Why online reviews don’t always pack the punch they should

Why online reviews don’t always pack the punch they should

Whether it’s a star rating alongside a product for sale online, a lengthy feedback describing someone’s caravan holiday (minute-by-minute), or a company review, online reviews are difficult to avoid and why would anyone want to?

For consumers, reading genuine customer reviews of a product or service before buying is invaluable because it saves time and often money too. Pictures or videos demonstrating the product helps customers to see before they buy, check suitability and choose the right product for them, which saves companies on the inevitable costs associated with postage, packaging and returns. For a business, unbiased and well-researched online reviews can give an idea of how customers perceive its offering and can be a useful tool for marketing as well.

The problem, however, lies within the last paragraph, are they genuine customer reviews and can they be trusted?

Not everyone leaves a review

Typically, people find it really difficult to give face to face feedback after receiving bad customer service because most wish to avoid confrontation. The majority of people will not write a review about their experience and will just tell everyone else about their experience instead.

For others, leaving an online review (after telling all of their friends and family about the poor experience), is a non-confrontational way of getting a point across. Often, these reviews never actually get posted, the reviewer types it all out, tries to make it as constructive as possible and then deletes the draft (or never gets around to posting the review).

Ultimately, if someone does choose to leave a review, it will only be if they have received a very positive, or very negative customer experience.

Experiences can be exaggerated on social media for impact

There are people who will not want to complain directly at all to the company and would prefer to target the company on social media; a viral negative review can be very damaging for the company but can be very effective for the person complaining. Companies will often respond quickly out of panic and may often offer some sort of compensation. Sadly, this sometimes encourages experiences to be exaggerated or even falsified.

The customer is always right...?

Those who have tried to complain directly to the company and were either not listened to, or did not receive the outcome they had hoped for, might choose to leave aggressive sounding reviews online. These can be very challenging to deal with as often the person is acting purely on emotion and feels they have been left with no other option but to use the internet as a megaphone and tell as many other people as possible about their experience.

Some companies encourage their customers to review them online but many don’t and may find themselves with reviews of those who have felt passionate enough to google the company and find a review site, which are often the more disgruntled consumers.

Competitors at war

A lot of sites are rife with fake reviews; it’s no secret that some sellers pay a high price for people to post fake reviews on products and services. Additionally, it’s not just the well-known selling sites that you’ll find paid-for reviews. Articles like ‘Top 10 Companies to Work for to Make Money Online’ include a top 10 only there because they have paid to be and the article is nothing more than a list of adverts.

Where competition is high, it’s been known for competitor businesses to leave neutral or even negative reviews to make their offering appear superior. Sometimes business owners are able to quickly spot the review and remove it but often this is not the case. Review sites may force users to go through an appeal process to have the review removed and if unsuccessful, the review can sit there for the rest of eternity.

Some people are just too nice!

Other motives for leaving false reviews include reviewing a local company to make the place seem more desirable, e.g. leaving a new eatery in the village a great review to help them get started. This is made even easier with push notifications from Google asking passers-by to ‘Rate your visit’.

A case of mistaken identity

Sometimes customers who wish to leave a genuine review, good or bad, might have accidentally confused one company with another and don’t have the time or inclination to correct their mistake. In some cases, they cannot remove the review even if they wanted to.

How to review the reviews

Overall, consumers should take into consideration the good, the bad and the ugly to make an informed decision. It’s always a good sign when a business has politely responded to online reviews and you can often tell more about the company from the response given than the actual review.

It is important to remember that even the review sites themselves don’t have 5 stars!