Does anyone buy anything without reading through the reviews any more? Seems like our entire lives are governed by those little stars. And of course, fractions. Who knew you could cut a star in half? Isn’t that like trying to dig half a hole?
You probably look for products with the highest rating. And don’t misunderstand, so do I. But, if you really want to find out about a product look at the 1 star reviews. Someone really has something to say if they only give a single star.
Those 1 Star reviews will quickly tell you what COULD go wrong with your purchase. You aren’t going to get that from the 5 star reviews. “Everything was great. Perfect even!” Okay. Good to know.
The low reviews fall into a couple different categories. First, are the ones that aren’t really the company or the products fault.
“I didn’t realize this was only available in black.”
“Keyboard will not fit comfortably into my workspace.”
“Noisier than I expected.”
These can provide valuable information. Noisy? Oh, I was going to put this in the baby’s room. Black? Yeah, that’s not going to work well with her pink themed room.
The other type of low reviews are when somehow the company or the product screwed up.
“Arrived missing parts.”
“Will turn on but only runs for 5 min before it overheats.”
“Had someone else’s picture instead of my baby’s.”
These are the most valuable reviews. Because they tell you if the company will make it right. Did someone from the company add a comment saying,
“Please let us know what parts are missing and we’ll get those out to you right away.”
“Please call our customer service number and provide them the model number. We’ll be happy to help you figure out the issue.”
“Please send me your order number and I’ll track down the correct item.”
The opposite could happen as well. You might see plenty of comments saying, “Same thing happened to me.” Or “Called support never heard back.” People who are unhappy are always willing to tell you about it. If they are telling you, then listen.
However, obviously if a company has ONLY negative reviews, don’t buy from them. But, if a company has a good review score, it’s still worth checking out the unhappy customers. It will tell you the worst that can happen.
If a product doesn’t have any 1 star reviews I get a little suspicious. It might actually be the thing that makes me move on and shop elsewhere.
Stay safe
Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. His blog updates every weekday. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife, thirteen children and grandchildren.
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