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ResellerRatings Cracks Down On TheCellShop.net's Review Bribing

The CEO of ResellerRatings, Scott Wainner, emailed us to say they're busting TheCellShop for bribing customers to submit perfect reviews on his site. He wrote:

ResellerRatings does not condone fake reviews. For the past 13 years, we have worked hard to develop anti-fraud tools, both automated and manual, and we disable fraudulent reviews every day. When we heard about the Cell Shop's actions, we immediately began contacting all Cell Shop reviewers to verify that they were not, in fact, offered money for their positive reviews, and to obtain proof of their valid transactions (order invoices, credit card statements, etc) and we have disabled reviews where money was offered for positive reviews.

Word up Steve-o, make them go outside and pick out their own switch from the hickory tree.

(Photo: Getty)

9:31 PM on Mon May 5 2008
By Ben Popken
2,088 views
14 comments

Comments

Victo at 09:49 PM on 05/05/08
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Well, that was kind of predictable, since ResellersRating want to keep their own reputation for honest reviews.
Lambasted at 10:16 PM on 05/05/08
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It's good to see some review policing happening. I have become very skeptical when reading reviews. I've noticed fake reviews on Amazon. Sometimes it is painfully obvious the review was written by a manufacturer plant. Regular people don't tend to talk using sales pitch-speak.
socritic at 10:41 PM on 05/05/08
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ResellerRatings, Kudos for being swift in response, upfront about your dealings with sites and the details about your verification. You earn major points with people who read consumer blogs and respond to good management. If you could take these policies and provide for an honest and comprehensive review site, you will be rewarded with droves of consumers starving for a trustworthy source. If you build it, we will all come!
aishel at 11:04 PM on 05/05/08
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"ResellerRatings does not condone fake reviews"

Doesn't he mean he DOES condone fake reviews?
thirdbase at 11:05 PM on 05/05/08
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Very nice response. Quick and thorough. (Was that review of your reviews good enough? Now send me my 5 bucks)
bigbollocks2 at 11:36 PM on 05/05/08
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Thingfling.com does the same thing, offering coupons for favorable ratings before you even make a purchase. Then they rip people off with their mystery boxes.
nursetim at 11:40 PM on 05/05/08
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@aishel:
No, to condone means roughly to accept a situation, to go along. Clearly, they do not condone what thecellshop.com is doing, since they dropped the hammer on them.
suzy-q at 11:41 PM on 05/05/08
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@aishel: Um, no.

Props to them for sending out a quick response though. And it is nice that they contacted the reviewers individually instead of just flat out disabling it.
Insder at 11:51 PM on 05/05/08
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@nursetim:
I believe he's thinking of condemned...which means they think it's wrong basically.
world-inferno at 11:59 PM on 05/05/08
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I think his response was great-- the perfect gift both for anyone ages 9 to 99!
sikantis at 12:07 AM on 05/06/08
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It'll come out always if the intention wasn't genuine and real.
Pro-Pain at 06:26 AM on 05/06/08
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So is TheCellShop scammers or no?
lemur at 07:08 AM on 05/06/08
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@Insder: You're probably right. "to condone" and "to condemn" confused me for a bit when I was learning English (my 2nd language).
Nighthawke at 07:09 AM on 05/06/08
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[www.resellerratings.com]

This forum thread should answer all your questions if they are real or no. I'd say no.