Merchants who only publish positive reviews...

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Is anyone else sick and tired of merchants cherry-picking reviews and only publishing positive ones? I am. Just recently I wrote a review on a shaving merchant's website. I gave the product 3 stars (out of 5). I complimented the merchant on excellent service and went on to write a mixed review about said product. (Shave Cream) I thought that the shave cream was of good quality, but the scent was way off and wasn't even in the same ballpark as its name would indicate. The title of my review was: "5 stars for the soap, 1 star for the scent = 3 stars". I also said that anyone who purchased this shave cream expecting the scent of the title, would be sorely disappointed. Do you think that this review has been published? Of course not. It even says on the site that there are NO reviews yet for this shave cream. Now here is the kicker. I get an email from the merchant requesting me to write a review of another purchase I made. (Shave Brush). I ALMOST wrote back stating when they publish my already submitted review, I would be happy to write another. But, I deleted the email instead. What a crock. Thanks for allowing me to vent.

It would be helpful to list the merchants that have this policy. I am not looking for trouble but would appreciate this factual information.

Primo, I think that is more common than not with a lot of sellers, mainline, artisan, etc.  This is not limited to shaving goods, either.   I have reached the point that just as there are merchants who cherry pick the reviews they post, I cherry pick which ones I think have validity.  

There are all sorts of tricks used.  For example,  when reading Amazon reviews,  I always want to start with the most recent reviews, particularly if a product has been around awhile.  Products change, for better or worse, and a review that was pertinent a year ago may not be now.  However, Amazon always starts with what they call "Top" reviews.  Top by whose standard?  To get the reviews in order from newest to oldest one has to click a few times to get to a drop down menu that will finally order them as such.  Also,  I am more likely to read the one and two star reviews before the four and five star ones.

When it comes to something like scent in shaving soap, I find that a bit subjective to offer a one size fits all review and much prefer the person who will post something along the lines of "For me" or "I find", etc. showing they are honest enough that it may not be the same for everyone.

Can I be influenced by reviews?  Sure, that's why I read them.  However, I must admit to reading most with a somewhat jaundiced eye.

That italic font man. I'd delete your review too if it was in that heavy italic font...

Just kidding...

I want to read the reviews. Good and bad. I would rather see the truth than a curated love fest. I still buy stuff that doesn't have strictly good reviews if I can read a well reasoned negative review. Scent is subjective and if you felt strongly about it enough to explain the luke warm rating along with a weighted outline of how you got there, I would like to know if I was considering the purchase.

As a merchant, negative reviews are tough. It's always hard to hear when someone is dissatisfied with one (or more) of our products. There are, on occasion, reviews that I don't publish because they're absurd. One example that sticks out in my mind is a man who ordered a bottle of Fougère Gothique EdP. We shipped him a bottle, which arrived broken, so we shipped him a second bottle. It too arrived broken. He sent me an email requesting a refund, which I gave him promptly. Made sense, rather than just throwing good perfume out into the ether. Sometimes, you just cannot protect the product enough, but, thankfully, broken bottles are extremely unusual.

Anyway, he then proceeded to write a one-star review saying that I didn't stand behind my product. This, to me, was so petty and ill-mannered that I simply didn't publish it. It's not a review of the product or of my customer service; it's a load of griping written by someone who just was determined to be displeased.

That said, such occurrences are rare. A far better methodology, and one that I practice and see practiced by most of my colleagues, is to allow negative reviews to be published, but to answer them with some way to prevent the customer from having a negative experience in the future. Sometimes, it's simply a matter of someone not liking something. I had a two-star review for Gothique EdP show up the other day from someone who had gotten a sample and found it too strong for his taste. I've no way to answer that, really, so I simply let it post as-is.

The point is that you're absolutely right and that it's a bad practice to cherry pick positive reviews. Far better to allow as many reviews as possible, both good and bad, to be published, but to attempt to help the dissatisfied party avoid the issue in the future. But, in unusual cases, it's simply not appropriate to allow a review to be published, and publishing every single one without restraint can open a retailer up to slander, so it's occasionally a matter of discretion.

When it comes to something like scent in shaving soap, I find that a bit subjective to offer a one size fits all review and much prefer the person who will post something along the lines of "For me" or "I find", etc. showing they are honest enough that it may not be the same for everyone.

Isn't that redundant? I mean isn't it like saying 'true fact' ? Unless someone is a professional food critic/ perfume reviewer/ etc. isn't every review a personal opinion? When I read scent description from anyone (even from you in your SOTDs or other discussions), or read reviews on subjective issues over at Amazon, Maggard, Bullgoose, IB, I always assume it is his/her personal opinion.

...The point is that you're absolutely right and that it's a bad practice to cherry pick positive reviews. Far better to allow as many reviews, both good and bad, to be published, but to attempt to help the dissatisfied party avoid the issue in the future. But, in unusual cases, it's simply not appropriate to allow a review to be published, and publishing every single one without restraint can open a retailer up to slander, so it's occasionally a matter of discretion.

I agree totally with that.

One large Internet retailer was called to the mat on eliminating bad reviews on his website and his reply was essentially that it was his website and his right to do as such. Needless to say, that went over like a pregnant pole vaulter. The initials are IB.

I'm right there with you Primo. I put up (tried to) a negative review on PAA's site for their "deodorant". It was never published. Sent an email inquiring why my review wasn't there.....ignored. Very annoying.

I don't like anonymous reviews. I've only removed 2 reviews. One 3 star and one 5 star. Both anonymous.


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Primo, I think that is more common than not with a lot of sellers, mainline, artisan, etc.  This is not limited to shaving goods, either.   I have reached the point that just as there are merchants who cherry pick the reviews they post, I cherry pick which ones I think have validity.  

There are all sorts of tricks used.  For example,  when reading Amazon reviews,  I always want to start with the most recent reviews, particularly if a product has been around awhile.  Products change, for better or worse, and a review that was pertinent a year ago may not be now.  However, Amazon always starts with what they call "Top" reviews.  Top by whose standard?  To get the reviews in order from newest to oldest one has to click a few times to get to a drop down menu that will finally order them as such.  Also,  I am more likely to read the one and two star reviews before the four and five star ones.

When it comes to something like scent in shaving soap, I find that a bit subjective to offer a one size fits all review and much prefer the person who will post something along the lines of "For me" or "I find", etc. showing they are honest enough that it may not be the same for everyone.

Can I be influenced by reviews?  Sure, that's why I read them.  However, I must admit to reading most with a somewhat jaundiced eye.

Another thing you can do on Amazon is click on the reviewer's name and see what else he or she has reviewed. It amazes me how many times it's the only product they have reviewed, which pretty much tells me it's either a fake account or the product was provided free of charge. The legit reviews are usually pretty obvious due to the number of products reviewed and the buying patterns. If someone reviews a double edge razor you will most likely find that they have bought other shaving related products from Amazon as well.