TW vendor deleting customer reviews

Companies, whether they are TW vendors or not, should not be deleting reviews. This is unethical and could ultimately result in larger blow back for the company in the future if customers continue to be dissatisfied. Like one of the previous posters said, I start with the 1 stars and read up to 4 stars. I think this is when we see the most honest reviews but its up to us to rule out the morons. We most definitely need to take all review with a grain of salt.

 

i work for a wheel manufacturer and we used to get negative reviews at one time on our three piece wheels because kids ran all 11” wide rim with a 215/40 on it and complained about bending the lips. like no shit the fucking lip was 2” past the beadseat of the tire.

so sometimes it’s tough. people tend to slam shit when they don’t get exactly what they want.

 

I generally don't like the practice, but you have to remember some people will abuse the right to post a review. Some folks can't be pleased no matter how well the vendor/manufacturer builds a product or how they follow up with a problem..... I mean look at some of the silly complaints about the third gen Tacoma.

 

I want to preface my reply with note to context. Though my personal experience on the vendor side was not internet based the premise remains true.

I managed various restaurants for a couple decades. In one of the restaurant chains I moved into the corporate office where ONE of my responsibilities was to teach customer service. I taught the store managers that a complaint (negative review) was the best type of feedback one can receive.
Here are some of the reasons I taught as to why COMPLAINTS are better than good reviews:

1. You learn how a problem may occur and can set policy/procedures to prevent it occurring in the future.
2. Product improvements are fueled by HONEST feedback not "skirt fluffers".
3. HOW you as a vendor handle a bad review determines how you are perceived by potential customers.
4. YOU as a vendor are NOT selling food/parts/materials/etc you sell customer SERVICE.
   1. A customer can get your product or it's equivalent (in most cases) from many possibly hundreds of your competitors.
   2. IF the customer experience sucks you lost more than that one customer, more likely 10+.
   3. Everyone tells their friends and relatives about good and bad experiences.
   4. AVERAGE experiences are never, or almost never discussed.
   5. The vendor that goes above and beyond to fix a problem will be talked about and praised!
5. As a vendor your job is to gain customers, not sell your product.
   1. Those who increase their number of customers WILL sell much more product.
   2. Complaints/bad reviews allow you opportunity to alter perception and fix a problem. TAKE IT!
   3. Never COMPLAIN about someone else's complaints. FIX IT!

With all that said, If I know that vendor "A" removes poor reviews I look for vendor "B".

I find reading the bad reviews and vendor responses online more telling that hundreds or thousands of positive reviews. Customers that complain about <customer representative so and so> doing something so now they will never buy again with no mention of the product tell me that it is personal and they are a "snowflake". If they complain the part/finish/etc broke and the vendor comes to their aide to fix/replace/refund and a 1 star review was not updated, I see the product may have an occasional issue but the vendor stands up to make it right.

Should a vendor "screen" reviews? Hell NO!! they should address it head-on and make things better than right.

I agree not everyone can be pleased, but those reading the reviews can easily determine that the customer is just complaining for the sake of it or is actually looking for a real solution/resolution.

 

Negative reviews are okay, in my opinion. I personally like when someone leaves a negative review, and then the owner/manager leaves his/her response as to how they fixed it, and then the original reviewer thanks them.

 

It's not ethical. If a seller's website offers a form for customers to give their honest feedback, then handpicks feedback and presents it as complete, honest, and unaltered, they are intentionally deceiving potential customers. I'd challenge TW to not associate itself with any business engaging in the above.

Now, if the site presents the feedback in a way that says "read great things our customers have to say about us!" then no issue.

 

Also, the poll is dumb. You can't combine "I don't care" and "I don't read reviews online" into one option. I really don't care if they delete them of not. That's up to them to decide. If they want to be shady and misinform the public about their product, let them do it.

However, I DO read reviews online.

 

You're really ok with that?

 

I find negative reviews more useful that positive reviews most of the time. people that just give 5 stars and leave a single comment like yep works as advertised, over people that give 3 or 4 stars and leave paragraphs about the product is worth reading and if they are deleting comments like that just to save their rating that's pretty shitty.

 

I tend not to buy things from start up companies or companies that don't have a well known reputation so I really don't ever run into a situation in which a company deletes some bad reviews due to the product being actual crap.

EDIT
Now if OPs situation includes a well known company then I will stand absolutely corrected and will change my opinion, but for now, personally, I haven't been in any similar situations. Which brings me to my next point, really the company at large should have been mentioned to the rest of TW if the topic was going to be discussed, because what if other people are buying from that company as we speak??

 

I think a company has every right to edit or delete anything on a domain they pay for and maintain. That is why places like this forum are so important and also why for the most part TW does an extremely good job of holding the vendors they back accountable. If I see they are a vendor here I pretty much deal with them knowing I have the support of the forum behind me as long as I am being reasonable. The way people feel so entitled now I can't imagine a place staying in business if they are not proactive in policing the information they are proving the populace about the way they conduct themselves. I can't say that I have had any bad experiences when dealing with a vendor that is supported by TW that I can remember but if that were to occur I would contact them directly to see how they resolve the situation. If they then choose to not take care of the issue I would contact the mods and request that they review the support TW offers the vendor. If I did not feel vindicated or satisfied I would let everyone know my experience in a professional manner and move on using the forum. As far as policing a website I own and what I was portraying to the public, hell yeah I would delete that stuff.

That said, I respect a company that has some negative reviews or when a company leave a negative review and responds to it with there side of the story. Makes them seem more legit.

 

On Amazon I always read the 3 star reviews. In those reviews you will find the most honesty about the product.

 

Same here, I click the lowest star and start from there.

 

My opinion is to leave the reviews but respond to them. I know that it will hurt the over all rating if the review left is ridiculously but it gives you the opportunity to reply and gives prospective customers the feeling that you care about your products and that you want your customers to feel satisfied.

If the review is completely off the wall, a very professional crafted response will make the prospective customers realize that it was not a legitimate review. Alternatively, I know there is a very fine line between being respectful and being combative.

Showing good judgement and responsiveness to a bad review is almost as good as a good review in my book.

 

Holy shit only 4% of TWs voted that vendors should be able to do what they wish on THEIR OWN websites!?

I'm starting to understand something about TW... I assumed most members were just like me (young and tech savy), what I'm realizing is a lot of you guys are fucking old and have no idea how the internet works


Or you overwhelmingly didn't understand the question (which also relates to not understanding the internet).... its not about deleting reviews on TW or even third party sites like yelp. Its asking about what they show on THE VENDORS OWN website.

Do you honestly expect to go to apple.com and find negative reviews about the iphone?? How the fuck did 95% of you read it any differently??

 

I don't like when people who live on Yelp, review food/restaurants and try to use vocabulary that is very obviously out of their normal vernacular. It's uncomfortable to read. Like these bitches think they fancy or some shet?!

 

Which half?

 

In for the end result...

 

From my point of view why ask for product reviews and to give the product a rating if you only want positive feedback... At that point its just testimonials which is fine.

But I'm with you in that i dont expect to get 100% accurate information off of the products home web page. That's what forums and 3rd party vendor sites like Amazon are for.