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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

AIBU to think most online reviews are fabricated

51 replies

SirJamesTalbotAndHisSpeculum · 26/08/2019 16:29

……… by the relevant business/company?

I actually write reviews for restaurants/hotels etc. myself if they have been spectacularly good or bad. Sometimes if they're just mediocre.

My DC say that most reviews are lies and that the positive ones are written by the owners of the businesses themselves.

OP posts:

fikel · 26/08/2019 23:52

We have a restaurant and our reviews aren’t fabricated. We can often work out which customer has left a review, based on our interaction with them and especially if they post which dish they ordered and commented upon

fikel · 26/08/2019 23:54

I also leave honest hotel reviews on trip advisor and always check out trip advisor before booking. The hotels have always generally matched the reviews in my opinion

Fruitbatdancer · 27/08/2019 00:00

I’m a senior contributor to trip advisor (I travel A LOT!) over half a million people have read my reviews and they’re definitely not fake so YABU a little bit

Unburnished · 27/08/2019 00:01

Yes, reviews are pointless now. So many people do it as a living, that the whole thing is rotten.

Amazon is the worst. I like to think i can spit a fake review though (too gushing normally).

I also think reviews should be ‘purchase verified’ only.

DontCallMeShitley · 27/08/2019 00:04

I leave reviews on Trip Advisor, however they edit them to suit themselves.

They also remove them if the owner tells them that the establishment has changed ownership since it was written, even when it hasn't, clearly due to too many bad ones piling up.

White goods companies are not to be trusted, AO tells you that your user name has already been used when you submit a less than good review, even though it wasn't being used a few seconds before when you signed up. Leave a good review and all is fine.

I was also denied the chance to leave a review on a body lotion that had been reformulated. All the other reviews were Written Like This With Every Word Capitalised, every single one. It was St. Ives if anyone is interested.

fluffygal · 27/08/2019 00:10

My business has good reviews and they are all 100% honest reviews! So it does happen. I just encourage those who have hired me to write them.

Deadringer · 27/08/2019 00:26

I never really thought about reviews until I published a book on Amazon. I got a few amazing reviews, genuine ones from people who had written lots of reviews for books in the same genre. I got some really shit ones too, some of which suggested that the good ones were fake. It was an eye opener for me. I learned how important reviews were to sellers and service providers, and since then I always write reviews if I am happy with a purchase, or if something is really abysmal. I think a lot of reviews are genuine but there are definitely some chancers out there.

KatherineJaneway · 27/08/2019 06:54

I regularly write reviews for TripAdvisor. I use it often so pay back by giving reviews for others to read.

You can sometimes tell what is fake. I reviewed one place that was dire but hadn't read about it beforehand on TA and I found all the reviews were bad. Suddenly a few good reviews popped up but on closer inspection you could see these reviews were the first by these people. Classic sign of an owner or investor asking mates to make a review up.

PullingMySocksUp · 27/08/2019 07:00

There were moves to make fake reviews illegal. I’m not how far they’ve got, but your daughter may be breaking the law.
www.gov.uk/government/publications/online-reviews-and-endorsements-advice-for-businesses/online-reviews-giving-consumers-the-full-picture

Ballacre · 27/08/2019 07:51

One company that I know pays to have its reviews filtered. The good reviews go straight on the review board and the bad ones are flagged up to be 'verified' and then are either buried under better reviews or never appear again.

The company also canvasses reviews from customers who have had a positive experience (in this case passed a particular test). This means the reviews are much more likely to be glowing. It also means that, based in reviews, the company can claim an almost 100% pass rate with respect to support for the test.

As a result, I do not trust reviews which come from the reviewing service that this company (and many others) use. However, I do use reviews on Amazon, for example, to gain insight into a product. For example, if seven out of ten customers who bought a product say it is hard to assemble, then I may take that on board when considering the purchase.

WhenISnappedAndFarted · 27/08/2019 07:53

My DB owns a pub. He's had a really bad review recently that's damaged him. What the reviewer didn't reveal was that they were underage and he refused to serve him. It's done some damage though.

Shebertherbert · 27/08/2019 08:00

My works tripadvisor reviews are all real and taken very seriously.

I always read reviews on amazon. I love writing them too.

emmetgirl · 27/08/2019 08:03

Well in the case of the restaurant I own I can confirm that they are very real! We get fantastic reviews and a few crappy ones too. I can honestly say I have NEVER fabricated a review.

EvaHarknessRose · 27/08/2019 08:28

Tripadvisor and Amazon built their businesses on the unpaid labour of the reviewers, very beneficially to customers - now the sellers and businesses want to manipulate what was finally giving an honest view of products and places, and anyone with an email address is keen to make a buck or get a freebie while it lasts. They need to solve this problem or it will destroy their business model.

Aragog · 27/08/2019 08:55

I do think you can often tell the fake ones.

I do write reviews for places I've been to, normally via Tripadvisor. Mainly as I know that I sue them to find places to go to, so feel I should also contribute too.

When reading them I tend to try to ignore the very top rated ones and the very bottom ones and focus on those comments rated 2-4 instead.

MindatWork · 27/08/2019 09:08

@WhenISnappedAndFarted was the review on Tripadvisor? Has your DH gone on and responded?

It always makes me think better of a business when the owner comes back with a balanced and calm response to a shitty review - usually a couple of paragraphs can completely take it to pieces and make the reviewer look like the CF arsehole they are.

MindatWork · 27/08/2019 09:13

Book reviews on Amazon are a massive deal and can be v controversial/murky, esp with less well-known authors who use social media to boost their following.

I follow a few book bloggers on Twitter and there have been massive spats where authors have been tracking down people who gave them bad reviews on Amazon and Goodreads and personally calling them out on it .

Cue their supporters harassing the reviewer on Twitter while the author sits their basking in all the ‘dont pay any attention to the haterz, hun’ tweets.

It’s better than watching a soap!

WhenISnappedAndFarted · 27/08/2019 09:16

@MindatWork yes it was on Tripadvisor and he responded. It's a just a shame that some people do fake reviews because I never know what to trust now when looking at them.

I've been to some places with awful reviews and it was nothing like they've said. I've also been to some that had amazing reviews and it was awful.

SpoilsburyToastGirl · 27/08/2019 09:18

My business has over 350 5 star reviews on Facebook, Google and Trust pilot. The only other review I have is a 1 star from years ago and it was a customer who tried to blackmail me for money off! I ask every single client to (truthfully!) review us but none of them are fake.

MontStMichel · 27/08/2019 09:23

DH and a friend of his leave genuine reviews. His friend often finds out the name of the waiter or manager, especially if it’s one of his regular haunts. (He does eat out a lot)

familycourtq · 27/08/2019 09:25

I post honest reviews on trust pilot and TripAdvisor. I honestly think an airport I used to use frequently which has terrible trust pilot reviews is trying to manipulate their rating (although the tide of 1 star reviews is unstoppable). Every few reviews one will pop up with some very generic comments about what a wonderful airport it is. I suspect these are written by employees and friends of the social media folks at the airport.

A former employer's Glassdoor is similarly full of negative reviews with a sprinkling of good ones. There's an actual allegation in there that the company told current employees to post positive reviews.

Original poster

SirJamesTalbotAndHisSpeculum · 27/08/2019 12:43

I enjoy reading the reviews of hospitals.

Some of them are so bad it makes you despair for the NHS.

OP posts:

familycourtq · 27/08/2019 12:46

Have a look at google reviews of Courts if you fancy a laugh

familycourtq · 27/08/2019 12:50

A couple of Court reviews -

"Very unfriendly bunch don't think the judge liked me very much"

From a different review -

"The judge looked like Wesley Snipes, . Have i been set up? Be extremely careful when dealing with a judge who looks like Wesley Snipes

KatherineJaneway · 27/08/2019 19:09

Some people are ridiculous though. There was one review about a 2 Michelin starred restaurant where she, or her host, complained because she only received one scallop for a particular dish. Turns out she was having the 10 course tasting menu. I mean come on, 10 courses, not including snacks and amuse bouche, no one expects 5 bloody scallops on one dish, it isn't a friggin' pub!

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