C's but ironically results in more sales and profit for them. They claim to actively be trying to stop it but from the amount of obbviously fake reviews out there they aren't trying very hard. If you see a product that has lots of ratings but no actual written reviews then that's what has happened. Amazon delete the reviews but leave the ratings.
Set up a rule to hide them.
But be clever, set the rule up to pick up things like voucher, credit and free.
Three quid voucher may only be three quid but worth it.
So has anyone done reviews in return for goods? I have - I was contacted via a Facebook cycling group offering a free Cree light set in return for a good review of it - I had to pay up front for the lights, leave the review then they refunded me in full. And TBF, they are a great set of lights.
Feedback fatigue...
beloved by a certain type of manager who actually thinks that Net Promoter Scores are worth anything other than a line on a power point slide to show the "executive team" Come to the NHS where Friends and Family tests seem to be the sole arbiter of whether you're funded or not.
That I'm asking people who need a glaucoma op whether they'd recommend a glaucoma op to their friends and family seems a little pointless...mleh
IT person yesterday installed my new webcam because we do not have admin rights to our company laptops. Today, I got a 3 page evaluation form.
@johndoh no, and I confess to some ethical concerns! Not saying I wouldn't do it, but I might have the odd sleepless night 😄
pocpoc
Paid for by the sellers. You buy it from Amazon, leave them a review then the seller refunds you via Paypal from some random Chinese account. Completely against Amazon T&C’s but ironically results in more sales and profit for them. They claim to actively be trying to stop it but from the amount of obbviously fake reviews out there they aren’t trying very hard. If you see a product that has lots of ratings but no actual written reviews then that’s what has happened. Amazon delete the reviews but leave the ratings.
Amazon reviews aren't to be trusted. Another trick is that sellers can build up good reviews on an item, then change the item to something completely different and keep all the reviews/ratings.
blame ISO9001, the requiremetns for monitoring performance is becoming a pain in the backside..
I never get asked to review stuff. Feel like I’m missing out now. I’ve only ever read the comedy reviews on Amazon, the Barretine Methylated Spirits being a favourite.
Ever read reviews before buying? Yes, yes you do. They drive sales, so like it or not you are now a part of that sales engine, get it at a slight discount, well part of that reduction is that if you review it they will sell more.
I never get asked to review stuff. Feel like I’m missing out now. I’ve only ever read the comedy reviews on Amazon, the Barretine Methylated Spirits being a favourite.
I haven't read that one. I assume you've seen the Veet hair removal cream reviews? 😄
Edit: and the box canvas picture of Paul Ross 😄
The one that gets me is the outdoor retailer that will email me for a review of a product before I've even got home and attempted to use it...
I do find them mostly annoying. If buying off a reputable independent store that I like, I will happily consider posting a review once I've used the product for some time, if I think it would help other customers. I'd be happy to have a reminder about the product a month or two after buying it; just the once though.
Whilst I've never received anything to get me to write a good review, I have received something after writing a good review. I reviewed a paddling book I'd bought on Amazon, almost all positively but with some constructive criticism, as it is an excellent handbook. When the updated edition came out, and I met the author, he gave me a free copy of the new edition which contained amendments including those I'd suggested, and thanked me for the review. Needless to say, I also reviewed the new edition positively, though he never asked me to. Everybody happy!
If I've ever reviewed anything sent/lent to me without me buying it, I mention that fact. Generally though, I rarely post reviews on the main review sites, unless my experience/the product was either extremely good or extremely bad. I'm guessing that's why so many places/products have plenty of good reviews, yet a good smattering of really bad reviews, and not so much in the middling area.
Coming up next... You pop to corner shop for some milk and the security guard pesters you to fill in a 3-page survey about your buying experience before letting you leave the shop. 😆
I can live with the amazon ones that go straight into my inbox as i just bulk delete all the unread 'crap' once a week. The ones that annoy me are the ebay requests, i often just reply a flat "no" and they stop asking.
Recently had one on ebay that was a complete puddle****. Seller sent the complete wrong item (ordered a cargo net, they sent a wig), then when i messaged them about it they requested a shed load of information from me over several back and to's (tracking numbers, photos, other evidence) then when it eventually got refunded had the cheek to ask for a good review for sorting it out for me.
Good rant-based Op, content slightly lacking
I enjoyed the op. It was a good rant-based opening, but I felt it tailed off somewhat towards the middle. The expletive level lacked commitment and I felt that it could have used more bold type and perhaps even some underlining.
Overall though I enjoyed it. Would read again.
3 stars
I buy absolutely shedloads online, can't say I've ever noticed a huge volume (get the odd few) of requests to review, certainly not enough to actually bother me! Takes 1s to delete the email anyway (or as some mentioned above just set up a rule to automatically bin them!)
Plus as someone has mentioned, SOMEONE has to "give back" and do the reviews; they can be extremely useful once you've learned how to interpret/filter them (that is a whole other topic though 😃)
that is fair enough tho IMO, the delivery service has absolutely nothing to do with the quality of the item! If you want to review the company overall, or the service, there are other places to do it.Same happened on John Lewis, when I dared to bring in to question their delivery times. 10 days instead of 3
I buy absolutely shedloads online, can’t say I’ve ever noticed a huge volume (get the odd few) of requests to review, certainly not enough to actually bother me!
+1, get very few myself....
My "can't comment as I've not received it yet" review was not acceptable.
Neither are the ones for the company who provides a generic item book but we're prompt.
I don't leave Brad the dpd guy a review. He drove here, left the parcel, drove away. 5*
Good rant-based Op, content slightly lacking
I see what you did there. Good premise and a decent effort but ultimately left me cold. 2 stars.
Bennets pestered me to review their motorcycle insurance, not had the displeasure of using it yet so any review is gonna be pointless 🤔
I get multiple requests to review virtually everything I buy online. I just delete the request & they eventually stop. What really irritates me is website that send continuous pop-ups of “how did we do” within seconds of landing on their site..!!! This is usually followed by a pop up offering me discount if I sign up to their mailing list. I can 100% guarantee that every single time I’ve signed up to get discount on an item I want, there’s some small print telling me why the item I’ve chosen doesn’t get discount. The rub is that you can’t actually see this until you try to use the discount - just a shitty way of building their mailing list, which only serves to piss me off.
Does anyone trust most online reviews anyway?? Everything on Amazon seems to be 4 stars or more which just can't be reflective of reality.
<span style="font-size: 0.8rem;">Half the reviews seem to be people who have just opened the box "looks quality, 5 stars" or "postman left it outside in the rain, 1 star".</span>
It seems only a very small percentage actually leave a meaningful review, but who can be bothered to trawl through them all to find them.
I rarely leave reviews, mostly because I get an email asking for it within a week of the item arriving. I want to have used a product for a few months minimum before commenting, by which time I've forgotten. Ah well.
I'll do the occasional one for small local companies that I have a good relationship with, the corporates can bugger off.
Screwfix had a good one for No Nails or Sticks like ****
Lol at Kayak23! Well played 👍
Those mails all do have a "don't mail me" button at the bottom. 🙂
That said I do wish the companies would harass for reviews less because of the review that say stuff like "I bought this for my son and he hasn't opened it yet".
I did a silly, mostly stupidly nonsensical review of a very cheap curtain pole (Title: "A very poley pole") I bought from Wilkos, just to whack something up in the spare room. It was lockdown, I was bored. And they put it on the website! So the reviews are pretty pointless really. Unless you're bored.
Oh I found it: [url= https://www.wilko.com/en-uk/wilko-120-210cm-extendable-silver-ball-curtain-pole/p/0430834 ]Wilko[/url] (page 2 of reviews)
Man I was bored.
It's the negative reviews left by people that clearly don't have a clue on how they are supposed to use the product in question.
"I left my dog in its new crate for an hour and when I got back it had destroyed it".
No ****ing shit? Wonder why.