Saturday, 31 January 2015

Would you take the time to review your recent purchase?

I’ve just come from my breakfast-time Two Blondes fix - they post on their blog daily with unfailing interest:


That link will take you to their recent post which refers to Trip Advisor reviews sparking the idea for this post.

Last summer I reviewed, on Trip Advisor, Chiltern Lodge b-and-b at Worth Matravers on the south West Coast Path. Some other reviewers had been picky. The b-and-b was well above average. I said something about it being good for everybody except for those used to paying a fortune in London for the privilege of being obsequiously molly-coddeld by staff who were paid just to do that regardless of any unreasonable attitude from their guests. Trip Advisor refused to post my comment. I haven’t bothered since.

If you want a good laugh anytime read a few one star reviews on Amazon. Amongst the rare constructive criticisms they fall into several other categories:

Hilariously badly written (see RR comment: I originally wrote illiterate and, oops! spellchecker has  told me I had spelt it wrongly - retribution?)

Complaining about packaging or delivery and not reviewing the product

Those who are technically challenged and can’t fathom how the thing works

Bought for their grandchild who destroyed it in seconds.

There are, almost without exception, one star reviews, probably put there by competitors? If you took too much notice you would never buy anything.
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4 comments:

  1. Roderick Robinson1 February 2015 at 07:11

    The reason packaging gets a mention is because Amazon asks for comments on just that subject. In fact, Amazon's packaging is well thought out and very protective. But I never feel I have to contribute to A's inflated ego by telling them so.

    Laughing at others' illiteracy is likely to end in tears and blushes. Technically it should be impossible. Illiterate doesn't mean expressing oneself poorly, it means can't read or write. Tempting though it may be in some cases, it doesn't mean "shouldn't read or write".

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  2. Sir Hugh1 February 2015 at 07:41

    RR - correction made and self inflicted wrist slapping applied.

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  3. Blonde Two1 February 2015 at 12:57

    Kind words about our blog Conrad. Thank you.

    I find Trip Advisor very annoying. I believe in praise and finding the good in as many things as possible. Too many "advisors" seem to spend their holiday looking for silly things to criticise.

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  4. Gayle1 February 2015 at 18:58

    You can't beat the reading of a few 1* reviews for a bit of entertainment. On Trip Advisor, particularly, it's often very easy to see through the review to the real basis of the reviewer's disgruntledness.

    The two occasions which spring to mind when we stayed in accommodation with overwhelmingly negative reviews, I didn't agree with the reviewers. So many people seem to fail to take price into account when rating a place (if it costs £40 when all the competition is charging £60, then, in my opinion, you shouldn't be expecting an establishment worth £60).

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