Fake reviews on the rise. What to do??

IAmWales

https://www.amazon.co.uk/review/top-reviewers/ref=cm_cr_tr_link_1

The Top 1000 reviewers on Amazon UK. These people either enjoy buying an inordinate amount of random tat, or they're getting the goods for free.

Sexy Sheer Polyester Sleepshirt anyone?

hollydays

If you don't subscribe to Which you an go to the library and look for free.

[Deleted User]

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

You say you made the right choice but then you also stated that the deal was too good to be true.

I'd just take the remark in context of what was being said. It's obvious the OP meant the deal was simply very good.

JuicyJesus

I don't trust Amazon reviews for many things. Not least since the last time I left a not even negative, just average one, I got bombarded with emails from the seller offering me various inducements to change it to be more positive, starting off at a couple of quid and ending in a full refund (all of which I declined on the basis that I had given my honest view of the product and wasn't so easily bought that I'd take something down for £20.)

It's made me a bit leery of trusting these. The site the OP links to is a good little find - running it on the item I just mentioned got a score of 80% suspicious...!

Nikiya

@Hollydays: I used to be a member of Which and participate in their forums. I still consider them a great magazine. However, the pace and magnitude of production these days means they cannot keep up. And of course they only cover certain items or products.
As for what reviews do I read? the answer is all I can.... even from foreign sites if it happens to be a product sold in various countries. And of course I make sure I click on "all languages" if it is a travel site... they tend to show you reviews in just one language.
Unfortunately some sites do not have reviews: ebay, for instance. You can review on the performance of the seller but not the product.
Before the internet became widely available I used the Michelin guide very much. These days you can also read users' reviews aside from their recommendations, so it is more complete.

[Deleted User]

JuicyJesus wrote: »

I don't trust Amazon reviews for many things. Not least since the last time I left a not even negative, just average one, I got bombarded with emails from the seller offering me various inducements to change it to be more positive, starting off at a couple of quid and ending in a full refund all of which I declined

I've never been offered a refund, but I was e-mailed by one disgruntled seller who tried some emotional blackmail by saying my fair review had badly affected his sales as a small business!

He then actually tried to belittle me in responses to my review on the Amazon website.

This was rather self defeating since, not only did it make me determined not to withdraw my review, it made him seem completely unreasonable.

So now he has negative reviews with his own hostile reactions!

Nikiya

Once I had to submit a critical review FOUR times for TA to publish it. I also sent pictures that never appeared. It was for a little place with great reviews that certainly did not meet half of the expectations....
I believe we must go on publishing true reviews against all odds instead of writing off certain sites.

forgotmyname

BIL had the same on PlayTrade. He bought a starwars game pack which was advertised as having all the games in the set, but when it arrived it was a cheaper pack with only half the games.

Seller had listed it wrongly but were not helpful in offering a refund and return. So a dispute was opened and negative feedback left.

Seller then cried not fair, and that the negative comment hit their sales badly. Thinly disguised threats of remove feedback if you want a refund did not wash.

Then after returning the item and getting a refund it turned into beggine messages to remove the feedback. But there are sites that will want to keep the sellers happy and will remove comments.

All it would have taken was an original message of sorry i must have listed it wrongly. Return for a refund.

But from their actions it made me wonder if they did it on purpose, but got the wrong customer who knew they could claim a refund.


Check Argos reviews also. This item is really light and powerful, then further down the page the item is OK but rather heavy then another that says its not very powerful.

So its a Lightweight heavy item thats really powerful except when you use it where you may find it underpowered?

Max3456

https://reviewmeta.com/ is another good site to check scam reviews. I am trying to find out how to report sellers posting fake reviews to Amazon if anyone has suggestions?

Pound

Generally I only buy product if it has some bad reviews. You can get an idea of what the real bad points are make a decision on whether you could live with those. Also I find the other reviews are more likely to be genuine.