Which

Waterlily24

Sorry I wasn't sure where to put this.


Do you think the Which reviews and testing are true? Just been 'speaking' to someone on another forum who says they aren't and Which are paid by the makers etc to give good reviews.


Just wondered what other people thought? I believe they are true.

neilmcl

I don't see any reason why they wouldn't be. I've not heard anything about manufacturer's paying them either.

unholyangel

I usually take any review not from a genuine consumer with a pinch of salt.

Typically they're getting the products free. Your standards are lower when you're not the one paying for something and you also tend to be more favourable to those who are generous to you.

I tend to give more weight to negative reviews about product features than I do either negative reviews about something not product related (delivery or retailer perhaps) or positive reviews. Negative reviews aren't always justified, but they are more likely to be honest!

Aylesbury_Duck

unholyangel wrote: »

I usually take any review not from a genuine consumer with a pinch of salt.

Typically they're getting the products free. Your standards are lower when you're not the one paying for something and you also tend to be more favourable to those who are generous to you.

I tend to give more weight to negative reviews about product features than I do either negative reviews about something not product related (delivery or retailer perhaps) or positive reviews. Negative reviews aren't always justified, but they are more likely to be honest!

I agree. I also tend to ignore 1* reviews because they're often rants from people who've had a problem or the item hasn't arrived. 2* and 3* reviews tend to give more constructive criticism of a product and its features. 4* reviews are useful for confirmation but I ignore 5* because in today's world, I simply do not trust that a large number of 5* reviews are genuine.

born_again

Which the consumer group that charge a different price for the same product (its monthly books) By recurring transactions. Something it published this on..

Recurring payments give the control to the organisation you are paying

Read more: https://www.which.co.uk/news/2012/05/60-second-guide-to-recurring-payments-285427/ - Which?

Murphybear

We’ve been Which members for years and usually buy Best Buy products. Never had a problem yet, we’ve always found them to be accurate.

What is very useful as well is the “Don’t buy” section.

eddddy

Waterlily24 wrote: »

Do you think the Which reviews and testing are true? Just been 'speaking' to someone on another forum who says they aren't and Which are paid by the makers etc to give good reviews.

Which? is a brand name used by the Consumers' Association.

The Consumers' Association has a close relationship with the government - for example, it's been given special legal powers by the government to investigate and enforce consumer rights.

I doubt that the Consumers Association would jeopardise it's relationship with the government by taking 'bungs' from product manufacturers to write good reviews (which could well be illegal, if they don't state the the review is paid for).

It doesn't necessarily mean that the reviews are helpful, but I would be 100% sure that they're not paid for.

born_again

Once we’ve selected a product for testing we will buy it anonymously. Sometimes we give it a first look to give you our initial impressions, before sending it to our test labs for full in-depth testing.

Completely independent
The unique thing about Which? is that we are completely independent. We have no owners, shareholders or government departments to answer to and you'll never see an advert in our magazines or on our websites.

Where we receive a commission or referral fee from a third party, promote their services to consumers in return for cash or other benefits, or work with them to offer a commercial service,

So they do receive funds from 3rd parties for promoting their goods/services. (Just like MSE do)

bris

Which are a business plain and simple, you don't bite the hand that feeds you.


The hands that refuse to feed you get bitten, take from that what you want.

J_B

bris wrote: »

Which are a business plain and simple, you don't bite the hand that feeds you.

born_again wrote: »

The unique thing about Which? is that we are completely independent. We have no owners, shareholders or government departments to answer to ........

Strange business with no shareholders.
Would I be correct in thinking that they are a 'not for profit' organisation?

bris

J_B wrote: »

Strange business with no shareholders.
Would I be correct in thinking that they are a 'not for profit' organisation?

What difference does that make, even if they are?


Not for profit organisations still have employees, the directors take huge salaries, bonuses, company cars and every other benefits they can get.
They need revenue to pay those, that's a business.


Don't think that not for profit is always a good thing, it sounds good but the bosses don't work for free. It's not such a strange business after all.