How often do you give a product review? If you really dislike a product, do you comment, or do you keep mum? I try to give shining, informative reviews for those products that I find myself using all the time, but there have been one or two that I've been just... Very disappointed with. How do you express your reservations about products, without rubbing too many feathers the wrong way?

I try to say what I like about a product, not just what I dislike. My most common gripe is lack of Poser 5/6 support. People say their products are P5-compatible, but the bump maps are wrong. I will generally deduct one star for that.

Yup, you have to let folks know if it's bad, but be careful in your wording, some of my reviews have not gotten through...though I will mention those are the products I got refunded on. Marque

I try to leave a review. There are a few products that I haven't left a review for, but that's not because I don't like the package, it's just a matter of not having had a chance to work with it. When I leave a review, I'm honest about it, but I try to be nice about it. I feel that people have a right to know if there are problems so that they make their purchase based on an informed decision. I'm happy to say though that I've mostly been very happy with my purchases thus far, but I don't delve into any room but the pose room, so maybe I'm not seeing some of the problems that others might see if they are viewing the items in more than a superficial way like I am. The best way to offer critism is to start by saying something positive, such as something that you like. The negatives tend to stand out and we usually tend to dwell on those. However, if you take the time to think about it, there are usually some good things as well. By offering up something on both sides, it shows that you are looking at the situation from a neutral, well rounded point of view, and that's it's not "personal".

In my experience, bad reviews get deleted.

The bad reviews shouldn`t be deleted, if there is something wrong they should be left as they are, as long as they are not insulting or defamatory.

I think it's all in the way it's phrased. I can see something like "This product SUXXORS!!!!" being deleted. However something along the lines of: "The textures are very nice, but there are seams visible when rendered", would likely be posted.

"The textures are very nice, but there are seams visible when rendered", would likely be posted. I got a very nasty IM from a merchant when I posted a review along those lines. I was pretty much told by another that "We merchants should stick together". What? A shite product is a shite product. Anyhow I got a refund, so - because I was no longer a buyer - my review was deleted. So, that's at least one merchant I won't be dealing with in future. Not one word of apology, not a single offer to correct the error, just a shitload of attitude.

AFAIK you cannot delete reviews anymore. You used to be able to choose which ones where public and which ones you kept to yourself, but I think they all just show now. And if that isn't the case, anyone hiding bad reviews is a cheat - pure and simple. And SamTherapy, I totally agree with you. Shite is shite no matter how pretty it's textures might be ;)

[i]I think it's all in the way it's phrased[/i] Well, I think that the most frequent reason for deletion is becuase the review mentions a technical flaw

Ok, I just checked, and apart from contacting the store admin and asking them to do it, there is nowhere in my accounting setup which allows me to delete bad reviews. Just an FYI for the rumour-mill.

Reviews still get deleted. If you leave a bad review the merchant can ask a mod to have it deleted. I ignore all reviews now, because I have bought products with glowing reviews that were rubbish, and when I posted a review it was deleted.

I must admit that I only leave reviews for things that have been a hit with me, and that I use often. If I don't use the item much, then I don't feel qualified to comment on it. I haven't bought anything that was really disappointing (not from here, anyway), but I have bought plenty of things that weren't as useful as I'd hoped they would be. In that case, I accept that it's my problem, and I don't think there's any point in leaving a review along the lines of "I don't use this because it doesn't light my fire". If there was a technical error, I'd expect to resolve it directly with the merchant. If it got fixed, then I'd be likely to leave a review in praise of the merchant's level of service. You do hear of merchants being abusive when their abilities are questioned, as related in Sam's post; and like him, I'd just steer clear of that person in the future. Life's too short.

Bad reviews are commonly deleted. The merchant can't do it themselves any more, but they get admin to do it all the time. As someone previously mentioned, the most common excuse is that the review mentions technical issues. You're supposed to get tech support from the merchant privately, not mention it in a review. (Never mind that the merchant may ignore you completely, refuse to fix their product, or simply not know how to fix it.)

For a few weeks after they changed the rules, reviews were truly honest. Then merchants found the loophole, and it was back to the same old B.S.

I have no problem getting a bad review as long as it is honest,and not just done out of spite. (which I have heard,happens). -3dz

I can't imagine leaving a review out of spite, that means you would have to buy the product to leave the review and if you don't like the merchant why give them your money. If I dislike a product enough and there is good reason, I get a refund. If the merchant fixes the problems 9 times out of 10 I buy the product again. The store admids know I will only ask if there is a problem they can duplicate. I am getting pickier in my old age, not so quick to just buy something now. And I'm also not so quick to buy based on reviews. Marque

I comment if it's been good to use and worth the money, if I've ahd problems with it I tend not to bother saying anything! thefixer, poser coord.

This site's policy on bad reviews has meant that I can no longer trust good reviews, ergo sum I rarely post good reviews myself. And if I'm not usre about buying a product, I will ask in the forum about other buyers' experiences with it.

Hmm.. so THAT is the reason why noone posts reviews any more. Guess I'm kinda daft for still posting them then. If I've bought something and used it and liked it, it's only fair to post a review IMO. Just like on ebay. It's cheating to have "bad" reviews deleted for sure, but IF the bad review stems from a misconception of the buyer (like if you don't KNOW how to inject morphs and claim the product isn't working because they can't find the morph dials...) then it's a technical problem and not a valid review. That said, I've never actually got a bad review myself. But I don't get all that many reviews at all. Guess noone actually bothers to use my crap LOL

I get really sick of hearing how we merchants are manipulating the review system. I suppose the truth is never as exciting as gossip and innuendo. When customers leave reviews saying that they've been totally ripped off because they can't download a store item, then damn right we get those so called "reviews" deleted, because it has absolutely nothing to do with the product itself. That's the only time I've ever requested that a review be deleted. I've had negative reviews, at least one of which is not even a review, just a bald statement that the product is "no good". Why is it no good? Who knows? Some customers don't even bother to ask for technical support, they just jump straight in and post a negative review. Other customers who do bother to ask for help and then get things sorted to their satisfaction more often than not don't post a review. Again, who knows why? Frankly, I don't lie awake at night worrying about it. To lump all merchants in together by saying that we are manipulating the system is just plain false and misleading.

I agree with RubiconDigital: Some customers don't even bother to ask for technical support, they just jump straight in and post a negative review. Why do customers just assume that they won't receive support from the merchant? Why do they post a review saying "It didn't work for me" rather than trying to solve the issue? Another issue is the fact that customers can leave reviews months after they have purchased the product. A customer can purchase an item and come back to leave a negative review 6 months after they purchased the product. Um, isn't that a little late? Why didn't they use the product when they purchased it? Why did it take them 6 months to figure out they had a problem with the product? You don't go to Wal-Mart, purchase a chair, and then try to take it back 6 months later (even if it is still in the box). And Xena is correct- a while ago, merchants had the ability to display (or not display) the reviews. Under this system, a merchant could choose not to display the negative reviews. On the other hand, this meant that the merchant could look into an issue and try to resolve it before the review was posted for everyone to see. But, this was changed: now ALL reviews are public, even the short ones like "Excellent" or "Didn't work for me". --John

As far as posting a review 6 months after purchase - there is nothing wrong with that. I dispair when I see reviewers posting "I haven't even installed it yet, but I know it's going to be good". Just what is the point? I'd much rather see a review after the user has had time to explore the product.

Secondly, to the subject of 'stupid reviews'. The way I see it, this has 2 connotations. The first is that it shows that the product might not be very user-friendly, which would be an important consideration for newbies pondering on buying - and is thus a valid comment. Secondly, if it really is a stupid statement, it is entirely up to said stupid customer to espouse his stupidity to the world: it should not be up to merchant or store to 'vett' comments. Gone are the days of 'the customer is always right', I guess. The 2 posts above mine show a certain amount of contempt from merchant to customer and it is a sad thing to see.

If you get a "Didn't work for me," ask admin to remove it. Bet they will.

I post reviews when I use the item. It wouldn't make sense to post reviews otherwise, would it? And sometimes I don't use items for months. I buy when it's on sale, when I have a coupon, not necessarily when I have the time or inclination to use the item.

And people do return things to Wal-Mart six months later. Heck, they come back a year later sometimes.

Product reviews are only EVER removed if the review doesn't hold technically true to the product. There have been numerous times where a review wasn't what the merchant liked, and I had a look at it, and it was well within the Product Review Guidelines, so it stayed. An opinion about a product, good or bad is perfectly acceptable, and these constructive criticism reviews are the ones that some merchants aren't fond of. I've had to explain many times that a persons opinion in what your product is lacking isn't against the guidelines, and the review has stayed. Now yes, if you get a refund on a product, then your review is removed because you don't own the product any longer. But other than that, the only reviews I've had to remove are when they're totally off base with the product itself. I tend to defend the buyers opinion a lot to the merchants. More times than not, the merchants have taken the opinions and worked something out where the buyer asked to have it removed so they could leave an updated review. But please know that just because a merchant wants a product review removed, it's definitely NOT automatic. A lot of my time dealing with the merchant and the buyer goes into it before a review is removed. Hope that helps :) Deb

I guess I'll post my review, good or bad, and see if it stays on the product page. Thanks for your opinions, folks.

"Now yes, if you get a refund on a product, then your review is removed because you don't own the product any longer. " how does that invalidate the review? confused since in the rest of the world, the review would still stand...?

Well Khai, a lot of times the customer demands the refund, and it's granted, and then the problem is resolved where the buyer that left the review that initiated the resolution doesn't have a chance to take another look at it (unless they repurchase it) and give an updated review because they don't own it any longer. However, if they do repurchase it, they're given the opportunity to leave another review. Hope that helps :) Deb

erm no....? so if someone leaves a review "I don't think that this product is satisfactory because : - " and they get a refund, yet the product is not addressed for the reasons they left the review for, the review that can warn another customer is removed...? in the real world all reviews stand... should'nt they here?

Khai, a lot of times I'll see 5 glowing reviews, and then one that isn't so glowing. Does that actually mean that the product has a problem?? or that the end user has problems on their end??? There are different circumstances for each incident, and we work with each one accordingly. But in order to keep some sort of consistancy, we must follow a set of guidelines. Deb

? all I asked was, why would a review pointing out problems be removed if the customer is refunded. you gave a good answer.. shame I did'nt ask the question for it.. shrug

"The 2 posts above mine show a certain amount of contempt from merchant to customer and it is a sad thing to see." Well, I'm not letting that one go without responding. How are we showing contempt in those posts? By trying to correct some misconceptions with facts? Sorry to burst your bubble, but the customer is not always right. You can only bend over so far to accomodate some people and even customer service has its limits. I spent 13 years in a technical/customer service environment, so I do have some idea of what it means to deal with customers. These customers were forking out millions of dollars for equipment, so they had pretty high expectations. Sometimes no matter what you do, the customer will never be satisfied. That's just the way things are. My experience here, from posts in the merchant forum over the years, has been that the majority of us do actually care about customer satisfaction, and speaking personally, I always deal with customer queries or problems in a timely and polite manner. Certainly no system is ever perfect, but we have what we have here, and we have to work with it. Merchant bashing has become a favourite sport amongst some members at Renderosity over the years, yet when we try to correct blatantly false statements, we're accused of contempt or worse for our customers. We're damned if we do and damned if we don't.

The reviews are semi-worthless, IMHO. I bought a program here, a plug-in for Studio Max, that has several basic problems, making it semi-unusable. I tried to contact the merchant about it, but he never replied. Anyway, there were several glowing reviews, either written by "friends" (a common practice I gather) or by sombody that didn't use the product enough to discover the faults (in which case they shouldn't have written a review). I did write a review on it, explaining the problems, and it is still up. Still, I think the reviews are better than nothing, but I'd advise reading them between-the-lines. ;-)