Trustpilot.... it's a con isn't it?
Discussion
I left a scathing but factual write up about a particular company 10 days ago. I've been periodically checking to see if there was any response, but nothing.. Then in one day there 12 reviews all but 2 branding them excellent & most very short & non-specific. Most have only 1 review to their names.
All I can think is they've spamed their own reviews to drop my review down from the top.
All I can think is they've spamed their own reviews to drop my review down from the top.
glenrobbo said:
I can honestly say that all of the pilots that I have ever flown with have been totally trustworthy.
I am living proof.
One or two have been a bit mental though!
I dunno, I used to fly with one, who got the shove for rocking up to work pissed, haven driven 100 odd miles to pick up the helicopter in a hire car....I am living proof.

One or two have been a bit mental though!

GT03ROB said:
I left a scathing but factual write up about a particular company 10 days ago. I've been periodically checking to see if there was any response, but nothing.. Then in one day there 12 reviews all but 2 branding them excellent & most very short & non-specific. Most have only 1 review to their names.
All I can think is they've spamed their own reviews to drop my review down from the top.
There is more than a whiff of suspicion that a lot of the reviews on such sites aren't always genuine (in both directions!) , sadly 'tis the way of the world All I can think is they've spamed their own reviews to drop my review down from the top.
I don't believe many reviews tbh, far too easy to simply make up or just not publish them, after all who is the customer is it you? or is it the paying business?
see it all the time on stuff like checkatrade where i know the companies in question and there's no way they are 9.9 our of 10 from 100 reviews
One of the only more legitimate ones is facebook. downside is all your mates can leave a review but any bad ones are near impossible to remove. I know people who have had bad reviews left maliciously and have had to turn the review setting off.
see it all the time on stuff like checkatrade where i know the companies in question and there's no way they are 9.9 our of 10 from 100 reviews

One of the only more legitimate ones is facebook. downside is all your mates can leave a review but any bad ones are near impossible to remove. I know people who have had bad reviews left maliciously and have had to turn the review setting off.
Tell that to record rent a car
Proudly boasting 1.7 stars with 83% bad from 1166 reviews
https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.recordrentaca...
Proudly boasting 1.7 stars with 83% bad from 1166 reviews
https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.recordrentaca...
Sounds iffy, but then I am not surprised.
At least Trustpilot published your feedback unlike Booking.com. I submitted a non too positive review on a hotel booked with Booking.com. Whilst logged onto my Booking.com account, and search this hotel review, my review appear in the audit trail. However, once I log out of Booking.com, and do the same search, my review is gone! My missus did the same hotel search on her phone, and couldn't see my review so it is clearly suppressed from the general public!
At the end, I posted the same review onto my TripAdvisor account, and received a public apology from the General Manager who admitted his staff shortcomings.
At least Trustpilot published your feedback unlike Booking.com. I submitted a non too positive review on a hotel booked with Booking.com. Whilst logged onto my Booking.com account, and search this hotel review, my review appear in the audit trail. However, once I log out of Booking.com, and do the same search, my review is gone! My missus did the same hotel search on her phone, and couldn't see my review so it is clearly suppressed from the general public!
At the end, I posted the same review onto my TripAdvisor account, and received a public apology from the General Manager who admitted his staff shortcomings.
normalbloke said:
glenrobbo said:
I can honestly say that all of the pilots that I have ever flown with have been totally trustworthy.
I am living proof.
One or two have been a bit mental though!
I dunno, I used to fly with one, who got the shove for rocking up to work pissed, haven driven 100 odd miles to pick up the helicopter in a hire car....I am living proof.

One or two have been a bit mental though!

As a subscriber to Trustpilot from the business end of things I'm quite pleased with it.
We choose to host the last 5 reviews on our website, which is automated and out of my direct control. Nothing good or bad stays there for long, but if we get a stinker for any reason it's there for every visitor to read.
As a buyer I'm always actually quite encouraged to see a bad review of a business on their own website. I always think a true villain wouldn't volunteer for that.
We choose to host the last 5 reviews on our website, which is automated and out of my direct control. Nothing good or bad stays there for long, but if we get a stinker for any reason it's there for every visitor to read.
As a buyer I'm always actually quite encouraged to see a bad review of a business on their own website. I always think a true villain wouldn't volunteer for that.
Edited by SpeckledJim on Saturday 8th June 10:12
Do people still actually use Trustpilot?
Out of curiosity I just looked at Arnold Clark. 50k+ reviews with a really high rating. Just about every review is by people with one review.
One guy had 3 reviews and I clicked on his profile. Two reviews of Arnold Clark and one for Arnold Clark's Keycare all rated 5 out of 5.
A massive amount of effort to make a positive rating. Who signs up to review sites to give a positive review for one company only. It is more often that people sign up to be negative.
Out of curiosity I just looked at Arnold Clark. 50k+ reviews with a really high rating. Just about every review is by people with one review.
One guy had 3 reviews and I clicked on his profile. Two reviews of Arnold Clark and one for Arnold Clark's Keycare all rated 5 out of 5.
A massive amount of effort to make a positive rating. Who signs up to review sites to give a positive review for one company only. It is more often that people sign up to be negative.
JPJPJP said:
Tell that to record rent a car
Proudly boasting 1.7 stars with 83% bad from 1166 reviews
https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.recordrentaca...
Learnt the hard way never to go with the small independent and too cheap to be true car hire firms. Proudly boasting 1.7 stars with 83% bad from 1166 reviews
https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.recordrentaca...
Easi-rent 4 or 5 years ago. Hired focus sized car for about £15 per day, handed it filthy and in the dark, when I brought it back it was pulled into a lighting booth and they went over it with a fine tooth comb. Windscreen chips, significantly smaller than a ball point pen tip were immediately pointed out and charged at £90 per chip. I fought them and did eventually get my money back but never again.
Driver101 said:
Do people still actually use Trustpilot?
Out of curiosity I just looked at Arnold Clark. 50k+ reviews with a really high rating. Just about every review is by people with one review.
One guy had 3 reviews and I clicked on his profile. Two reviews of Arnold Clark and one for Arnold Clark's Keycare all rated 5 out of 5.
A massive amount of effort to make a positive rating. Who signs up to review sites to give a positive review for one company only. It is more often that people sign up to be negative.
Not sure if serious or just a bit thick ? Out of curiosity I just looked at Arnold Clark. 50k+ reviews with a really high rating. Just about every review is by people with one review.
One guy had 3 reviews and I clicked on his profile. Two reviews of Arnold Clark and one for Arnold Clark's Keycare all rated 5 out of 5.
A massive amount of effort to make a positive rating. Who signs up to review sites to give a positive review for one company only. It is more often that people sign up to be negative.
Hoping for the former.GT03ROB said:
I left a scathing but factual write up about a particular company 10 days ago. I've been periodically checking to see if there was any response, but nothing.. Then in one day there 12 reviews all but 2 branding them excellent & most very short & non-specific. Most have only 1 review to their names.
All I can think is they've spamed their own reviews to drop my review down from the top.
In my opinion yes, Trustpilot is a con.All I can think is they've spamed their own reviews to drop my review down from the top.
It seems to be used by dodgy firms with no credibility to give the impression that they have some. It is very easy for them to have bad reviews taken down. But then, I think they pay to use it so it is not entirely surprising.
SpeckledJim said:
As a subscriber to Trustpilot from the business end of things I'm quite pleased with it.
We choose to host the last 5 reviews on our website, which is automated and out of my direct control. Nothing good or bad stays there for long, but if we get a stinker for any reason it's there for every visitor to read.
As a buyer I'm always actually quite encouraged to see a bad review of a business on their own website. I always think a true villain wouldn't volunteer for that.
LOL, just checked the company concerned. They do the same thing.... but exclude all reviews with 3 stars or less.....We choose to host the last 5 reviews on our website, which is automated and out of my direct control. Nothing good or bad stays there for long, but if we get a stinker for any reason it's there for every visitor to read.
As a buyer I'm always actually quite encouraged to see a bad review of a business on their own website. I always think a true villain wouldn't volunteer for that.
Edited by SpeckledJim on Saturday 8th June 10:12
Driver101 said:
Do people still actually use Trustpilot?
Out of curiosity I just looked at Arnold Clark. 50k+ reviews with a really high rating. Just about every review is by people with one review.
One guy had 3 reviews and I clicked on his profile. Two reviews of Arnold Clark and one for Arnold Clark's Keycare all rated 5 out of 5.
A massive amount of effort to make a positive rating. Who signs up to review sites to give a positive review for one company only. It is more often that people sign up to be negative.
Arnold Clark is easily explainable though. They email a few days after purchase for a review, questionaire etc. Your salesman asks please say yes and give 5 stars, to him it's more money. You do it, they then say "make review public?" And your signed up on trust pilot, published. You can then create a password, majority dont bother again. Out of curiosity I just looked at Arnold Clark. 50k+ reviews with a really high rating. Just about every review is by people with one review.
One guy had 3 reviews and I clicked on his profile. Two reviews of Arnold Clark and one for Arnold Clark's Keycare all rated 5 out of 5.
A massive amount of effort to make a positive rating. Who signs up to review sites to give a positive review for one company only. It is more often that people sign up to be negative.
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