Amazon Customer Reviews are Maddening and Make Purchases so Much Harder.

[Mai72]

This was my experience purchasing a desk and chair on Amazon last week. Before I purchase anything expensive, I like to look at reviews on Amazon. When I found the desk I wanted to purchase I scrolled down to the review section. It's truly maddening. For example, I read the first review. The reviewer stated how the desk was awesome, and how it sits perfectly in his room, etc. How it's very stable, and the construction of the dsk is excellent. 5, out of 5 stars. Then, the next review is how horrible the desk is. How it came scrated and the legs are wobbly, etc. 1 out of 5 stars. These type of reviews are on mostly every product. Great 4-5 star reviews followerd by 1-2 star reviews. How do you make sense of all the positive and negative reviews? Do you do additional research? Maybe a Google or YouTube search by "professional" reviewers. I used quotes because many of the computer reviews done on YouTube are by 18-22 year olds with affiliate links. I wouldn't consider these reviews particularly unbiased.

Thanks.

 

[herm0016]

statistical sampling. if its 90% 5 star, then its probably good. People are idiots and anything that requires assembly can be screwed up or done well. i assume that at least 10% of the reviews on any product are just people being idiots.

 

[shortylickens]

its already been proven they fudge their reviews and weight the review system to encourage sales on junk they wanna move.

 

[Mai72]

statistical sampling. if its 90% 5 star, then its probably good. People are idiots and anything that requires assembly can be screwed up or done well. i assume that at least 10% of the reviews on any product are just people being idiots.

Good point. I've thought of this as well. Things like human error, and just human stupidity. Plus shipping issues, which are not the problem of the manufacture.

 

[Mai72]

its already been proven they fudge their reviews and weight the review system to encourage sales on junk they wanna move.

I thought that Amazon clamped down on this, and deleted reviews that seemed suspect. I guess they can't monitor everything.

 

[pete6032]

ReviewMeta.com - Amazon Review Checker

reviewmeta.com

 

[nakedfrog]

If it's a larger purchase, I'll feed the link to ReviewMeta and FakeSpot, and use that to help inform my decision.
Often it seems like 1 star reviews show up because the reviewer is an idiot.

 

[Captante]

Online reviews anywhere are suspect but especially on Amazon you need to read carefully between the lines. (and even more-so on ANY product there is an "Amazon Basics" version of!)

SOME fake reviews are written very well and are hard to pick off but if you read carefully and pay attention you CAN "separate the wheat from the chaff" if you follow me.... the majority don't write/edit/fact-check well enough to pull it off and bypass close scrutiny.

One trick I've found helpful is to completely skip over both the 5-star AND the 1-star reviews since that's where you tend to encounter the schill's and phonies. (and idiots!) The 3-4 star versions tend to be more objective.

 

[deadlyapp]

I generally take a sample of 5 star reviews and 1 star reviews and then a handful of ones in-between. Generally the people with 5 star reviews are slightly biased, and those who leave 1 star reviews are idiots, so looking at the 4 star or 2 star reviews gives good color.

Eg the best reviews I find are like this:
" I specifically needed this and it worked great for the intended function but I needed to modify it like this to make it better" or something like "I used this for four months and loved it but it broke and the vendor replaced it and it's been great since"

A lot of the very poor reviews are people who have no idea how to use something properly, but sometimes there's a consistent case of things breaking or malfunctioning with time - that's usually what steers me away.

 

[Scarpozzi]

I just hope enough people still shop in REAL stores to see products in person. I mean, in the old days, you went to the marketplace to see those kinds of products and reviews weren't necessary for you to determine if something was made of solid materials.

It was only with plastics and electronics that we started having to worry about shit quality coming from Japan and then China (after Japanese made a name for making quality items...didn't used to be that way). Of course, that all varies on the company and product.... I'm sure anyone who makes an anvil can't screw it up too bad.

 

[balloonshark]

Amazon also bunches together reviews for multiple product. It is necessary is to scroll down and click "See all reviews" and then click the "All formats" drop down and select "Show only reviews for *". This way you only see reviews for the product you're interested in buying.

Here is an example where 3 products are on one page: https://www.amazon.com/Work-Sharp-Culinary-E5-Sharpener/dp/B074JJ594L/

FWIW you have to do the same thing on newegg reviews. You need to un-tick the "All Related Product Reviews" box.

50% of people on the internet are complete morons. Keep that in mind when reading anything online.

 

[Captante]

50% of people on the internet IN THE WORLD are complete morons.
Keep that in mind when reading anything online INTERACTING WITH THEM IN ANY WAY.

Fixed.

 

[Stiff Clamp]

I pay more attention to the negative reviews. It's the whole point of reviews - help my fellow consumer avoid bad purchase decisions. That said, with furniture needing assembly I'm quick to blame user error - unless there's too many complaints to ignore. Some people just aren't familiar with cheap particle board and have lofty expectations.

Also, I bought a desk from one of those "rustic Mexican pine" furniture shops. All pine but no finishing other than brown wax. I stripped the wax, stained the desk, and then polyurethaned it to seal the wood and help it not split. It's a beauty and only cost like $370 for a 2-pedestal desk w/ small keyboard tray, a drawer, a pullout-shelf, and 2 cabinets. Of course I had to rent a van to go pick it up from the store, then drive 120 miles home.

 

[Torn Mind]

Negative reviews can be very valuable if the qualitative information provides details of the flaws in the products operation, assembly, information quality(books that refer to studies and then interpret them liberally), etc.

There was a Gearwrench brake flare kit going for a premium. It was horrible and worse than a cheaper $30 one. One guy left a review stating exactly that. So I hedged my bets and bought both. With Amazon's return policy, I sent both back because Toyota steel was ridculously hard but the cheaper kit worked better than the name brand Gearwrench.

Parts put into operation for machines that last a very long time are likely to have a much shorter lifespan. OEM motors for Whirpool dryers can last a full mortgage. But what you get on Amazon might last only 5 years and the negative review won't come until 5 years has passed for the failure to be recognized by the purchaser.

Some negative reviews are bunk and reflective of the author's incorrect knowledge.

 

[snoopy7548]

People in general are clueless assholes... like this guy reviewing a dash cam.

 

[BarkingGhostar]

I tend to focus on the 1-star reviews and after eliminating idiot postings take what's left and decide then.

 

[ultimatebob]

Yeah, it's safe to assume that about half of the five star Amazon reviews for any electronics that come from China were bought and paid for by people who got the product for free in exchange for the positive review.

 

[manly]

I just hope enough people still shop in REAL stores to see products in person. I mean, in the old days, you went to the marketplace to see those kinds of products and reviews weren't necessary for you to determine if something was made of solid materials.

It was only with plastics and electronics that we started having to worry about shit quality coming from Japan and then China (after Japanese made a name for making quality items...didn't used to be that way). Of course, that all varies on the company and product.... I'm sure anyone who makes an anvil can't screw it up too bad.

Assuming I even wanted to, how do I go about shopping inside an Amazon warehouse?

People in general are clueless assholes... like this guy reviewing a dash cam.

View attachment 51731

IMO that's not an example of a clueless asshole.

 

[nakedfrog]

Assuming I even wanted to, how do I go about shopping inside an Amazon warehouse?

It's just a link kind of hidden near the bottom of the page, you don't actually go into a warehouse.
I got a few good deals on guitars that way a while back, but stopped searching after those ones seemed to have dried up.

 

[13Gigatons]

Saw a WiFi card with bad reviews but with a firmware update and the right driver it was just fine. Those tidbits of info can make a product function properly.

 

[lxskllr]

 

[Red Squirrel]

I think a lot of reviews are fake, sometimes they're not even for the product being sold, or mention features that don't even exist.

 

[Muse]

I usually start by checking with www.ReviewMeta.com. They're free, they have an extension (I use Chrome) that installs an icon next to the URL bar. If I'm at a product page on Amazon, that icon displays (faintly, but you can see it) not the star rating at Amazon (e.g. 4.4) but ReviewMeta's rating adjusted for suspicious reviews (e.g. for that site, 4.1). You can click the icon and ReviewMeta's page for that product is opened. You can opt to have their rating refreshed in real time, which usually takes maybe 15 seconds. You can scroll down the page and get granular information on the product and it's reviews, but I seldom do that, I am usually mostly curious what the adjusted rating is.

Beyond that, I read reviews carefully and use my intuition. Many 1 star reviews don't reflect the quality of the product so much as the fact that the buyer had a bad experience. It's a hazard at Amazon, seems like the majority of reviewers don't rate a product when they have some issue so much as their experience buying the product, which isn't smart or fair generally speaking. So, reading reviews is really important. Also, obviously, people have their own points of view. Your need or want when buying often won't coincide with other people's.

I hate buyer's remorse, OTOH I love that feeling when I am convinced that I made the right choice for me and I get that a lot. Of course, people have a bias after they buy something, and it's going to be weighted toward thinking they made a smart choice. That applies to me too! However, I am pretty good at online shopping. Been at it since the 20th century. Been doing plenty of that during the pandemic. I have a couple things coming this week, both of which I've bought before and been pleased. One via Amazon, the other Ebay, where I got it for about 60% of what Amazon's charging for evidently the same product. However, in many instances Amazon undersells Ebay sellers substantially. YMMV, always in the commercial world.

 

[Muse]

I pay more attention to the negative reviews. It's the whole point of reviews - help my fellow consumer avoid bad purchase decisions. That said, with furniture needing assembly I'm quick to blame user error - unless there's too many complaints to ignore. Some people just aren't familiar with cheap particle board and have lofty expectations.

Also, I bought a desk from one of those "rustic Mexican pine" furniture shops. All pine but no finishing other than brown wax. I stripped the wax, stained the desk, and then polyurethaned it to seal the wood and help it not split. It's a beauty and only cost like $370 for a 2-pedestal desk w/ small keyboard tray, a drawer, a pullout-shelf, and 2 cabinets. Of course I had to rent a van to go pick it up from the store, then drive 120 miles home.

Ah, I'm going to review my desk acquisitions:

1. A formica and metal desk that appeared in the backyard of the house I shared (and eventually bought). It's in the room next to my bedroom and is dedicated to an old Singer sewing machine (from when they made those to last), the knee switch is attached.

2. My best desk is one that my last full time employer was going to give to a charity. They were giving away two, both really quality wooden desks, one had been in the CEO's office, the other in a lesser executive's. I took the lesser because the big one was too big for me. The one I took (by asking, of course!) is magnificent. Great drawers, slide outs, a bit beat up, but only a little. To get it home, I borrowed the truck of a woman I know who owned a window company.

3. A desk I picked up IIRC at a furniture recycling place in town. A solid if modest affair with a fake wood veneer.

4. A desk I spotted one day sitting at the curb around 3-4 blocks from my house. I managed to get it home using my station wagon. I converted it into a work bench for my dedicated workroom, extending the legs about 6 inches and adding shelves under the main surface where I store power tools, etc, also a 1/8" thick white smooth surface for that main surface. Has great sliding drawers left and right. I made a shelving system to sit at the back of this thing extending up to the ceiling. Got wood and metal vices attached to the main surface. Beats the heck out of any work bench I've seen anywhere.

I don't remember EVER ordering furniture online.

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

This was my experience purchasing a desk and chair on ...zon last week.

I don't remember EVER ordering furniture online.

There are many things one must never order on the web.

A desk and chair must be viewed in person first.