The chap on BBC radio yesterday said that he deliberately gave lower marks (4 star) than 5 because of exactly that - it looked too obvious. He also said that so

The chap on BBC radio yesterday said that he deliberately gave lower marks (4 star) than 5 because of exactly that - it looked too obvious. He also said that some of the products that he was paid to review he didn't even use (hemorrhoid cream being one item). I have also noticed the tit-for-tat reviews on Amazon between competitors. Its quite common on the cheaper products, in my experience. I've bought one or two awful things due to being caught by fake reviews, but I do tend to go back and leave a dreadful review.