When you buy online goods and services, you often ask yourself whether or not you should trust them. Oftentimes, you are recommended reading reviews to avoid ruing the day. Reliable is Service Ratings.
Hark back to the day when you used to shop at brick-and-mortar stores. You would wander from one store to another and would not buy unless you were sure about the quality of the product, but you cannot check goods physically in the digital era.
You will have to confirm that you are buying a high-end product so that you make the most of your money. Edited images can influence your purchasing decision, but when you need to hire a service, it becomes more difficult to make the right decision.
Trust plays a critical role when you purchase goods online. If you are buying a product or a service from a brand, you can make your decision easier, but what if the supplier is not a brand?
For instance, Amazon displays products of thousands of dealers, but not all of them are brands. More than 90% of customers’ decisions rely on online reviews. You seek evidence that the product or service you are buying is offering the same quality that you expect.
There is no correlation between ratings and the underperforming service provider
Most of the time you find the quality of a product or service does not align with the rating mentioned. Whether it is a headset or cosmetics, you will prefer reading reviews. More than 95% of reviews will have at least 4.5 out of 5 ratings.
Service providers have barely negative reviews or low ratings. For instance, if you find the rating of a financial service company in London such as British-lenders.uk, you will see a very good rating. This is because it is a brand and people trust it. However, not all companies will show the true side. Their rating systems do not highlight that service providers are underperforming.
You will find a couple of reviews boasting of such claims:
- No hidden fees
- No prepayment penalties
- Weekly instalments
- Advance payments are allowed and hence affordable
Having trusted such claims, you end up with a nasty taste in your mouth.
According to a study, hardly 10% of customers rate the service. Maximum companies put fake reviews to attract a number of customers, which is why 98% of reviews are 5-star rated and 2% are only 3-star rated.
Which? found in a study that Amazon’s customer review system was dominated by fake 5-star rated reviews for products from unfamiliar brands. Many items including headphones and smartwatches had thousands of unverified reviews, which means there is no evidence that a reviewer had bought the item and used it.
Why is the rating system not as reliable as you think?
The rating system may not be as trustworthy as you think because of the following reasons:
- Customers do not want to spread negative words. The majority of customers remain silent and stop using a particular product or service if it does not satisfy them. Further, if you express your dissatisfaction, the review is sent for moderation.
- It seems to be an ignominious act to smear somebody publicly.
- The rating system is more often than not misleading because positive feedback is received through the rating system and negative feedback is received through customer support.
How to differentiate fake reviews from the real one
Although it is hard to spot fabricated reviews, you can easily spot them with the following techniques:
- Stay away from 5-rated reviews that use overly promoted words such as “Highly recommended”, “The best product”, and “Top-notch”.
- Investigate the account of a reviewer. Make sure that it is not an anonymous reviewer.
- Do not trust if multiple reviews have generated on the same date.
- Try to concentrate on the tone and articulation. If the flow of the language is not natural and overly promoted, you should immediately understand that they are fabricated reviews.
- If you find extremely positive and extremely negative reviews, try not to believe them.
The final word
Online ratings are never helpful. It should not be one-stop to make a decision. You should find other ways such as consumer reports to know the quality of a product or a service. If you have been buying a financial product like a loan, you need to ask your friends and family for the best option. It is good if you choose a brand as they generally show real ratings to avoid damaging their own reputation.
Description: Service ratings are not as reliable as you think. You may find real reviews with fabricated ones. Make sure that you have the art to spot them.
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