Probably many people are aware that product reviews are to be taken with a large pinch of salt. Glowing reviews can be bought, as can negative reviews intended to damage competitors. It happens all the time. I’ve already talked about Amazon “shills”. When evaluating a product on the basis of reviews, it’s a good idea to check out the history of the reviewers, which is an indicator of their credibility rather than blindly accept what they say.
Today I was stunned to receive an email saying that a rating I had left for a product/service would not be published. Nothing to do with Amazon – this was for a car part. You can read my post on how we paid for 24-hour service and did not get it, and had to wait for 30 days for a refund for a returned part. Therefore I left a 3-star review, and subsequently I was contacted by a “mediator.” The supplier then offered free delivery on future items in exchange for an upgraded review. I declined because of the delay in refunding me (I had been told over the phone that in the small print it clearly states refunds would be made after 30 days). But lo and behold, suddenly the refund was transferred to my account overnight. Now would I please upgrade my rating?
I asked my readers what they would do – upgrade the star rating because of the concessions, or stick to it for the benefit of future customers, and the reply was overwhelmingly that I should leave the review as it was. Which is what I did.
Today, I received an email from the “mediator” stating that as I had not responded to the request to upgrade the rating, it would not be published! But if I wished to there was still time to change it. So they do not publish anything less than 5-star reviews!
Here’s a link: http://www.ekomi.fr/schlichtungsverfahren.php?id=94934&zugang=nH7klcxTbUrBRJp#nachrichten
For the benefit of those who don’t understand French, the top line in red says: “The mediation process has been successfully closed. Your rating of the client has been withdrawn.”
The blue button says: “Click here to leave a new review.”
So, dear reader, what do you think?
That’s outrageous and totally dishonest of the website. You should complain to them too and say you will not be using their site again and have recommended others not to too on your blog.
Well, I’m sending the gist of the details to all my friends in France…but it’s all of a piece with French commercial practice in my experience.
I think you should keep with your original review. If the item you ordered was not in stock how can they ship it to you in twenty-four hours. They should have told you and given you the option on shipping when the item was in stock. What terrible customer service!
Amazing how sneaky that is – you know I never trust a product when I don’t see a negative review or two on the site. It makes me think they are hiding something.
*~MAJK~*
I’m not surprised, but it really stinks.