Which online review sites do you trust?

[Small Business File]

We keep running into stories that question the integrity of online review sites. For example this past week, we did a story on a consumer reports study in which one plumbing company received an F by Angie’s List, A+ by Better Business Bureau, 2.5 out of 5 by Yelp and the majority of Consumer Checkbook users called their service “superior.” I was just wondering what your experience has been with any of these sites. Have they been accurate for your business? Have they been accurate for businesses you patronize? Have you ever advertised with any of these?
Just curious to see what real small business owners think on this issue.

[Harold Mansfield]

I've done OK with Angie's List. When I get calls from there, people seem to really trust the reviews that they have read.

It's different for every business or industry. I read Yelp reviews for restaurants and food joints, and I read Amazon product reviews before I buy something.

Take them all with a grain of salt. Sometimes it's not always about 1 or 2 bad reviews but how the company rectified the situation or responded.
BBB reviews don't mean much to me anymore. Seems like anyone who pays can get a decent rating from them these days.

If you are asking if there is one trusted source over all others, no there isn't one.
They are all different and appeal to different people for differing reasons.

[scottharvey]

As with anything in life using a single source of information to form an opinion on something is generally going to be a bad idea in the long run. As you have highlighted reviews can vary greatly between sites and you will probably find that the average of those reviews is closest to the truth.

Using reviews should just be one data point when looking to buy a product or service, try to get some first hand experience, review detailed descriptions and shop around before making a decision.

[huggytree]

the problem with the review sites is you only get the complainers....I think angies list says 1 out of 5 writes a review....but ill bet 100% of the complainers write an angies list review

ive worked for 4 angies list customers lately and not 1 review even though every one said they were happy and would be reviewing me

im surprised a company would have an F on angies list and a A+ on the BBB....that's a bit odd.....it would depend on how many reviews they have on Angies list...maybe they only has 1-2 reviews

BBB reviews only last 2 years

my problem with the reviews is once a person complains there's no way to eliminate the neg review....no matter how unreasonable the customer is..they need an arbitrator who can erase bogus neg reviews

[cbscreative]

I'm probably more familiar with review sites than the average customer or even business owners for that matter. BBB for example is completely resting on past laurels and is totally unreliable. However, many people, especially the 50+ that trust them for name recognition are still very much influenced by a good BBB rating. Although a BBB rating means nothing to me because of what I know, it's still a great asset to any business owner to have a good rating.

The complaints against Yelp are probably the worst. From my understanding, Yelp should have zero credibility because the review system is seriously flawed. That doesn't mean public perception isn't favorable, but I would gladly advocate any type of awareness campaign that puts the model in the grave. The public would be much better off to recognize that Yelp serves no real useful purpose and is corrupt to the core. If we ignore them long enough, they'll be forced to go away.

Personally I wouldn't trust Angie's List either because of knowledge but they are very good at marketing so the trust factor among her disciples is quite high. This is a case where my personal feelings are less important because any business with a favorable rating has an advantage. I know many businesses who do very well with AL. Generally speaking, if you are doing everything right, adding AL to your mix will not likely go wrong. You could make a valid case for the fact that you can essentially buy favor there, but you should also be able to easily recoup the investment. Even though the ethics of paying for position can be called into question, you still can't buy good position if you're a pig. So in that sense a good rating with AL list means you still have to earn it.

There are plenty of good reasons to question the integrity of reviews. I think Amazon does a pretty good job of it and I find reviews there to be highly influential. When it's tech stuff, TigerDirect and New Egg seem to have a good review process.

Bottom line, answering this issue depends on the business model you are using. A home remodeler faces a much different set of choices and factors than someone selling electronics.

[Sasbury]

I've used Yelp in the past for deciding on services to use and restaurants to visit. It's been really accurate. The number of reviews is what I take into consideration on Yelp. Less than 20 (and that pushing it) and I may not consider it. Then again, it comes down to the quality of the reviews as well.

[Wozcreative]

Depends on what it's for. For products I'll use amazon. For something that is more expensive and is a beauty product, I will use amazon, and youtube for actual reviews.

[tallen]

In my industry, TripAdvisor is the big review site....

[GOTTmanager]

How about Consumers Choice Award? I am in Ontario and this is very common around here. In 2012 we were pleasantly surprised to see that we had won a Consumers Choice Award in our particular Industry in our city (a rather specific and narrow field as we only have 2 other competitors in town)... We had no idea this even existed yet we were the best at what we do apparently... They say that the research is conducted by a reputable, third-party company through phone survey's I think...
I was suspicious of course of the validity of their claim. We were invited to a meeting that would explain the benefits we can now receive as recipients. For a mere $10,000.00 we are allowed to use their logo on our advertizing materials and this was the basic package....

[cbscreative]

How about Consumers Choice Award? I am in Ontario and this is very common around here. In 2012 we were pleasantly surprised to see that we had won a Consumers Choice Award in our particular Industry in our city (a rather specific and narrow field as we only have 2 other competitors in town)... We had no idea this even existed yet we were the best at what we do apparently... They say that the research is conducted by a reputable, third-party company through phone survey's I think...
I was suspicious of course of the validity of their claim. We were invited to a meeting that would explain the benefits we can now receive as recipients. For a mere $10,000.00 we are allowed to use their logo on our advertizing materials and this was the basic package....

So you "won" this award and have to pay ten grand for the right to use it. Yeah, I'd be suspicious too. :rolleyes:

[Osprey]

I really do not trust reviews sites that much. It is usually someone complaining about something and there is no oversite to see if it's true. I trust my network of friends and colleagues and stay away from review "sites" there's always an agenda of some kind and I do not have the time nor the desire to try to figure out if I believe the review or not.

When people are mad at something, they want to vent and get even. However, the same proportion of people do not give the good side of a review.... in my opinion. :)

[Wozcreative]

I find that when it comes to review sites on freelancers (like elance), people don't write the true thing. I mean, I've hired some people through elance and I was not that happy with some of their work.. BUT they are nice people. I understand that their ratings actually depend on if they get hired or not, so they try to get the highest possible rating.. I often don't want to be the reason why they don't hire because I'm a nice person... so I'll just give 5 stars. For these types of sites you should probably go to the source of these review sites and get their real opinions face to face.

[Osprey]

I find that when it comes to review sites on freelancers (like elance), people don't write the true thing. I mean, I've hired some people through elance and I was not that happy with some of their work.. BUT they are nice people. I understand that their ratings actually depend on if they get hired or not, so they try to get the highest possible rating.. I often don't want to be the reason why they don't hire because I'm a nice person... so I'll just give 5 stars. For these types of sites you should probably go to the source of these review sites and get their real opinions face to face.

this truly sums it up for me. I am the same way with Odesk. I had a guy that I did not like some of things about his work ethic. Nothing that was bad...I would never work with him again and I would have told my friends to never work with him. - but I didn't want to be negative or hurt his ability on one of the 2 main sites for him and his industry.

[tallen]

Is this a case of "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all!" or do you have to review these people (e.g. condition of hiring through that site is that you are required to review)?

[Wozcreative]

Is this a case of "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all!" or do you have to review these people (e.g. condition of hiring through that site is that you are required to review)?

Usually its the last step to completing the project. If you don't complete it, you will get asked to by that contractor. Then what do you say? No?