7 ms·

Sorry I have to weigh in here and say that Consumer Reports is a pay-to-play service now, where often the worst products & services are not the best, and often

by 23B1 5y ago

Sorry I have to weigh in here and say that Consumer Reports is a pay-to-play service now, where often the worst products & services are not the best, and often times criminally bad. As an example, I used them for moving services for a state-to-state move. Turns out the top three or four moving services are merely dispatchers run by a single company, run by a convicted felon out of Florida under a rotating number of businesses and cutouts. When I contacted Consumer Reports to let them know about the many tens of thousands of complaints about the companies they were ranking highest, they referred me to their attorney.

wwweston 5y ago
> I have to weigh in here and say that Consumer Reports is a pay-to-play service now Do you mean to say that they receive money to issue reviews (which would be alarming)? Or do you mean to say they charge fees to access review information (which has always been the case AFAICT)?
dcist 5y ago
I don't think Consumer Reports recommends moving companies.
unkeptbarista 5y ago
In all the years I've used Consumer Reports I've never seen them rate moving services. I just jumped on their site now, and there are no reviews for moving services.
- commoner 5y ago
  I'm not sure if Consumer Reports has ever formally reviewed moving services, though I admit I haven't been looking for this category specifically. CR's website currently doesn't have any reviews for moving services, not even with a disclaimer that the category is no longer being tested (like they do for some categories, such as steam irons: https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/steam-irons.htm https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/steam-irons.htm). CR's freelance writers have written general advice articles on moving services, like https://www.consumerreports.org/moving/how-to-choose-a-reliable-moving-company/ https://www.consumerreports.org/moving/how-to-choose-a-relia..., which might be useful to some readers but certainly aren't very deep. These articles aren't the same as CR's actual reviews, which have scores and detailed ratings for each product metric.
tablespoon 5y ago
>> If you want to solve the problem of product research in an old-school way, Consumer Reports still exists. Their business model for almost a century has been to produce independent reviews of products, and charge for the reviews. It is also run as a non-profit. > Sorry I have to weigh in here and say that Consumer Reports is a pay-to-play service now, where often the worst products & services are not the best, and often times criminally bad. > As an example, I used them for moving services for a state-to-state move. Turns out the top three or four moving services are merely dispatchers run by a single company, run by a convicted felon out of Florida under a rotating number of businesses and cutouts. Honestly, "moving companies" is not a category that seems like it would be in Consumer Reports' wheelhouse, and I'm surprised they offered any recommendations in that area at all. Also, your anecdote doesn't really support the notion that they're "pay-to-play, just that they did a bad job in some category. Are you actually thinking of the Better Business Bureau but got it mixed up with Consumer reports? I would expect the BBB to rate moving services and I've heard that they have some kind of membership program for businesses that seems to allow better control over complaints, which is pretty close to "pay-to-play."
- willis936 5y ago
  This is all a massive deflection. Why is CR okay to make recommendations in an "area they're not good at"? Even the most generous interpretations are more damning than your claims.
  - impalallama 5y ago
    Because thats a service not a product. I go to CR for reviews on what the best mattress is, moving companies is not something I would go to them for so that doesn't concern me. Its like saying AAA isn't worth the money because you didn't like the hotel they gave you a discount on.
    - willis936 5y ago
      Right except AAA's service is not providing opinions on the quality of anything, goods or services. Lying about the quality of a good or service when that is your business, potentially with kickbacks, is not really a defensible position. "It's okay because I don't expect their opinion to be good in this one area" doesn't negate CR providing that opinion.
rapind 5y ago
Possibly confusing this with the better business bureau (which is totally pay to play)?
windexh8er 5y ago
> Sorry I have to weigh in here and say that Consumer Reports is a pay-to-play service now, where often the worst products & services are not the best, and often times criminally bad. Agreed. As a PSA do not use the True Car services that are "included" in a membership. It's basically a free pass to sell all of the contact information CR has on you to any dealership that's paying them for leads. You will be hounded for weeks if you try to use that service. I recently found out, through a family member, that the deceptive practice still exists when they were trying to get actual dealer invoices (which CR used to provide, but no longer does). I cannot not recommend CR enough.
- ethbr0 5y ago
  Not sure if it's any relation to TrueCar.com, but FWIW I used them 7(?) years ago to purchase a hard to find used car and had nothing but a good experience. From wikipedia, I gather they've tweaked their compensation models and exec team since then, so no idea what they're like now. Effectively, everyone is AutoTrader though, and you should never give any insurance or auto quote company a real phone number or non-spam email.
  - windexh8er 5y ago
    > ...and you should never give any insurance or auto quote company a real phone number or non-spam email. That is the point. Given the reputation CR tries to uphold and their relationship and integration with True Car there is not much warning (if any) using that feature in CR will result in dumping your contact information to many dealerships and is a dark pattern one wouldn't expect from CR given the end user is paying for the service. For most non-technical folks I can't imagine this experience is positive after they've handed over their actual phone # and email.
- perl4ever 5y ago
  I can't vouch for whatever the state of True Car is right now, but several years ago (more than once) I went there for information on the average selling price of new cars. They had a nice histogram, showing the range and most common price and how far off msrp it was. I don't know how accurate it really was, and if it was accurate, someone might have "gotten to them" in later years to inflate the statistics and preserve profit margins. But it seemed to me really valuable information for negotiating a new car purchase. The special True Car price and "services" and all that seemed like a diversion to me. It's like some other things on the Internet - a sensible person subsists on the free "teaser" information and never ever engages in any sort of relationship. Apart from an indication of what a fair price is, the histogram showed relative discounts between models, and there's frequently/always ones that are being disdained by the public that are very good cars and dealers are desperate to move, versus ones that are in high demand that they won't discount.
MaxBarraclough 5y ago
What do you make of the UK-based Which? which (I think) does something somewhat similar? It's pay-to-access, but as I understand it they don't make money from ads or from borderline extortion. https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/printers-and-ink https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/printers-and-ink https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Which%3F https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Which%3F
- gerdesj 5y ago
  I've been a subscriber and I am a half hearted fan of Which. IT wise their advice is complete arse: This is a consumer champion that only recommends either Apple or MS - there appears to be no other offerings. To be fair, I last read a Which review at least two years ago. I'd describe Which as a good starter for 10, these days, but no more. They do a decent legal angle and always have done, ie consumer rights - that's their forte for me.
- snthd 5y ago
  It's a charity, but it (indirectly?) pays some eyebrow-raisingly-high salaries: https://www.thirdsector.co.uk/charity-pay-study-2019-highest-earners/management/article/1579223 https://www.thirdsector.co.uk/charity-pay-study-2019-highest...
ptr2voidStar 5y ago
BikiniPrince 5y ago
CR hasn’t completed an insightful review in ages. It isn’t even worth subscribing prior to a major purchase. I find independent YouTubers significantly better. To a point! There are a number of obvious non-critical flooded reviews for lots of products. I suppose in closing CR is garbage and you have to do relevant research commiserate with how much you want to spend/care. If only we had a review organization we could trust!
- tablespoon 5y ago
  > CR hasn’t completed an insightful review in ages. It isn’t even worth subscribing prior to a major purchase. > I find independent YouTubers significantly better. Could me extremely skeptical. "Independence" on YouTube is very cheap and easy to fake. IMHO, YouTube is mainly useful for video of someone poking at a product, because for some reason retailers and manufacturers don't provide good enough media on product pages to get anywhere close to substituting for seeing something in person.
- prepend 5y ago
  I’ve recently used their reviews for doors, roof shingles, and washing machines. YouTube isn’t even a similar product. I assume all reviewers are paid and have no idea their methodology. I like CR because their methods are defined and they don’t have any competing agendas (ads, sponsored posts, product placement , etc)
- smsm42 5y ago
  How would one know if Youtuber is independent? Say, I need to buy a lawnmower. How do I know which reviewers are good and which are idiots and which are paid shills? It's kinda hard to figure it on YT. If I have a specific product in mind, I can look through YT reviews of this specific one as a point of information. But if I have 100 potential lawnmowers to sort through, I won't watch every YT review for 100 products, I'd have to take a sabbatical for that. YT doesn't fill the niche.
seventytwo 5y ago
Are you sure you aren’t thinking about the Better Business Bureau?
wolfv 5y ago
Consumer Reports 5-Year Index does not contain the word "moving": https://article.images.consumerreports.org/prod/content/dam/cro/corporate/customer-service/5-year-index https://article.images.consumerreports.org/prod/content/dam/...
losethos7 5y ago
TheRealDunkirk 5y ago
I don't know if it's pay-to-play, but it sure feels like it. Many years ago, I had a house built, and I decided to outfit it with all the appliances, convinced I could do a better job picking out good equipment, and getting better prices. I settled on Consumer Reports' best pick: GE "Gold" appliances, and I bought them all. Within 2 years, every single one -- oven, microwave, dishwasher, refrigerator, washer, and dryer -- had problems. I will never trust CR for anything again.
- Retric 5y ago
  If all your major appliances died that quickly there might be something wrong with your houses power. GE’s quality also tanked, but the power thing is worth looking into.
  - TheRealDunkirk 5y ago
    I'm talking about plastic breaking, fans dying, switches failing, etc. I only HAD to replace the washer and dryer, and the mismatched, second-hand units I got were still going strong after a decade. I asked the used appliance salesman if he wanted my old ones, for free, to refurbish. He asked what brand they were. I told him. He said no. Those models were THAT bad. But CR said they were the best on the market.
akimball 5y ago
Consumer Labs is high integrity, however
throwaway0a5e 5y ago
They also pander to their customer base. You'll never hear them say a bad word about the kinds of high end but not "I own a private jet" luxury products that high middle class consumers (who are their target market) tend to own. Nobody resubscribes to media that tells them they're doing it wrong.

by 23B1 5y ago

wwweston 5y ago

> I have to weigh in here and say that Consumer Reports is a pay-to-play service now Do you mean to say that they receive money to issue reviews (which would be alarming)? Or do you mean to say they charge fees to access review information (which has always been the case AFAICT)?

dcist 5y ago

I don't think Consumer Reports recommends moving companies.

unkeptbarista 5y ago

In all the years I've used Consumer Reports I've never seen them rate moving services. I just jumped on their site now, and there are no reviews for moving services.

commoner 5y ago
I'm not sure if Consumer Reports has ever formally reviewed moving services, though I admit I haven't been looking for this category specifically. CR's website currently doesn't have any reviews for moving services, not even with a disclaimer that the category is no longer being tested (like they do for some categories, such as steam irons: https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/steam-irons.htm https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/steam-irons.htm). CR's freelance writers have written general advice articles on moving services, like https://www.consumerreports.org/moving/how-to-choose-a-reliable-moving-company/ https://www.consumerreports.org/moving/how-to-choose-a-relia..., which might be useful to some readers but certainly aren't very deep. These articles aren't the same as CR's actual reviews, which have scores and detailed ratings for each product metric.

tablespoon 5y ago

>> If you want to solve the problem of product research in an old-school way, Consumer Reports still exists. Their business model for almost a century has been to produce independent reviews of products, and charge for the reviews. It is also run as a non-profit. > Sorry I have to weigh in here and say that Consumer Reports is a pay-to-play service now, where often the worst products & services are not the best, and often times criminally bad. > As an example, I used them for moving services for a state-to-state move. Turns out the top three or four moving services are merely dispatchers run by a single company, run by a convicted felon out of Florida under a rotating number of businesses and cutouts. Honestly, "moving companies" is not a category that seems like it would be in Consumer Reports' wheelhouse, and I'm surprised they offered any recommendations in that area at all. Also, your anecdote doesn't really support the notion that they're "pay-to-play, just that they did a bad job in some category. Are you actually thinking of the Better Business Bureau but got it mixed up with Consumer reports? I would expect the BBB to rate moving services and I've heard that they have some kind of membership program for businesses that seems to allow better control over complaints, which is pretty close to "pay-to-play."

willis936 5y ago
This is all a massive deflection. Why is CR okay to make recommendations in an "area they're not good at"? Even the most generous interpretations are more damning than your claims.
- impalallama 5y ago
  Because thats a service not a product. I go to CR for reviews on what the best mattress is, moving companies is not something I would go to them for so that doesn't concern me. Its like saying AAA isn't worth the money because you didn't like the hotel they gave you a discount on.
  - willis936 5y ago
    Right except AAA's service is not providing opinions on the quality of anything, goods or services. Lying about the quality of a good or service when that is your business, potentially with kickbacks, is not really a defensible position. "It's okay because I don't expect their opinion to be good in this one area" doesn't negate CR providing that opinion.

rapind 5y ago

Possibly confusing this with the better business bureau (which is totally pay to play)?

windexh8er 5y ago

> Sorry I have to weigh in here and say that Consumer Reports is a pay-to-play service now, where often the worst products & services are not the best, and often times criminally bad. Agreed. As a PSA do not use the True Car services that are "included" in a membership. It's basically a free pass to sell all of the contact information CR has on you to any dealership that's paying them for leads. You will be hounded for weeks if you try to use that service. I recently found out, through a family member, that the deceptive practice still exists when they were trying to get actual dealer invoices (which CR used to provide, but no longer does). I cannot not recommend CR enough.

ethbr0 5y ago
Not sure if it's any relation to TrueCar.com, but FWIW I used them 7(?) years ago to purchase a hard to find used car and had nothing but a good experience. From wikipedia, I gather they've tweaked their compensation models and exec team since then, so no idea what they're like now. Effectively, everyone is AutoTrader though, and you should never give any insurance or auto quote company a real phone number or non-spam email.
- windexh8er 5y ago
  > ...and you should never give any insurance or auto quote company a real phone number or non-spam email. That is the point. Given the reputation CR tries to uphold and their relationship and integration with True Car there is not much warning (if any) using that feature in CR will result in dumping your contact information to many dealerships and is a dark pattern one wouldn't expect from CR given the end user is paying for the service. For most non-technical folks I can't imagine this experience is positive after they've handed over their actual phone # and email.
perl4ever 5y ago
I can't vouch for whatever the state of True Car is right now, but several years ago (more than once) I went there for information on the average selling price of new cars. They had a nice histogram, showing the range and most common price and how far off msrp it was. I don't know how accurate it really was, and if it was accurate, someone might have "gotten to them" in later years to inflate the statistics and preserve profit margins. But it seemed to me really valuable information for negotiating a new car purchase. The special True Car price and "services" and all that seemed like a diversion to me. It's like some other things on the Internet - a sensible person subsists on the free "teaser" information and never ever engages in any sort of relationship. Apart from an indication of what a fair price is, the histogram showed relative discounts between models, and there's frequently/always ones that are being disdained by the public that are very good cars and dealers are desperate to move, versus ones that are in high demand that they won't discount.

MaxBarraclough 5y ago

What do you make of the UK-based Which? which (I think) does something somewhat similar? It's pay-to-access, but as I understand it they don't make money from ads or from borderline extortion. https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/printers-and-ink https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/printers-and-ink https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Which%3F https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Which%3F

gerdesj 5y ago
I've been a subscriber and I am a half hearted fan of Which. IT wise their advice is complete arse: This is a consumer champion that only recommends either Apple or MS - there appears to be no other offerings. To be fair, I last read a Which review at least two years ago. I'd describe Which as a good starter for 10, these days, but no more. They do a decent legal angle and always have done, ie consumer rights - that's their forte for me.
snthd 5y ago
It's a charity, but it (indirectly?) pays some eyebrow-raisingly-high salaries: https://www.thirdsector.co.uk/charity-pay-study-2019-highest-earners/management/article/1579223 https://www.thirdsector.co.uk/charity-pay-study-2019-highest...

ptr2voidStar 5y ago

BikiniPrince 5y ago

CR hasn’t completed an insightful review in ages. It isn’t even worth subscribing prior to a major purchase. I find independent YouTubers significantly better. To a point! There are a number of obvious non-critical flooded reviews for lots of products. I suppose in closing CR is garbage and you have to do relevant research commiserate with how much you want to spend/care. If only we had a review organization we could trust!

tablespoon 5y ago
> CR hasn’t completed an insightful review in ages. It isn’t even worth subscribing prior to a major purchase. > I find independent YouTubers significantly better. Could me extremely skeptical. "Independence" on YouTube is very cheap and easy to fake. IMHO, YouTube is mainly useful for video of someone poking at a product, because for some reason retailers and manufacturers don't provide good enough media on product pages to get anywhere close to substituting for seeing something in person.
prepend 5y ago
I’ve recently used their reviews for doors, roof shingles, and washing machines. YouTube isn’t even a similar product. I assume all reviewers are paid and have no idea their methodology. I like CR because their methods are defined and they don’t have any competing agendas (ads, sponsored posts, product placement , etc)
smsm42 5y ago
How would one know if Youtuber is independent? Say, I need to buy a lawnmower. How do I know which reviewers are good and which are idiots and which are paid shills? It's kinda hard to figure it on YT. If I have a specific product in mind, I can look through YT reviews of this specific one as a point of information. But if I have 100 potential lawnmowers to sort through, I won't watch every YT review for 100 products, I'd have to take a sabbatical for that. YT doesn't fill the niche.

seventytwo 5y ago

Are you sure you aren’t thinking about the Better Business Bureau?

wolfv 5y ago

Consumer Reports 5-Year Index does not contain the word "moving": https://article.images.consumerreports.org/prod/content/dam/cro/corporate/customer-service/5-year-index https://article.images.consumerreports.org/prod/content/dam/...

losethos7 5y ago

TheRealDunkirk 5y ago

I don't know if it's pay-to-play, but it sure feels like it. Many years ago, I had a house built, and I decided to outfit it with all the appliances, convinced I could do a better job picking out good equipment, and getting better prices. I settled on Consumer Reports' best pick: GE "Gold" appliances, and I bought them all. Within 2 years, every single one -- oven, microwave, dishwasher, refrigerator, washer, and dryer -- had problems. I will never trust CR for anything again.

Retric 5y ago
If all your major appliances died that quickly there might be something wrong with your houses power. GE’s quality also tanked, but the power thing is worth looking into.
- TheRealDunkirk 5y ago
  I'm talking about plastic breaking, fans dying, switches failing, etc. I only HAD to replace the washer and dryer, and the mismatched, second-hand units I got were still going strong after a decade. I asked the used appliance salesman if he wanted my old ones, for free, to refurbish. He asked what brand they were. I told him. He said no. Those models were THAT bad. But CR said they were the best on the market.

akimball 5y ago

Consumer Labs is high integrity, however

throwaway0a5e 5y ago

They also pander to their customer base. You'll never hear them say a bad word about the kinds of high end but not "I own a private jet" luxury products that high middle class consumers (who are their target market) tend to own. Nobody resubscribes to media that tells them they're doing it wrong.