Companies "paying" you for reviews

[Bimmer Guy]

I wanted to make a note here.  One of the things that I have noticed from talking to others and my own experience is that often (in the last 4 months or so), if a person writes a review on a product and says anything negative about the product, the company contacts them.  They contact them to say that they want to improve the person's experience of the product, so they will send you a new product, give you a discount on the next product, etc.

That is great, no?  They are doing great customer service, no?  Yes it is, on the surface.  But is it always?  Is it always about altruism?  I would suggest no, it is not.

What often happens after the situation is "rectified" is that the person is pressured by the company to write a new review saying how great their experience was.  No problem, I am very happy to do that.  That is something I would be sure to do anyway.  BUT, I have also heard of companies making specific suggestions as to what they want the reviewer to say.  Additionally, I have heard of a person being pressured to remove the old, negative review after the company "fixed" the problem (gave them a discount on a new product, sent them another one...that incidentally wasn't any better than the first...).

Those things I have a problem with.

One, it can feel like you are being bullied.  That doesn't feel so good.  Two, feeling bullied can impact our reviews.  We need to rely on our FTM brothers to give us honest, neutral, objective reviews, and this can be impacted when we feel some sort of indebtedness to the owner.  We don't want him to "look bad" because he is a "good guy" and is "trying really hard to make a good product".  Well, that is all well and good, but there are a lot of guys who take months saving their pennies for one product.  We owe them neutral reviews.

Here's my point.  Don't let companies guilt you or bully you into adjusting your feelings/thoughts on a product in any way.  If you feel the guy really wants feedback and is a provides good customer service, say that in your review.  But, don't let their "kindness" towards you, your feelings of empathy towards them, or bullying impact your reviews. 

FTMs make a lot of their purchase decisions based on reviews.  What you say is important and we need to be able to count on each other to make objective reviews.  Don't let your trans* brothers down.

P.S. Please don't write me and ask me which companies I am referring to.  I am not suggesting that there are any companies that you should not purchase from due to the above, which would be the only reason to share their names.  I have no desire to "black mark" any company.

Thanks guys!

[adrian]

Thank you for bringing this up!

[Teacherology]

Very interesting topic.

I would like to add a few things if you don't mind.
I also find that some companies are asking for a review, before the product even arrives at home. It may be pressuring to some. Then the customer writes a review, the first day they got it (which is not completely accurate yet because you will have to test all functions. By example; they see how good it looks and immediately post a review of it without testing out the STP/Play part).
So the review is basically the first emotion (joy), the second emotion (disappointment etc.) will come days after that. Then you can't read the second review, because you are only allowed to post one review on the website.

I'm not choosing sides, just wanted to point this out.

[Maleth]

It's a good thing this was brought up. Good on you, Brett. I also agree with what Teacherology has said.

[Bimmer Guy]

Very interesting topic.

I would like to add a few things if you don't mind.
I also find that some companies are asking for a review, before the product even arrives at home. It may be pressuring to some. Then the customer writes a review, the first day they got it (which is not completely accurate yet because you will have to test all functions. By example; they see how good it looks and immediately post a review of it without testing out the STP/Play part).
So the review is basically the first emotion (joy), the second emotion (disappointment etc.) will come days after that. Then you can't read the second review, because you are only allowed to post one review on the website.

I'm not choosing sides, just wanted to point this out.

Thanks for your post.

That is crazy to think that companies request a review even before the person gets it.  Since you are saying only one review can be done, I am assuming you mean on the company's site?  I actually was referring to posting on Susans, not a company's website.  I can see how it would be especially hard to write a negative review on the product page, but I think that there is a more "buyer beware" understanding when reading those reviews.  I think that when a review is written here, people really trust (or would like to), the reviewer.  That is why I think it is so important that we hold ourselves to high standards when we write a review on this site.

I also really like your point about posting right away.  That has happened to me before.  Even with I THINK I have used the product long enough, I still haven't (I would suggest you need a couple of weeks for a daily packer and a couple of weeks for a binder, for an objective review).

[Teacherology]

Thanks for your post.

That is crazy to think that companies request a review even before the person gets it.  Since you are saying only one review can be done, I am assuming you mean on the company's site? 

Sorry for the misunderstanding, I mean on the company's site. On a Forum you can just delete and repost, on most company websites, you can't. That is why it is important to make an objective review.