customer reviews on Amazon

[Donald]

Something not quite kosher here

1) looking for a case for a Nexus 5 phone. It came out less than 24 hours ago. There are cases for a Nexus 5 on Amazon with 244 customer reviews. It seems they combined the listed with a selection box for a case for the Nexus 4 and Nexus 5. But maybe the case for a nexus 4 is great and for a Nexus 5 is [censored].

2) Amazon has a "VINE" group of frequent reviewers. As a VINE member you get to pick a few products each month (from a provided list) to review. They are sent at no cost, you review and keep the item. Technically they are not yours, Amazon could ask for them back but never does. They say the reviews are unbiased. The product manufacturers are providing the products free so they get more reviews. This was reported on NPR this week.

 

[racer12306]

I've found Amazon reviews really need to be taken with a grain of salt. Mainly the overall star rating. People that don't like a company will leave a one star review complaining about a product they've never owned.

Seems Amazon may not do the best at policing the reviews, but that would be quite an undertaking.

I tend to look at what is actually written rather than just reviewing the overall stars if the item has a low star count.

 

[DragRace]

Amazon has fake reviews on items,be careful out there folks,do your own research before buying an item and going by the supposed reviews they are showing you.

 

[wrcsixeight]

Amazon's product descriptions leave a lot to be desired. Sometimes within the reviews, there are better descriptions.

I usually ignore the star rating, and judge the reviewer's opinions by their ability to spell correctly and form sentences correctly, and I don't care if it is sexist, but by gender.

I've written some reviews. I try to answer all the questions about the product I had before aquisition, and get lots of notifications that my reviews were helpful to others.

 

[Blueskies123]

I try to only read the reviews from someone that has had the product for a while, like months or years. Especially the ones where they have gone back and edited their review several months later. I also like the ones that explain the good and bad aspects of the product.

 

[SF0059]

You can usually tell the quality of an individual review by the writing, knowledge, description, etc. I completely disregard the "me got item... super lame junk, yo!" reviews. Well written reviews include descriptions, pros and cons, and comparisons with other products.

That being said, I am also careful about products(as in the OP's instance) where a new item has too many reviews. If the seller is not Amazon, it is easy for them to switch the product page from, in this example, a Nexus 4 to a 5.

Great phone, by the way. Looking at that or a LG G2. Post a review when you get some time with it!

 

[Brybo86]

I would probably go with the reviews from an electronics specific website like engadget or similar

 

[dishdude]

What don't you like about the one offered in the Play store? I thought it was a nice looking, slim skin for it.

 

[stockrex]

I found items on cabelas with similar knock it out of the park ratings. Then you will have 5 guys say the product sucks unmentionable farm animals behind.

 

[Donald]

Originally Posted By: dishdude
What don't you like about the one offered in the Play store? I thought it was a nice looking, slim skin for it.


I was looking for an Otterbox. None found. I may settle for AmorBox from Amazon.

 

[brandini]

Also look for Amazon verified purchase which means the person bought it from Amazon- so you know they aren't just reviewing for fun.

 

[nitehawk55]

Originally Posted By: racer12306
I've found Amazon reviews really need to be taken with a grain of salt. Mainly the overall star rating. People that don't like a company will leave a one star review complaining about a product they've never owned.

Seems Amazon may not do the best at policing the reviews, but that would be quite an undertaking.

I tend to look at what is actually written rather than just reviewing the overall stars if the item has a low star count.


Definitely the content of the review and how it comes across to me that makes me take notice or not .