When was the last time you bought something with a 3.1 star rating on Amazon?
Better question, when was the last time you considered buying something with a 3.1 star rating?
I bet it wasn’t your first choice. Probably not even your second choice, but that was the only product that worked. And with hesitation, you bought it and hoped that you weren’t going to get a paperweight in a few days.
Ratings have lost their meaning with the prevalence of paying for reviews and fake reviews. A mattress store that tries to upsell you on all the things you don’t need does not deserve a 5 star rating, even if they deliver great products.
They are not there for the customer and ratings are for other consumers to protect themselves.
As common as fake reviews are, I hope to provide you with a standard review criteria to reduce the ability to provide misleading information at a glance.
This is not for credibility–this is from personal experience, to weigh the experience that you want to have when going somewhere.
If you expect a 5 star service and get a 3 star, you should be able to read reliable reports of the experience so you know that you’re spending your time where you want to be.
Think about it, if everyone was rated on a clear scale with reviews from real people discussing what experience they were getting, they would be able to provide better service or have people go elsewhere.
It would push power into the consumer by providing reviews that people care about to know that when going to Medieval Times, they’re getting into a great time, while they may try to upsell you.
And there’s a scale to do that.
