Are Reviews On Websites Worth Anything

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JimInks

Sultan of Smoke
Aug 31, 2012
64,898
656,739
A while back, m'lady bought a lamp made in China that had good reviews on Amazon. When she got the lamp, there was a sticker on it that said, "This product may cause cancer." She returned it.
 

Mr.Pink

Starting to Get Obsessed
May 12, 2020
139
418
Chicago IL
Shopping online has become a big part of our lives especially for a grouchy old bastard like me and my wife hates getting out. Most of the time we only buy what we know but once in awhile we take a risk.
You are a lucky man!! Every day Mine wants to run to the store. "We just need a couple things,I forgot" every day it's some new BS that costs me! I would rather stay home and buy more Tabacco Online hahau
 
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peregrinus

Lifer
Aug 4, 2019
1,205
3,794
Pacific Northwest
"This product may cause cancer."
Only if you try to smoke it? This is funny from a certain perspective.
Not so funny is California’s influence on labels required on products destined for sale in the US. As mandated by state law literally everything (okay, nearly everything) that is sold in the state of California is required to be labeled as a potential cause of cancer, from coffee beans to seat cushions. ??‍♂️
 
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Mr.Pink

Starting to Get Obsessed
May 12, 2020
139
418
Chicago IL
Only if you try to smoke it? This is funny from a certain perspective.
Not so funny is California’s influence on labels required on products destined for sale in the US. As mandated by state law literally everything (okay, nearly everything) that is sold in the state of California is required to be labeled as a potential cause of cancer, from coffee beans to seat cushions. ??‍♂️
California knows everything about everything!
 
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Admiral Byrd

Lurker
Jul 9, 2020
27
102
66
Alabama
I look for the most recent reviews. Old reviews may reflect an older model. And, products with a lot of reviews tend to get my attention. But, it all depends on the item. I usually just google what I am buying and see what people are saying in forums. Of course, pipe stuff, I go to pipesmagazine...?
 
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ashdigger

Lifer
Jul 30, 2016
11,391
70,250
61
Vegas Baby!!!
I have a friend who works for a German based publishing company and two of her jobs are writing reviews for Amazon and proofreading reviews for clarity on Amazon.

It’s a dirty little secret. When you look at Amazon it’ll say “verified purchase” or it’s probably hers. Lol.
 
Jun 9, 2018
4,521
14,508
England
Another problem to remember is it's people leaving these reviews and a lot of people are idiots. Obviously none of us fall into that category and we're all super smart?.

Seriously though you have to be careful, I saw a number of bad reviews for a PVR I was looking at but I bought it anyway. Once I set it up and read the instructions and started using it, it was obvious that these people just didn't know how to operate it properly.
I had the same thing with a large wooden TV stand that had to be assembled. A good number of people had given bad reviews saying it was a 2 man job and was difficult to put together. I had no problem building the thing on my own and found the instructions really easy to understand.
I think some people eat Crayons for breakfast and their advice/reviews should be avoided.
 

kcghost

Lifer
May 6, 2011
15,138
25,716
77
Olathe, Kansas
Amazon reviews aren't much to worry about. If they get enforcing their rule with some vigor they will run into all kinds of antitrust issues.
As far as tobacco reviews you can trust jiminks, pipestud, and a few others are trustworthy
 
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A few years ago, we got a bad Yelp review when a customer was banging on the door like a madman on the only day we are closed, with a big sign outside with days and hours we are open. Their review said we were obviously inside ignoring them. I responded to the bad review, explaining just as I did here. But, within hours, a company contacted us stating that for a price they would remove the bad review and for more, they would flood us with good reviews, using an algorithm that would bypass Yelp's filters that prevent such from happening.

I don't trust ebay, amazon, nor any reviews like that. For every filter set up to keep reviews honest, there is someone gaming that system.
 
Jan 28, 2018
14,056
158,488
67
Sarasota, FL
I've left several messages reviews on Amazon and I'm a prime member. Never any backlash. I've left negative reviews against Amazon for missing their delivery. No problem. If I understand it correctly, the law protects consumers leaving negative reviews.
 
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saltedplug

Lifer
Aug 20, 2013
5,192
5,116
Online reviews suffer from the illiteracy of internet culture. Why ask the HS educated to read? They probably forgot how watching video.

But they're on their phones for most of the day, so they haven't forgotten everything. Trusting the reviews of the braindead doesn't take into account their true loves, texting and Facebook.
 

wyfbane

Lifer
Apr 26, 2013
5,382
4,794
Tennessee
Only if you try to smoke it? This is funny from a certain perspective.
Not so funny is California’s influence on labels required on products destined for sale in the US. As mandated by state law literally everything (okay, nearly everything) that is sold in the state of California is required to be labeled as a potential cause of cancer, from coffee beans to seat cushions. ??‍♂️
I find more and more about California 'not so funny.'
 

username

Lifer
Dec 24, 2014
2,291
15,946
Tucson Az
Word of mouth from people I know carries way more worth to me then a nameless online review when it comes to things outside of pipe tobacco. For some reason I enjoy reading tobacco reviews but I could care less about other reviews outside unless I know you. Probably becoming I get to know people on forums.
 

kschatey

Lifer
Oct 16, 2019
1,118
2,284
Ohio
Recently my wife made a purchase on AXXson. The product broke the second time it was used. She left a bad review on the website. Within hours she received a warning from AmXson that our membership would be suspended if we continued to leave negative reviews. The same thing happened to me last year, there was now profanity used just an honest negative review. I just wonder how many times this happens and are the reviews worth anything if they get filtered?
Amazon reviews for third party seller products are 100% not useful as there are lots of ways that they are able to get real, but inflated/fake reviews posted by legitimate (and not legitimate) buyers. Also, if a negative review is posted and the buyer used a coupon or discount of any kind, it's possible to get that review removed and/or the user's review privileges revoked because posting a review for a product in which any discount was used is technically a violation of their review policy. For items actually sold by Amazon, they have their own review program called Amazon Vine that they utilize to circumvent their own policies and inflate the overall product review rating. Your best option for recourse for third party sellers is to contact them directly and they typically provide a discount, refund, and/or replacement if issues are encountered. For items sold by Amazon, you can try to contact them and you may get a minor discount offer, but the best option is just to return the item and buy something else from somewhere else. Hope this helps.
 
May 2, 2020
4,664
23,786
Louisiana
I have a friend that worked as a ghost writer for a while when he was in bad shape financially. It’s not something he’s proud of, but most of the work he was paid to do was writing glowing reviews of products he’d never even seen, much less used. Everything from chainsaws to “marital aids.” So yeah, there are fake reviews out there for sure.
 
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