Trust Pilot - can they be trusted?

br1anst0rm

There is a famous Latin quote:  "Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?" - which translates as "Who is guarding the guards themselves?"

Or to put in this particular context - who is reviewing the reviewers?

Most of the posts in this forum about TrustPilot seem to raise questions about whether TrustPilot is pressured or influenced by companies (who pay them) to censor or remove critical reviews.  That may indeed be an issue.

It is also true that all platforms - whether TrustPilot, TripAdvisor, eBay, Google or whoever - have to find ways of monitoring reviews to ensure they are not fake, or the result of bribery or other incentives.

But my experience with TrustPilot, which prompts this post, is rather different.  I am wondering whether TrustPilot itself, as a reviewing platform, is genuine and fit for purpose.  Who reviews TrustPilot itself?  Can the company or organisation (or the algorithms and software it uses) be trusted?  Is it relying on Bots or AI which have been inadequately programmed?

I have reached the conclusion that TrustPilot is incapable of distinguishing between genuine and fake reviews - and, worse, that it persistently identifies credible and legitimate reviews as "unusual" or "suspect".  So I have come to regard TrustPilot as useless and unhelpful.

Here's the evidence.  In the last month or so I have submitted reviews to TrustPilot in respect of three widely different companies from whom I have bought products or services.  One was my domain-hosting company, with whom I had just renewed my annual registration.  One was an online supplier of computer parts, from whom I ordered some RAM for my laptop.  And the third was a company from whom I bought a self-assembly garden shed/car port, a structure which has now been built and sits beside my house.

In each case the reviews I submitted were positive without being over-the-top.  I provided specific feedback-comment on aspects of the transactions.  The domain registrar was very efficient at processing my annual payment.  The seller of computer parts helpfully included technical instructions on RAM installation.  And the supplier of the garden shed provided excellent after-sales guidance on the actual assembly process and sent me additional woodstain/weatherproofing when I asked for it.

Separately over the last few weeks I have had three identically-worded messages from TrustPilot saying

"...As part of our efforts to ensure that our community can trust the reviews they read on Trustpilot, we’re constantly on the lookout for unusual activity. We do this by using customized software, dedicated Content Integrity Agents, or a combination of both.
In this case, your review of xxxxxxxxxxxx [company] has been flagged because we couldn’t verify its authenticity, and on that basis we’ve removed your review from our platform.

While we’re confident that this is the right call, we appreciate that sometimes we get it wrong. If you think there’s been a mistake here, please do let us know by replying to this email and a member of our Content Integrity Team will review this decision with you."

In each case I have replied saying the review is genuine and the decision to flag and remove it is mistaken and unjustified.  This results in a further - automatic - bot-message saying,

".......In cases like this where our software has flagged your review for having unusual features, we can try to verify your experience and get your review back online. Here’s how:
    Find your order confirmation, invoice, delivery report or proof of service with xxxxxxxxx [company]. The document should show: the name of the business, your name, the date, and a reference number.

.....Send your documentation as an attachment in a reply to this email.  Once we get your documentation, we’ll see if it’s enough to verify your review....Please don't send us any sensitive documents such as copies of passports, medical records or bank account details, or documents containing personal data of someone else...."

Fair enough, was my initial reaction.  So in response to the first two accusations I duly sent off copies of order form, invoices clearly identifying myself, the company, the date of order, and the product concerned.

Didn't make any difference.  I got stock replies (again apparently from a bot), saying,

" Thank you for providing the requested documents.....Unfortunately, your review was initially filtered by our automated software, and after further manual assessment of the case, we have determined that the decision made by the software was indeed correct. As per our guidelines, we are unable to specify the details of the investigation, but please be assured that the decision was made after a thorough review of the case."

When this happened a third time it just made me angry.   It is never comfortable to have one's integrity or honesty questioned.  Bad enough to be accused of submitting a fake review.  But what made me really furious was the refusal to explain, justify, or provide evidence of the basis for the original removal of my [genuine] reviews, and the refusal thereafter to offer any specific comment on the documentary supporting evidence that - at their request - I had provided.  A classic case of "computer says no".

I'm not just angry.  I am disappointed.  In principle, the availability of feedback/review sites ought to be helpful to consumers and companies.  Good information ought to be useful to those wanting to make purchases or do business, especially now in the online world.  But for such platforms to be effective, transparency is key.  

It is not unreasonable to expect customers and reviewers to provide proof of the validity of their reviews (good or bad) in response to challenge.  But it is equally important for platforms like TrustPilot to justify and explain their decisions when they remove reviews they believe are not "authentic".  

My experience has shown that this does not happen.  TrustPilot's approach is opaque.  They offer no explanation, no evidence, and no clarity.  This leads inevitably to the conclusion that they are unwilling or unable to do so.  This lack of transparency undermines confidence, and indicates that TrustPilot itself, as a platform and source of information, cannot itself be trusted or relied upon.

Unsurprisingly, I have decided that it is not worth submitting any more reviews to TrustPilot, and I shall not bother to look again at their site in future.

born_again

No faith in trust pilot at all.
When the most customer recommended bank once had a 1 star rating at the same time???

TMSG

They remove perfectly valid "bad" reviews too often and let "good" but clearly fake ones stand too often (there was a well-known bank which went through a bad patch of customer service for a while and miraculously there was a flood of one-line 5-star reviews to counter the increasing number of 1/2-star reviews, some of which were removed... BTDT).
Having said all that they can be useful if you ignore one-line 5-star reviews (too many fakes) and concentrate on 1/2-star reviews instead: read a couple of pages and try to "distill" the main area(s) of problems or complaints. Some areas may be more important for you than others.

PHK

No faith in them at all. They've removed neutral reviews where I've provided documents to verify. 

Most recently, a firm I had reviewed over a year ago sold part of itself to another firm and changed name. I was told I had to chose which new firm the review related to and document it. How can I do that when the firm itself has changed. 

Their support teams are downright daft. 

The company I work for has a Trustpilot account and I can tell you businesses also get very poor service and constant attempts to get more money out of you. But firms are trapped, they either abandon Trustpilot or pay up. 

The answer is that Trustpilot exists to make money for itself and no other reason. 

FluffyKatzen

I don’t trust trustpilot. Take a look at the reviews for Lebara, which they always rave about. Many of the reviews come across as fake and from bots, it’s how they are written and always give full names of Lebara employees. 

robatwork

I put them somewhere above trustatrader and below Which? trusted traders. About level with amazon reviews, and below amazon reviews with "Fakespot" plugin enabled. 

Can be useful in building up an impression, especially of a not so well known company. Not definitive on its own though.

flaneurs_lobster

Why not post a review of Trust Pilot.....on Trust Pilot

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/trustpilot.com

retiredbanker1

I gave a company a 5 star review because they went out of their way to help me and resolve a problem.
The review was taken down a couple of weeks later by Trust Pilot who wanted me to ''verify'' the review.
Told them where to go! 

br1anst0rm

flaneurs_lobster said:

Why not post a review of Trust Pilot.....on Trust Pilot

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/trustpilot.com

A very tempting suggestion......!  Might give it a go.

oldagetraveller1

flaneurs_lobster said:

Why not post a review of Trust Pilot.....on Trust Pilot

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/trustpilot.com

I did just that some time ago, one star, after they rejected a genuine and proof of purchase from a company for which I had written a critical review.

That one star review of T/P was accepted and published. Apparently their "bots" had flagged up my rejected review as fake.

It is very obvious, with many reviews, that they are fake. Someone has mentioned Lebara where many five star are glaringly fake.

Coincidentally I am a Lebara customer.

br1anst0rm

Like @oldagetraveller1 , I took up the suggestion made by @flaneurs_lobster and posted a carefully-drafted critical one-star review of TrustPilot on the TrustPilot website.  I got an email confirmation that the review had been published.

In this ongoing discussion I think it would be helpful to separate out the two distinct issues that have emerged:

1)  how TrustPilot deals with "bad" or critical reviews of other companies.   There is no doubt pressure from the companies selling goods or supplying services (who pay subscriptions to TrustPilot) to challenge and remove such hostile reviews, since this is bad for the reputation and business of those companies.  Presumably they try persuade TP that such reviews are unjustified or fake and ought to be checked or removed.  Maybe TP does so....

2) how TrustPilot deals with positive and helpful reviews of other companies.  It's understandable that they might need to check that positive reviews are based on customer's real experiences, and not - for example - submitted by the company itself or its own staff to inflate the reputation of their products and services.  So it is reasonable for TP to have some verification process and to ask for supporting evidence.  It does however seem clear that TP continues to accept and publish flattering reviews (eg of Lebara among many others) even when they appear to be fake.

My issue is that - when TP does request verification, they do not act on the evidence given, they do not reinstate the review, and they do not explain why the supporting documentation (order form, reference number, etc etc) is still not considered acceptable or credible.  It is bad enough to have one's honesty and integrity questioned.  But it is unacceptable and insulting - when proof of genuine-ness is provided - to have that evidence ignored by TP without explanation.

It was incidentally interesting to see how many of the one-star critical reviews of TrustPilot on their own website were descriptions and complaints about this exact situation.  Honest consumers saying they had submitted genuine reviews, which had then been removed.  They had taken the time and trouble to provide supporting evidence when requested.  That evidence had been ignored and their review not reinstated - without any explanation, or else just a stock reply saying in effect "computer software [still] says no".

That is the fundamental problem.  It is fair enough for TP to ask consumers for evidence to verify reviews (whether glowingly good, or hostile and negative) .  But they ought to play by the same rules as they apply to others.  When they decide to remove a review (especially after supporting evidence has been provided), they too need to verify, or justify and explain, the reasons for their decision.