Online reviews are one of the best ways to judge if you should patronize a business or not. Who better than those who have used a product or service or have the experience to tell you how it feels? Online reviews can help you make the right purchasing decisions, so if you do not listen to them, you are doing so at your peril. Here are the consequences of not listening to online reviews:
Buying poor quality products
Not listening to online reviews will lead you to buy products of low quality. Some brands who sell fake and low-quality products deliberately make their sites look good and their product pictures stunning. You cannot help but be deceived. You order for it or you pay the fee for the service and it turns out that the product was not delivered, the service is not rendered or the delivery did not meet your expectations. But you do not have to fall into this trap; people who have gone through this will surely share their experience online and you can learn from it. For example, if you require the services of a capital management company, you would want to know about their capital management services if others who have used it testified about its usefulness and if it fits with the type of service that you need. You might want to invest in the real estate sector but the company you are looking for are experts in helping people set up their own business. Even if every other thing looks good, they would not be able to help you with your real estate sector investment plan.
Getting entangled in poor customer service
Some businesses are spoken ill of in online reviews not because their products are bad. Instead, they have poor customer service. Getting involved with a business that has poor customer support is a serious headache. The stress and anxiety that comes with no one answering the phone because you want to make a complaint or having the person who answered the phone curse you can trigger serious health issues. Reading online reviews will let you know about this even before you plan to patronize the business in question. As such, you can make better decisions.
Not having enough options
One of the rules of thumb for buying well is to shop around to compare quality and quantity. In online reviews, people are likely to talk about other businesses and products in the same niche for comparison purposes. They are also likely to share the experience of those who have used the services or products of the other businesses. From this, you can make a list of potential businesses to buy from, check them out, and determine who you will eventually go for.
However, as good as online reviews are, it is vital you are aware of these facts that could jeopardize how important they would be to you. Here is why:
Some reviews are paid reviews
In a bid to get more customers, most businesses pay people to write impressive reviews for them. Most times, the people writing these reviews have not used the company’s products and are not in a position to write correct reviews. Even if the company gives some of its products to these people, they are still compelled to write good reviews even if the products are bad. Some websites are not authorities on publishing reviews too. For this reason, you cannot trust online reviews. This is why you should look for reviews on reputable and independent platforms like US-Reviews as they have several features on their platform to check paid review writers and ensure that their actions does not significantly lead customers in the wrong direction.
Bad reviews do not mean the business involved is completely bad
Sometimes, mistakes do happen. A business may be experiencing tough times during the moment the customer had issues with them. You may have a pleasant experience with the business in question as opposed to what you have read online. Sometimes, it may be an oversight on the part of some of the workers or even entirely the fault of the customer. Online reviews do not always tell the full story and each side will be insisting on being right. Therefore, you should be able to discern from the stories to know if the information available in the review is enough to discourage you from patronizing the company or you might just want to opt for another company that does not have negative reviews.
Here are ways you can further ensure you use the right companies in addition to online reviews.
Ask your friends and family for recommendations
It is safer to ask people around you to recommend a business they have patronized and can attest to its credibility. It is highly unlikely that your friends and family will like about their experience or to cover up the business. You can confirm by asking multiple people. If most of the replies lead to a certain business, it is possible that such a business is credible indeed and you can go ahead to buy from them.
Have a feel of the business before you buy from them
You do this by checking out the company if you can. Enter the building. Have a feel of the atmosphere. Study how the workers go about their duties, the quality of their products, how customers are treated, etc. Usually, your instincts will tell you if you should go ahead or not. Even from the atmosphere of the business building, you can ascertain the quality of the business.