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Reviews and Buyer Beware

Maggie

This morning I started looking for another vacuum to purchase. I hate making big purchases and trying to weed through the descriptions and reviews. I generally read a few top reviews, a few bad reviews and if there is some balance there, a few middle reviews.

My current vacuum is heavy to lug up and down the stairs. I had a small rechargeable battery operated vacuum until the charger died and the replacement exceeded the cost of the vacuum. So, I thought it would be nice to find a new vacuum that was small enough to store and keep upstairs.

The rechargeable vacuum I had cost less than $100 – $80 maybe? So that was my starting point. None in that price range had reasonable reviews that would instill confidence in a purchase. Then I thought I should just replace my current vacuum, spend a little more and just move this one upstairs. This would be the perfect time to buy one of those self-cleaning brush vacuums that advertise hair will not get wound around the brush – with my currently long covid hair that would be a great feature.

Enter the reviews. How can some be glowing reviews and others so horrible? People even upload videos now demonstrating their reason for reviews. After hearing that the self-cleaning brush didn’t really work I have nixed that idea.

A few weeks ago a manufacturer of a product my husband bought emailed him an offer. They wanted him to buy their new product, leave a positive review and then they would refund his purchase price. A quick review of Amazon’s policies tell you this is forbidden, but you cannot help but wonder how often this happens. Needless to say, he declined the offer.

I have only left one negative review and that was when my new Samsung top loading washer exploded. (It did not explode really, but the clips that hold the tub broke and unleashed a high speed spinning tub into the sides of the machine case. It looked like someone had taken a sledge hammer to it.) That deserved a bad review.

It makes me miss the days when you could walk into a local store, see a demonstration of a product being familiar with the people you were dealing with. Of course those days saw much higher quality products than exist today.

Meanwhile, I’m still doing some virtual vacuum shopping. Feel free to recommend something that works well for you.

15 thoughts on “Reviews and Buyer Beware”

  2. I am an official Amazon Reviewer, and I agree that the variety of reviews is strange. Some people give a 1-star review for late delivery, which is hardly helpful.
    We have a G-Tech Air Ram K9 cordless. This comes in a kit with a small hand vacuum for corners and spills, or to use in the car. The machine is light to carry, easy to empty, and it copes with Ollie’s dog hairs very well.
    However, it costs £249 here for the kit, which is over $300 dollars.
    My step-daughter swears by her Shark. This is a two-part vacuum, with a detchable section for stairs, etc. That is the Anti-Hair Wrap model, and she has very long red hair. She tells me it is very effective, and she wouldn’t change it for another make. However, that also costs around £200 here, and that’s when it is on offer.
    I don’t know if either vacuum is sold in America, Maggie.
    Best wishes, Pete.

    Liked by 1 person

  3. Good luck. I find bad reviews for tools that I own and am happy with. Usually the bad reviews are from people who weren’t using them correctly or had misplaced expectations. In general, I don’t trust reviews. Good luck with the vac selection.

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  4. I bought the shark professional navigator lift away, based on good reviews. It’s fine EXCEPT that the entire front part flops all over when I try to turn it, even though it has the ability to turn! Ugh. I can only imagine how awful that would be if I did have stairs! Oh well. Wish I could be of more help. Good luck. I’m anxious to see what you wind up buying!

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    1. I have a Shark Navigator I traded with the girls for something when they moved into their house. It has been a good machine, but it is heavy.

      Liked by 1 person

  5. Reviews must be calibrated by the reader, ugh. The ones that gall me are TripAdvisor…
    I bought my first Dyson in 2007 and my current one in 2015. The 2007 model was repaired and given to our son. We have three cats and a dog and four types of flooring, so our needs may be different from yours, but I’m sold.

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  6. Hmm, it doesn’t surprise me that Amazon reviews are skewed.

    But although not cheap, I will recommend Miele vacuums. The most recent one we bought, for our house in Quebec, is delightedly light and easy to use up and down stairs. Our older one here is a bit larger, so not so light, but still quite nice. MUCH better than big heavy vacuums.

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  7. We have a second Dyson also and like it very much. It was incredibly expensive but it works. A fascinating article in the paper this morning exposed a new scheme for getting reviews. People are sent packages from Amazon that they didn’t order. Then somehow that makes them a verified purchaser and the spammer(or whatever it is called) can write a bad review. It sounded like a lot of work to me, but apparently it is a way to denigrate another person’s product.

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    1. It is crazy how much people will do to manipulate the system. I have looked at Dyson before, but the price tag scared me away. Might be time for a second look.

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