4 ms·

The vetting is 'crowd-sourced' with customer reviews, no? If 'Bill' thinks 'Leslie' is a great walker... what more should wag or rover need to do? Vet Bill no

The vetting is 'crowd-sourced' with customer reviews, no? If 'Bill' thinks 'Leslie' is a great walker... what more should wag or rover need to do? Vet Bill now too!? That's just crazy talk...

beaconstudios 8y ago
only if the company ensures that "Leslie" is one profile that is attached to one person. Reputation only works if it follows you, if you can create a new account or masquerade as another person (like in this case) then it doesn't work at all. there should also be a certain barrier to entry so that e.g. people more likely to do something criminal or negligent instead won't get on the platform in the first place.
- michaelmrose 8y ago
  I think you are correct. Make people provide photo ID to work and provide a bond. Have someone else show up as you lose the bond. It's entirely possible that such an id and rep feature could be easily be implemented in a universal fashion outside of their interaction with a particular service. Don't want your dog walking service or potential clients to discover that while driving with uber you were a complete asshole no problem don't be an asshole.
buzzdenver 8y ago
It's not in the interest of the marketplace actor, like Wag, to see negative reviews, so I would not be surprised if Leslie's rating was doctored somehow. For example with Uber I had a couple of bad experiences with the driver not picking me up but starting to charge me, and I had to settle for getting my money back but could not leave a review because technically I did not ride with the driver.
- beaconstudios 8y ago
  I would think it would be beneficial for the marketplace to see negative reviews, because they will direct customers to the reliable dogwalkers, leading to greater customer satisfaction and retention. Badly reviewed dogwalkers could be bumped off the platform.
  - buzzdenver 8y ago
    That all depends on the supply of reliable dog walkers.
thisisit 8y ago
Currently the problem arises if the reviews are owned and hosted by the company in question. You can find tons of complains about the quality of Amazon products. And now there is a need for external tools like fakespot.com to find fake reviews. It wouldn't have taken Amazon much to build a similar service. The amazing thing about smaller markets like Wag and Rover is that even if there are negative reviews you are not going to find them. There will be tons of 4-5 rated walkers but you will be hard pressed to find people who are rated 2-3. The reason being that customers don't want 2-3 rated walkers and it is in the interest of the company to show all high rated walkers.
- lowercased 8y ago
  > It wouldn't have taken Amazon much to build a similar service. Would people really trust it as much as something completely external?

The vetting is 'crowd-sourced' with customer reviews, no? If 'Bill' thinks 'Leslie' is a great walker... what more should wag or rover need to do? Vet Bill now too!? That's just crazy talk...

beaconstudios 8y ago

only if the company ensures that "Leslie" is one profile that is attached to one person. Reputation only works if it follows you, if you can create a new account or masquerade as another person (like in this case) then it doesn't work at all. there should also be a certain barrier to entry so that e.g. people more likely to do something criminal or negligent instead won't get on the platform in the first place.

michaelmrose 8y ago
I think you are correct. Make people provide photo ID to work and provide a bond. Have someone else show up as you lose the bond. It's entirely possible that such an id and rep feature could be easily be implemented in a universal fashion outside of their interaction with a particular service. Don't want your dog walking service or potential clients to discover that while driving with uber you were a complete asshole no problem don't be an asshole.

buzzdenver 8y ago

It's not in the interest of the marketplace actor, like Wag, to see negative reviews, so I would not be surprised if Leslie's rating was doctored somehow. For example with Uber I had a couple of bad experiences with the driver not picking me up but starting to charge me, and I had to settle for getting my money back but could not leave a review because technically I did not ride with the driver.

beaconstudios 8y ago
I would think it would be beneficial for the marketplace to see negative reviews, because they will direct customers to the reliable dogwalkers, leading to greater customer satisfaction and retention. Badly reviewed dogwalkers could be bumped off the platform.
- buzzdenver 8y ago
  That all depends on the supply of reliable dog walkers.

thisisit 8y ago

Currently the problem arises if the reviews are owned and hosted by the company in question. You can find tons of complains about the quality of Amazon products. And now there is a need for external tools like fakespot.com to find fake reviews. It wouldn't have taken Amazon much to build a similar service. The amazing thing about smaller markets like Wag and Rover is that even if there are negative reviews you are not going to find them. There will be tons of 4-5 rated walkers but you will be hard pressed to find people who are rated 2-3. The reason being that customers don't want 2-3 rated walkers and it is in the interest of the company to show all high rated walkers.

lowercased 8y ago
> It wouldn't have taken Amazon much to build a similar service. Would people really trust it as much as something completely external?