Always being skeptical, I don’t put much emphasis on product reviews. These are the “user” reviews you see on company websites that are trying to sell you something. I’ve seen news reports about paid reviewers. These are people that give glowing product reviews to entice buyers. Of course they are paid by the company or brand to promote the product. They may sound like the guy down the street, but that’s the way they are crafted, just to dupe you.
Then there’s the fact the most legitimate people who take the time to write a review are doing so to air a grip or complaint with the product. Few people who buy a product and use it without problems will bother to go back to the company website to write a positive review. So reading reviews can give you a good indication what can go wrong with a product, but percentage-wise, there’s little indication how good it actually is.
I don’t often write reviews myself. But when I did recently, I noticed evidence of another scheme that makes me even more skeptical of reviews.
I wrote a review about something I bought at Adorama. I gave my experience an average rating, neither bad nor good. However I did indicate the product I received looked to be very old inventory. The box was faded from sunlight and had markings of old-style company logos. The only date I could find on or in the box was printed on a paper insert over a decade ago. I mentioned the site shows new-style packaging for the product description, but may ship something that’s been sitting on the shelf for years. It appears to still work, but only time will tell if it will continue to perform like a recently manufactured product.
The trouble is, my review never appeared. They review the reviews before they are posted. Mine apparently didn’t pass muster. So here’s a case where information that could help someone decide whether or not to buy from Adorama was censored. That’s their right, but it makes me wonder what other reviews they, and other companies, withhold. Tricky indeed.
Buyer beware. Don’t assume the stock photo of the product you order is really what you will get.