6 ms·

My favorite is seeing 5 star reviews that are hijacking the top to complain. I've also seen 1 star reviews that are exalting reviews. But my all time ongoing

My favorite is seeing 5 star reviews that are hijacking the top to complain. I've also seen 1 star reviews that are exalting reviews. But my all time ongoing pet peeve is how recommendation engines especially on video streaming and video game series use numbers and star systems that are not based on any other human's input. Not a critic, not a user score, just an algorithm's confidence score on similarities.

runawaybottle 6y ago
The 1 star review that loves the product but hated the way it was shipped. Someone needs to write a textbook on the pathology of those people.
- JamesSwift 6y ago
  No no no, we need to better understand the people who respond in the Q & A section with variants of "I don't know"
  - Jermaine_Jabi 6y ago
    I think those are a side effect of Amazon sending out emails like 'what did you think of x product? Reply with your review!' after a purchase. Why they don't filter them out, I don't know.
    - Jermaine_Jabi 6y ago
      Edit, I mean the ones that ask you questions about a product you purchased
  - ben509 6y ago
    My theory: I think Amazon is showing the unanswered questions to random people, and they answer "I don't know" to make them go away.
  - slavik81 6y ago
    Amazon sends sends the questions out and presents them as if you specifically were being asked by somebody. It's like if Amazon built a guide map by walking up to people on the street and asking, "how do you get to the airport from here?" and writing down the response verbatim. A reasonable person would tend to respond, "I don't know" rather than ignoring a direct question asked of them.
- bigbubba 6y ago
  The customer paid not only for the product but also for the service of having that product delivered to them. Asking them to restrict their review to only one aspect of what they paid for does not seem reasonable.
  - maxk42 6y ago
    Depends. Oftentimes the shipping problem is the carrier's fault (e.g. UPS or FedEx) and not in control of the shipper at all. Other times they packaged it poorly and it predictably broke, leaked, or melted and it's entirely the carrier's fault. But I do see a plethora of comments that seem to be blaming things like shipping delays on the seller.
    - MereInterest 6y ago
      And in that case, the company's response is pretty important. There's a world of difference between (a) "it was fine on our end, take it up with the shipper", (b) "we are sorry this happened and are shipping a replacement", and (c) "thank you, and we are looking into other shipping options as a result of the frequent complaints". Some combination of (b) and (c) is acceptable. (a) is not acceptable.
  - dfxm12 6y ago
    It's about giving proper weight to each aspect. Giving a 1 star review to an otherwise 4 star experience is dishonest if you only have some issue with the shipping (or marketing tactics), just as an example.
    - dolmen 6y ago
      Right. Issues about shipping are not what product rating are for. Of course it is a problem that Amazon does not provide a way to separately report packaging and transport problems.
    - bigbubba 6y ago
      "Proper weight" is subjective. Disagreeing with dfxm12 doesn't constitute dishonesty.
- powersnail 6y ago
  I have seen a 1 star review of a glass container, which broke when the buyer dropped it. I mean, come on!
  - abiogenesis 6y ago
    Are you referring to the product named "Unbreakable Glass Container, AS SEEN ON TV"?
- zeristor 6y ago
  I’ve done this, and stand by it. Since Amazon allows you to rate the delivery by third party suppliers, but not by itself. On the whole Amazon is good, but occasionally in the past it was poor, however there was no Avenue to raise that.
- mjevans 6y ago
  Shipping is part of the purchase process. If the product is good, but the shipping is not, buyers deserve to be informed. If there are separate reviews for the product and the shipping of a product (still tied to that product, but also the shipping carrier that was used for that order) then a split review (one for each) is legitimate. Otherwise if there's only one review spot, EVERYTHING is on the table.
  - dolmen 6y ago
    And in shipping we could distinguish packaging and transport. I would like to rate both.
  - Natanael_L 6y ago
    One of the problems here is when Amazon has one shared item listing for multiple sellers. A bad review for the product due to one seller's shipping hurts all the other sellers too.
staplers 6y ago
Luckily we have rotten tomatoes as a decent indicator of actual critic reviews. Until they start gaming the reviews to boost movies they (subsidiary of Comcast) want to promote.
- zeroonetwothree 6y ago
  You think they aren’t already?
- EpicEng 6y ago
  Personally I couldn't care less about the critic reviews/score, but the audience score is usually spot on for the stuff I'm interested in.
  - vmception 6y ago
    Sadly it only used to be that way for me. In genres I liked, the consensus could be all the way down to 30% and I knew I would enjoy it, as in 30% and above would be a good movie for me. But then things with 70% positive audience reviews in the same genre started being imo the dumbest poorly written, composed, experiences... I guess this is a sign of getting old and out of touch? or the presence of shills? I dont know but I know not to trust them
  - mejutoco 6y ago
    I like to use the audience score as well. I found it has some pitfalls occasionally, although they can be fun. Certain movies attract a very narrow and enthusiastic, that will upvote the movie disproportionately (people not interested in the kind of movie will not even vote). A my little pony movie can get as good scores as the Godfather. Maybe it is, who knows.
    - BlueTemplar 6y ago
      Yeah, this is why critic reviews are still needed.
b0rsuk 6y ago
Portal, the game by Valve, has some rabid fanboys. I only played it this year because my computer was unable to handle it. I was disappointed with how easy and short the game was. Style over substance for someone who enjoys Baba Is You or Riven. Anyway, the first several negative reviews read like this: "Are you seriously looking for a negative review? Come on! The game is amazing! Buy it!" I hate the people who don't cast their vote to represent just their opinion, but rather try to get the score where they think it belongs. " Absolutely amazing dont listen to the "gamers" that havent even played it yet and just love to get on a hate train. " (10) " A fantastic game troubled by some technical issues. It's obvious that right now it doesn't deserve that 10/10 (with some patches tho? possible), but I'm still scoring it like that to counter all the review bombing GTA kiddies (more depth, rotfl) and trolls that haven't even seen the game. " (10) The above from the most overhyped game of the year.
- pjc50 6y ago
  > Portal, the game by Valve Published in 2007. > I only played it this year Portal is to a great extent a tech demo for its unprecedented "portal" rendering. This enabled some very 3D puzzles of a style that gamers hadn't seen before. Of course it's going to look a little pale in 2020, although you'd hope any original bugs were fixed.
  - b0rsuk 6y ago
    Sharpshooter fallacy: shooting a rifle at a barn and painting a bullseye around the biggest cluster of hits. "Portal is to a great extent a tech demo" (therefore it shouldn't be judged as a game) Yet Portal is sold as a game in its own right. Riven was released in 1997 and is still a delightful intellectual challenge today, with nothing really like it. It's very much the opposite of modern games with a built-in GPS system telling you where to go. Riven is clunky, pixellated, but integrates good puzzles and a well thought out world in a way I haven't seen anywhere else. It was also a technical feat at the time. Like I said in my Steam review, I believe Portal popularity comes from the fact it's a puzzle game attractive enough to draw people who don't play puzzle games. Baba Is You is going to be a classic 20 years from now, despite its ugly graphics. In hands of anyone else, it would be just a gimmick, like Portal. But the idea was masterfully executed.

runawaybottle 6y ago

The 1 star review that loves the product but hated the way it was shipped. Someone needs to write a textbook on the pathology of those people.

JamesSwift 6y ago
No no no, we need to better understand the people who respond in the Q & A section with variants of "I don't know"
- Jermaine_Jabi 6y ago
  I think those are a side effect of Amazon sending out emails like 'what did you think of x product? Reply with your review!' after a purchase. Why they don't filter them out, I don't know.
  - Jermaine_Jabi 6y ago
    Edit, I mean the ones that ask you questions about a product you purchased
- ben509 6y ago
  My theory: I think Amazon is showing the unanswered questions to random people, and they answer "I don't know" to make them go away.
- slavik81 6y ago
  Amazon sends sends the questions out and presents them as if you specifically were being asked by somebody. It's like if Amazon built a guide map by walking up to people on the street and asking, "how do you get to the airport from here?" and writing down the response verbatim. A reasonable person would tend to respond, "I don't know" rather than ignoring a direct question asked of them.
bigbubba 6y ago
The customer paid not only for the product but also for the service of having that product delivered to them. Asking them to restrict their review to only one aspect of what they paid for does not seem reasonable.
- maxk42 6y ago
  Depends. Oftentimes the shipping problem is the carrier's fault (e.g. UPS or FedEx) and not in control of the shipper at all. Other times they packaged it poorly and it predictably broke, leaked, or melted and it's entirely the carrier's fault. But I do see a plethora of comments that seem to be blaming things like shipping delays on the seller.
  - MereInterest 6y ago
    And in that case, the company's response is pretty important. There's a world of difference between (a) "it was fine on our end, take it up with the shipper", (b) "we are sorry this happened and are shipping a replacement", and (c) "thank you, and we are looking into other shipping options as a result of the frequent complaints". Some combination of (b) and (c) is acceptable. (a) is not acceptable.
- dfxm12 6y ago
  It's about giving proper weight to each aspect. Giving a 1 star review to an otherwise 4 star experience is dishonest if you only have some issue with the shipping (or marketing tactics), just as an example.
  - dolmen 6y ago
    Right. Issues about shipping are not what product rating are for. Of course it is a problem that Amazon does not provide a way to separately report packaging and transport problems.
  - bigbubba 6y ago
    "Proper weight" is subjective. Disagreeing with dfxm12 doesn't constitute dishonesty.
powersnail 6y ago
I have seen a 1 star review of a glass container, which broke when the buyer dropped it. I mean, come on!
- abiogenesis 6y ago
  Are you referring to the product named "Unbreakable Glass Container, AS SEEN ON TV"?
zeristor 6y ago
I’ve done this, and stand by it. Since Amazon allows you to rate the delivery by third party suppliers, but not by itself. On the whole Amazon is good, but occasionally in the past it was poor, however there was no Avenue to raise that.
mjevans 6y ago
Shipping is part of the purchase process. If the product is good, but the shipping is not, buyers deserve to be informed. If there are separate reviews for the product and the shipping of a product (still tied to that product, but also the shipping carrier that was used for that order) then a split review (one for each) is legitimate. Otherwise if there's only one review spot, EVERYTHING is on the table.
- dolmen 6y ago
  And in shipping we could distinguish packaging and transport. I would like to rate both.
- Natanael_L 6y ago
  One of the problems here is when Amazon has one shared item listing for multiple sellers. A bad review for the product due to one seller's shipping hurts all the other sellers too.

staplers 6y ago

Luckily we have rotten tomatoes as a decent indicator of actual critic reviews. Until they start gaming the reviews to boost movies they (subsidiary of Comcast) want to promote.

zeroonetwothree 6y ago
You think they aren’t already?
EpicEng 6y ago
Personally I couldn't care less about the critic reviews/score, but the audience score is usually spot on for the stuff I'm interested in.
- vmception 6y ago
  Sadly it only used to be that way for me. In genres I liked, the consensus could be all the way down to 30% and I knew I would enjoy it, as in 30% and above would be a good movie for me. But then things with 70% positive audience reviews in the same genre started being imo the dumbest poorly written, composed, experiences... I guess this is a sign of getting old and out of touch? or the presence of shills? I dont know but I know not to trust them
- mejutoco 6y ago
  I like to use the audience score as well. I found it has some pitfalls occasionally, although they can be fun. Certain movies attract a very narrow and enthusiastic, that will upvote the movie disproportionately (people not interested in the kind of movie will not even vote). A my little pony movie can get as good scores as the Godfather. Maybe it is, who knows.
  - BlueTemplar 6y ago
    Yeah, this is why critic reviews are still needed.

b0rsuk 6y ago

Portal, the game by Valve, has some rabid fanboys. I only played it this year because my computer was unable to handle it. I was disappointed with how easy and short the game was. Style over substance for someone who enjoys Baba Is You or Riven. Anyway, the first several negative reviews read like this: "Are you seriously looking for a negative review? Come on! The game is amazing! Buy it!" I hate the people who don't cast their vote to represent just their opinion, but rather try to get the score where they think it belongs. " Absolutely amazing dont listen to the "gamers" that havent even played it yet and just love to get on a hate train. " (10) " A fantastic game troubled by some technical issues. It's obvious that right now it doesn't deserve that 10/10 (with some patches tho? possible), but I'm still scoring it like that to counter all the review bombing GTA kiddies (more depth, rotfl) and trolls that haven't even seen the game. " (10) The above from the most overhyped game of the year.

pjc50 6y ago
> Portal, the game by Valve Published in 2007. > I only played it this year Portal is to a great extent a tech demo for its unprecedented "portal" rendering. This enabled some very 3D puzzles of a style that gamers hadn't seen before. Of course it's going to look a little pale in 2020, although you'd hope any original bugs were fixed.
- b0rsuk 6y ago
  Sharpshooter fallacy: shooting a rifle at a barn and painting a bullseye around the biggest cluster of hits. "Portal is to a great extent a tech demo" (therefore it shouldn't be judged as a game) Yet Portal is sold as a game in its own right. Riven was released in 1997 and is still a delightful intellectual challenge today, with nothing really like it. It's very much the opposite of modern games with a built-in GPS system telling you where to go. Riven is clunky, pixellated, but integrates good puzzles and a well thought out world in a way I haven't seen anywhere else. It was also a technical feat at the time. Like I said in my Steam review, I believe Portal popularity comes from the fact it's a puzzle game attractive enough to draw people who don't play puzzle games. Baba Is You is going to be a classic 20 years from now, despite its ugly graphics. In hands of anyone else, it would be just a gimmick, like Portal. But the idea was masterfully executed.