Tampered Customer Reviews - Clarks Shoes

DC2010

I was knocked-back by Clarks this week after they tampered with a review I put on their website this week. No wonder all their products seem to get a 5 star rating according to their feedback !

I bought a pair of their Kite Flyer leather moccasin slippers which are excellent and I said so. I remarked that another style I had tried on were poor fitting, uncomfortable and I disliked the style. Without any reference or explanation Clarks only used the complimentary comments and rejected my other comments.

I would have understood but not liked it if they had decided not to post the whole review but to selectively post only comments which enhance their reviews is dishonest and unethical. And it makes Clarks Shoes look small-minded. I have emailed them to complain but so far have had no response.

trumpton

I think this may actually be illegal now. I would be inclined to ask them tro remove the positive review as well now, plus email Watchdog about it. It is definitely unethical to me.

clever_username

I suppose that ultimately they'll tell you it's their website and they have the right to edit or delete anything that goes on there.

jennikitten

Is there a review section for the other style you didn't like? If so, I would post your comments on that specific page & see if they reject/change it. It's possible that they removed your negative comments because you weren't talking about the product related to that page and they deemed it irrelevant.

Freddie_Snowbits

The editor retains the right to remove or ammend letters?

poppy10_2

clever_username wrote: »

I suppose that ultimately they'll tell you it's their website and they have the right to edit or delete anything that goes on there.

Still though, it's very misleading to post reviews that they claim are written by customers when they have been edited by staff to present a very different picture to that intended by the customers who wrote them. It's like the old joke about the movie producers putting the quote "stunning" on the posters when the actual review quote was "stunningly bad"

clever_username

poppy10 wrote: »

Still though, it's very misleading to post reviews that they claim are written by customers when they have been edited by staff to present a very different picture to that intended by the customers who wrote them.

Oh I'm not arguing that this sort of behaviour is correct or ethical, just pointing out that since it's 'their' website they can probably edit or delete anything they don't want on there.

I'm not agreeing with it.

RHemmings

Does it say that the reviews are edited/selected? If not, then I'd think this to be misleading advertising, as they're pretending that an overwhelming percentage of their customers have very positive views of their products, while the reality is likely to be different. If these reviews were posted in print media, then the Advertising Standards Authority would be a place where someone might choose to complain. However, since it's Clarks' own site, I think it might be Trading Standards to which any complaints should be made.

dmg24

I can understand why retailers at least moderate reviews before allowing them on their site. It would appear that Parcels2Go do not, as the following has been on there for a few days now:

WOW!
What a shower of sh!te this company is! Booked and paid for parcel delivery and THEY cancelled the collection. I will never use this shower again. Will i get my money back, will i hell if this is the standard of operations run by this company. have notified watchdog and joined the facebook group detailing how crap tis company really is.

RHemmings

dmg24 wrote: »

I can understand why retailers at least moderate reviews before allowing them on their site. It would appear that Parcels2Go do not, as the following has been on there for a few days now:

I give a lot more credence to reviews on websites where the rough is given with the smooth, as in Argos product reviews. If I see a website with only positive reviews, it conversely gives me a poor impression of the company as I immediately assume that they are sneaky sh*ts.

dmg24

RHemmings wrote: »

I give a lot more credence to reviews on websites where the rough is given with the smooth, as in Argos product reviews. If I see a website with only positive reviews, it conversely gives me a poor impression of the company as I immediately assume that they are sneaky sh*ts.

I don't think this is the case here though - if you look at the other reviews, they are in the main a little too polished, I would guess most are made up. I think the only reason that one is on there is because they have given five star ratings, so the retailer has neglected to check it.