Deceptive Amazon.com reviews

[Gardenarian]

I am looking for a fabric steamer and keep coming across reviews that have a small note at the bottom: "I was provided this product in exchange for my honest feedback" or "I’m glad I got the opportunity to test this product at a discount in exchange for my unbiased review."

So companies are giving away products to get reviews, and it seems the reviewers all give the products at least 4 stars, usually 5. Obviously, getting a product for free is going to influence how you feel about it. And if you give bad reviews, I bet you are less likely to be chosen to receive these gifts.

It really undermines the whole system of reviews. What bugs me is that these are all also marked the "most helpful" reviews, a feature which is easily manipulated.

Pinterest is now "featuring" pins from people who pay them. I guess where there is a marketer, there's a way.

BTW, if anyone has a fabric steamer they can recommend, please do! I have a bunch of draperies that are very rumpled. I looked into renting one but it would cost as much for one day as to buy one (though it might be worth it to have a professional steamer.)

[Float On]

Oh I know. I use to read quite a few blogs...but they all became advertising blogs because they kept getting free products to try and review. I think it really takes away the honesty of the word "review".
And I have no advice on steamers....I go around wrinkled all the time because I don't take time to iron or steam.

[Miss Cellane]

I always take the 5 star and 1 star reviews with a grain of salt. Focus more on the 2 star and 4 star reviews to get a better feel for whateveritis that you are looking at.

Some authors get their friends to write glowing reviews. Some people deliberately write false bad reviews to steer people towards something else.

[rodeosweetheart]

I do not own a steamer, but if I were to go out and buy one, I would probably go to Bed Bath and Beyond and get a Shark, as the Shark steam cleaner I had could have probably steamed the drapes--it was very powerful.

[jp1]

If there are lots of reviews I generally trust the overall average but then read all the one's and two's to find out what the problems were. But I agree, the sponsored reviews really throw things off. I wish there was a button to hide them and not count them in the averages.

I also get tired of being asked to review every single product. I mean, really, do people look at product reviews for the standard generic contact lens case? What am I supposed to say "It holds my lenses just like I expected it would! And the yellow color is gorgeous! 5 stars!"

[Rogar]

I also get tired of being asked to review every single product. I mean, really, do people look at product reviews for the standard generic contact lens case? What am I supposed to say "It holds my lenses just like I expected it would! And the yellow color is gorgeous! 5 stars!"

Some how I opted out of the constant requests for review and don't get them any more. I forgot how.

If I'm buying something significant I usually hunt around for other reviews. Other wise, I usually read a few of the amazon reviews. Some of the more bogus reviews are fairly easy to pick out. The really low reviews are sometimes from some disgruntled person who didn't know what he/she was ordering or maybe got a quality defect (common with cheap overseas electronics and appliances). I agree that the middle reviews of 3 and 4 often give the more reliable information. Aside from the ones from people who got free products, I think there are sometimes bogus reviews from shills among the manufacture or distributor. I occasionally leave reviews of my own.

[freshstart]

I've had two different brands of the stand up steamers with a big hose attached and has a rack to hang your item on. It worked well on drapes. I found them deeply discounted at Tuesday Morning. I had to buy another one because a friend loved it so much after borrowing that I told her to keep it.

[KayLR]

I was offered a deep discount for a pair of hand pruners (like for herbs or light pruning) in exchange for an honest review (I think I paid $2). Well, they arrived and they were a POS. I asked the guy(who scouted me through a gardening FB page) if he really wanted me to review it, because though they'd come promptly and had a good "hand feel" the points did not even meet! I sent him a photo even. He insisted he wanted me to review them, so I did. I also noticed I was the only one who gave them a low rating. I attached a photo of them to my review as well.

[Cypress]

Interesting information, at least it's posted that the review is biased. How can you give somebody a deal and expect a sincere reply? I used to belong to an online swapping book club. I had a writer send me her travel book. She asked me to write a review and post it online. I read some of the book and it was not good advise for women traveling alone anywhere. I am sure someone liked it, but I found it not useful at all. I am uncertain who the audience was for this book. She traveled alone and seemed to be bored at her lack of male companionship. She flirted with strangers so it came across as a half/travel, half/pick up guys book. I highly recommend against this behavior in a foreign country. At the least it gives American woman a bad name and at the worst is dangerous.

When I got the favor request, I remember being confused about what to do. In the end, I wrote no review and put the book in recycle. In other words, these things can backfire and in the future, I would stay far away from the author. Not a smart move.

[JaneV2.0]

Was the book Eat, Pray, Love? :~)
Which I admit I didn't read. Seeing the author interviewed was enough.
Giving women, Americans, and the self-involved everywhere a bad name...

[Ultralight]

Was the book Eat, Pray, Love? :~)
Which I admit I didn't read. Seeing the author interviewed was enough.
Giving women, Americans, and the self-involved everywhere a bad name...

That book is celebrated and cherished by women all over America. Why be critical of something so treasured by your people?

[Cypress]

Was the book Eat, Pray, Love? :~)
Which I admit I didn't read. Seeing the author interviewed was enough.
Giving women, Americans, and the self-involved everywhere a bad name...

No it was not. I saw the film for Eat, Pray, Love. I tried to read the book as I was getting ready for a trip to Italy. I read the Italian part and couldn't go forward into India with the writer. Not quite my cup of tea. Although, I believe it is pretty popular read.