[am1m]

Originally Posted by one-77

Edit: I’ve refused numerous times to give a 10 rating to the car dealership after a service when the job was simple mediocre. They do offer bribes of “free wash” or “free polish” etc if you’d oblige.

Originally Posted by Samurai

For example, a Hyundai SA told me that anything below 9 is considered bad for the workshop.

Originally Posted by Jeroen

Appears they are rated on customer reviews (by Ford NL HQ) so it is important to him.

Used to give my bike for service to a pretty prominent Royal Enfield showroom and service center in Indiranagar, Bangalore (where I bought the bike in 2007). One service, they returned my bike without reconnecting the fuel line to the carb! So when I turned on the fuel tap, the fuel started leaking out. Mentioned this on the 'feedback form' and gave the lowest possible rating. When he thought I wasn't looking I actually saw the service advisor tear up my feedback form and trash it. (I assume he would fill in a new one later!) Lost my cool and called up the RSM numbers that were displayed in the dealership. They called back and to their credit straightened those guys out.

This was a long time ago, now you get a call from the company (at least I hope it's from the company and not the same dealership!) asking you for feedback after the service. Unfortunately they sometimes call even before the bike has been returned to you!

This 'feedback' thing is a big joke by most brands!

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by Samurai

I first noticed this madness of 5 stars while doing employee appraisal back in 1996. Even folks who just did their job wanted 5/5, which meant extraordinary. It was often backed up by veiled threat that they might seek a transfer out of my team if 5/5 was not given.

The problem is with the rating system, it has too many levels, even 10 in many places. For example, a Hyundai SA told me that anything below 9 is considered bad for the workshop. Why don't they condense 8 to 1 and just 1 then?

When the time to came to design the appraisal system for my own company, I found a better method, which allows no such negotiation. It just has 3 points:

0 - Below expectation.
1 - Met expectation.
2 - Exceeded expectation. [This has to be backed by proof of exceeding expectations]

So if there are 10 different points each rated between 0-2, it gives much more realistic picture.

@Samurai,
Trust you will engage on this conversation - have asked this question to numerous HR folks but got no proper answer.

Q. Why do we employers/managers/leads expect people to go beyond doing their job to get to the resultant answer of how much do they get paid as "salary"?

- In a world of inefficiencies, doing one's job should be worth 5 stars. On a normal basis, we get paid our salaries for doing our jobs. If I finish what I'm asked/expected to do, my manager should be happy. In an ideal world, this would constitute 100% of our fixed part of our CTCs.

- If I do my job in a good manner - say I do better on the non-quantitative aspects (e.g. external/client stakeholder management), then I should be considered for additional compensation. However in the real world, if someone goes way way beyond their responsibilities, then only is he considered for good bonuses. There is no proper scale for comparing two individuals who have gone beyond their responsibilities. For e.g., in your scale, you don't have a 1.5, 1.8 and 2. In an ideal world, this would constitute a measured value of the variable component of our CTCs

- Promotion should be the easiest of all decisions. The individual has shown proof of doing the job of the boss (or the next level). He shows enough maturity for consideration of the next level, irrespective of the time spent at the current position. In an ideal world, this should be outside the CTC component.

Any thoughts? Does your company model work like this?

P.s. I have tried to do the above for my reportees in the past in a Big4 environment. Worked wonders for individuals who were considered "not good enough consultants" by the larger team. They did their work and much more - surprised the hell out of the naysayers.

[AK79]

A little of topic here but I use this method to analyse restaurant and hotel reviews on Zomato / Tripadvisor, etc

Off late, a lot of hotel reviews I read are all posted by reviewers with one post only. Sometimes big hotels have pages of such posts till you can find one review by a regular poster. Also strangely, these reviews only talk about the service of a particular individual/s instead of providing any worthwhile information about the food / hotel room etc.

Now, in all my years of travelling or eating, I have never come across such exemplary service by one single individual that it has overshadowed the entire restaurant or hotel experience.

Also if have have to depend on a certain detailed review, I spend some time going through the posters profile. If this is his only experience of an expensive restaurant or hotel, then you know he is simply smitten by the place and hence the glowing review.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Trust you will engage on this conversation - have asked this question to numerous HR folks but got no proper answer.

May be in another thread focusing on salary. It would be OT if we start discussing HR here.

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

For e.g., in your scale, you don't have a 1.5, 1.8 and 2.

Not true. When 0-1-2 scale is applied across 10 parameters, you are looking at a total score between 0-20. So variables can be calculated on this basis. Actually, my company has 50 parameters with 0-1-2 ratings, which means 0-100 score.

[ZenMaster]

I like how Team-BHP members can take any topic and make it a discussion about cars

We went from spotting fake reviews to car dealers to companies to the flaw with ratings system everywhere.

Coming back to Amazon reviews, my observation is that there are many types of fake and useless reviews out there.

1. Seller sponsored- paid reviews from review factories or buy seller themselves by fake accounts or employees who buy the product themselves to start the sales.
2. Seller sponsored- Fake "Genuine" reviews from customers looking for free stuff/quick bucks.
3. Some people who give 1 star thinking that 1 star is best and 5 star is bad.(You'd have seen those people who give glowing reviews and then have given a 1 star
4. People giving 1 star because product was delivered late by Amazon.(You can't fault the customer here, but it takes away from the product if its really good.)


My standard operating procedure id a s follows.:

1. Decide if I actually need the product in my life.(Many a times people buy novelty items a
go straight to the pictures posted by customers and associated reviews
2. Go to negative reviews and see what exactly the common issues are.
3. If I think its worth buying, then go and take a look at postive customer reviews and seller reviews.
4. Finally if I still want it, but rating is less than 4.5 stars, make a mental comparison if its worth the trouble spending the money

If its a high value device never take a gamble with low rating products period and always look for reviews.

[ajayclicks]

Originally Posted by Samurai

For example, a Hyundai SA told me that anything below 9 is considered bad for the workshop. Why don't they condense 8 to 1 and just 1 then?

I find many service centers manipulating to get higher rating. Typically, in an Net Promoter scale, 9 & 10 are labelled as promoters, where has 7 & 8 are "indifferent", or maybe 8,9,10 are promoters, incase you use an 11 point scale

[Neversaygbye]

Originally Posted by ajayclicks

I find many service centers manipulating to get higher rating. Typically, in an Net Promoter scale, 9 & 10 are labelled as promoters, where has 7 & 8 are "indifferent", or maybe 8,9,10 are promoters, incase you use an 11 point scale

Upto a few years ago, I remember that I had to provide a rating on the service at the service center at the time of picking up the car. And as usual there would be requests for a rating of 9 and above as anything else would be flagged by the company.

I always refused saying that they should get the feedback after a couple of weeks or on the next service since I would like to drive the car first before giving any feedback. Nowadays the center calls me 2 weeks after the service to get the rating, which is just fine.

Similarly, when it comes to online reviews, I usually prefer to look at reviews from verified purchasers who have written the review a few weeks or months after buying the product, as those seem to be more dependable. However, it is a fact that there are many false reviews online and it is becoming more and more difficult to differentiate the real from the fake

[kkunal.shah]

I remember buying something online & getting a note saying I should first register the product, then post a 5-star review. If done, I will get a voucher of Rs.500 on the next purchase from the same seller.

The product experience was average, so I just ignored that.

My experience with Flipkart has been that they do not accept negative reviews. I've even got a call from their customer care asking me to reconsider my review.

[FloatingCanvas]

I've noticed to ignore the extreme reviews and generally stick with the 3 n 4 star reviews for useful information.

The seller will go out of way to get 5 star reviews while competitor try to bring 1 star reviews.

I've always found the 3/4 star reviews to talk more about the product specific details and explain the reasoning behind their rating. Most also provide pictures of the products and their observations on the shortcomings and if that is a deal breaker.

I just don't trust products with minimal or zero 3/4 star reviews. I find products with only 5 stars or 1 star ratings to be fishy.

[AnandB]

Even Amazon doesn't accept negative reviews sometimes and removes them completely if they are Amazon fulfilled/Prime which imo should remain even if returned.

I know even Amazon verified reviews have fake reviews. Always wonder how they do it? Seller buys themselves from different ids?

[TheCatalyst]

Isn't this problem of fake reviews everywhere? From Facebook to small websites, people have worked out how to solicit or even engineer fake reviews today. Just look at how the comments get submitted. They even have link to some websites which sound authentic but could be someone's glorified blog.

Most people still believe that just because it's on the internet, it must be true.

Unfortunately this is the dark side of digital age where the winner is usually the one who can adapt to the platform well and market. Sometimes I think those adverts of 'Work from Home and Earn' are precisely doing this (and maybe AI bots too).

Coming to the point of Amazon reviews, I usually just ignore the top reviews and sort the reviews as per the 'recent posted date'. It's enough to eye ball 3 and 4 star reviews in the last few months or so to get an accurate picture of the real feedback. My reasoning being that these fake reviews pop up usually in the beginning during the launch of the product.

Also the old adage stands - If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

[Jagann13]

Personally I have been paid to make fake reviews in Facebook for a brand with different products. It was during my college days and all they want to do is rate it 5 stars and give a brief insight because a short review is looked upon as a fake one.

[Samarth 619]

As a Professor of Management, I wish to say something. Maybe due to privacy awareness measures or whatever, I didn't ever have such an experience, and now reading other's comments, I really wonder how in the world....?

I suggest the following tips:

1. Have a thread where we can share good upcoming budget-product companies like Lifelong Electronics, etc. so that we may trust certain brands eyes closed. Check their websites for clues on their scale...

2. Try ensuring each product you get is original and not fake. Ratings won't help much. Even rated sellers like Appario are now sending fake memory cards (they did to me, a 4.4 star rated card), but they replace them when they're pursued...
Low quality fonts, spelling mistakes, etc. are a sure shot sign.

3. Never make assumptions like, if I got a $10 product, I can't get a $20 voucher for rating it well.
Truth is, both of the above might be actually worth $2-3 each in reality.
Remember its the world of Marketing.
A M***r B**r DVD (name hidden to avoid disputes) priced at Rs. 30 is purchased by the retailer for Rs. 17.90 (now don't trouble them for discounts, they deserve a good margin to live a life). The company might be making it at maybe Rs. 8 or lesser.
Most of the Chinese junk is overpriced. Laptop coolers that ain't worth Rs. 100 are sold for 4 digits!
So, you might actually get a $20 product for a $10 product's review as both are worth almost nothing, but... just read on....

4. Even if you get another product for it, don't ever support fake reviewing!
If you think you're cheated by fake reviews, remember, YOU'RE THE CHEAT when you agree to publish a fake review for petty benefit... don't blame the seller completely then.

5. Watch out for word patterns that match, but in the review text, not in the titles (often, clicking 5 stars will auto add "Marvelous Product" as auto-title).

6. Check positive reviewer's profile. If you can see them reviewing the same company's product... Poof!
Follow this specially for low-known company's products claiming miracles like instant beard growth, instant fairness, etc.

7. Straight away click on 2 & 1 star reviews on Amazon, and check them out. Don't believe any one guy instantly...
Follow the rule of 3:- If 3 people say that the laptop cooler isn't giving enough air or the beard oil isn't making the beard grow, then it actually isn't.
Forget all 5 stars and disappear from the page.

8.

[Cyclist 97]

Here are a few things to consider when trying to spot a fake online review:-

1.Pay attention to the date of publication- If you spot an overflow of positive reviews posted in one go, some of them are probably fake reviews. You can even compare the date of the product being released and the review being published. If the review date is before the product release date, then most likely it is a fake review.

2.Look for the Reviewer- Do some research. Most of the review websites publish the first and last name of the reviewer. What you can do is, look for the person’s name on Facebook, Twitter or any other social media platforms. Go through their profiles and try to analyse if they are or for real or.

3.Watch out for grammar- Check if the reviews have been written in all caps or have a number of unnecessary exclamation marks or show signs of keyword stuffing.

[CarJunki]

Originally Posted by GTO

it's an impossible task at Amazon's scale.

Add to that Amazon actively prevents legitimate negative reviews. A few times they have refused to display my review comments as i was writing about the fraud seller pulled on me. It was small ticket item, thus i did not pursue further. I have now resorted to ignoring anything that has global reviews. Like say a Tyre inflator with german customer reviews but the product is being offered by indian seller.