Purchased 5 star reviews

I recently bought an electronic device on Amazon, which unfortunately didn't work properly. After I contacted the seller and explained my problems, I was told to move the device closer to the router. But since that didn't work either, I sent the product back and published a 1-star review with the information that unfortunately the device didn't do what it was supposed to do for me.  

I then received an email from the seller to my private email address with an offer. If I changed my rating to a 5-star rating, the product in question would be sent to me again free of charge.  

In addition, I have ordered products delivered several times that included additional information from the seller in the box. An offer was then made for a positive product review, such as: E.g. a discount, cash or product vouchers.

What to do in such a case?

We all hope that the product and service reviews on various portals correspond to reality, as these often influence our purchasing decisions. That's why it's important not to get involved in the offers described above. As customers, we should quickly send these “offers” to Amazon, Google or other portals as a screenshot. These portals are careful to ensure that the reviews reflect the actual functionality of a product or service. Only after reporting such “offers” do these portals have the opportunity to take action against these unauthorized procedures.

It is also useful to report German consumer advice center

Unfortunately, there are now also agencies that specialize in writing reviews. You can easily buy good reviews online and they manipulate the ranking.

The STRG_F team filmed a revealing report on this. Of course, purchased reviews complicate the problem even further, and unfortunately it is very difficult to take legal action against these fake reviews.

Source: CTRL_F

Superchat states that, according to statistics, nutritional supplements, beauty and electronics in particular on Amazon have a share of over 60% of fake reviews.

How can I tell if reviews are real?

Here is a small checklist:

  • Linguistic design and long texts: Long, lengthy texts could be an indication of inauthentic recessions. When you think about yourself, you usually formulate evaluations briefly and concisely. If texts are written more like advertising articles using superlatives and only positive adjectives, caution is advised.
  • Recommendation of other products: If another product is referred to in the text, this review could come from competitors who want to put competing products in a negative light. 
  • Only 5-star reviews: If a product only has 5-star reviews, this may not reflect reality.
  • Many positive reviews follow negative reviews: If an unusually large number of positive reviews are published within a short period of time, this could show that a company has fictitiously influenced its external activities. 
  • Shortly after a product opens on the market, there are a lot of positive reviews: If a product has just come onto the market, it always takes a while before real reviews can emerge. So if a product gets a lot of positive reviews in just a short time, that might not correspond to reality either.
  • Who is the reviewer? It's worth taking a look at their profile. If only one review has been written, this should also be viewed with skepticism. Additionally, it is also valuable to check to see if a reviewer only gives 5-star reviews. It can also be checked whether a reviewer has consistency within his or her ratings. If a reviewer does not use his or her name but a pseudonym, a more detailed check may also be useful here.
  • Verified purchases: Anyone can write a review on Amazon, even if they have not purchased the product in question on Amazon. Marking a review as “verified purchases” doesn’t mean the review is real, but it at least shows that that person ordered the product.  

As ingenious as the review system is, caution is still advised. It often makes more sense to first ask your friends whether anyone can recommend a product or service. If the immediate environment cannot help, it is advisable to view particularly positive reviews with some skepticism.  

Source:

Superchat , YouTube/CTRL_F

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