Amazon’s user reviews for books are problematic because they serve more than one master. They’re meant to help inform consumers, sure, but they’re also meant to drive sales, and sometimes they’re even used by angry consumers as a form of protest. If you’re looking for more honest feedback on books, try Goodreads. [More]
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Zagat Releases First Cellphone Carrier Survey Results
By 1.15.10
Zagat, the popular consumer feedback-based restaurant review guide, now reviews wireless carriers as well, and they’ve released rankings on the four national carriers. The company surveyed 2,319 wireless consumers and then created Zagat-style scores in a variety of categories. Here are some of the highlights. [More]
Which Notebook Brands Are The Best?
By 12.14.09
The website Laptop has launched a new series of posts about notebooks and netbooks. This time, they’re grouping the models by brand and asking readers to weigh in. Up first: HP, which generally has good aesthetics and keyboards as well as multitouch technology, but bad touchpads and heat issues. They also note that customer service is pretty bad for HP products. [More]
Should Yelp Remove Reviews By Non Customers?
By 11.20.09
Lehigh Pub, the restaurant in Pennsylvania that had two patrons arrested for not tipping, was blasted on Yelp in the past 24 hours or so by angry readers. Many of them weren’t customers, but heard about the arrests in the news and came to vote down the pub. As of this morning, it had an average of one star out of five.
Consumerist And Its Readers Will Never Want For Cat Pics Again
By 11.20.09
When Consumerist left Gawker to join Consumers Union, we lost access to the Getty image library, which had been the source for pictures like this and this. The new CatPaint iPhone app has already wowed some, but is it good enough for Consumerist? Let’s find out.
Monster Energy Trains Legal Guns On Beverage Review Website
By 10.16.09
When you’re working on developing a reputation as a trademark bully, it’s good to go after multiple targets. We guess that’s why the website BevReview.com has received notice that it should remove any advertisement and sale of Monster Energy drinks from its site. The only problem is, it doesn’t advertise or sell drinks—it reviews them. And it didn’t give Monster Energy a good review.
JetBlue Is An Excellent Airline
By 10.5.09
Having taken JetBlue for the first time last week, I must say I throughly enjoy their services. First, I got a round-trip non-stop flight to Seattle for only $279.20, tax included. Awesome.
How To Avoid A Bad Hotel …Review
By 9.6.09
Finding a bad place to stay can ruin a trip, or even your entire impression of a city. Lacking personal recommendations, you may turn to online reviews to help you find a place to stay. But how can you tell shill reviews from real ones? Other than an air of general fakeness, AOL Travel tells you what to look for in hotel reviews specifically.
Find Out What You Can Expect Before You Call Customer Service
By 8.5.09
The website Customer Service Scorecard ranks the CSR experience for all sorts of companies, from hotels to appliances to telecoms. They’ve rated 128 so far, and here’s their top five. Do you agree?
LendingTree Launches Financial Advice Website
By 7.23.09
MoneyRight, a new website from LendingTree, seems at first aimed to take on Mint.com in the easy-to-read/use financial snapshot category of web services. However, it also offers financial advice based on your current situation and future goals.
By 7.23.09
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Slate compares and ranks 5 sippy cups for toddlers. The best, they say, is the Nalgene Grip-n-Gulp Bottle—at about $8 it’s also the second cheapest of the lot. [Slate]
Create Your Own Bing Vs. Google Death Match
By 7.10.09
Bing vs. Google offers a side-by-side comparison that lets users see for themselves which search engine works better. We tried some searches, and our findings are inside.
Are You A Pro-Sumer? Let Bill Quain, PhD, Show You How!
By 6.16.09
Amway! There, we just saved you the trouble of reading Pro-Sumer Power!, Bill Quain’s riveting get-rich-quick book from 2000, which Alan Scherstuhl found in a thrift store recently and recaps for your amusement over at the Village Voice. You see, producers make money. Consumers spend money. And Pro-sumers make money while they spend. Still not clear? You’re a banana when you should be some sort of banana-gorilla hybrid.
Consumer Reports Evaluates Cool Surge Portable Air Cooler, Made By Same Folks Who Brought You The ìAmish Heaterî
By 6.11.09
The company behind the “Amish man’s new miracle idea”—a heater—is back! Here’s Consumer Reports’ evaluation of the Cool Surge.
$220,000 Diamond Ring Gets Rave Reviews On Amazon, Sort Of
By 5.7.09
We’re no fans of fake customer reviews here at Consumerist, it’s true, but obviously goofy reviews are one of my very favorite things. (The reviews for this gallon of milk are an Internet classic.)
Yelp Will Allow Business Owners To Respond To Negative Comments
By 4.10.09
Angry small business owners get your keyboards ready — Yelp is going to let you respond to negative comments! This is going to be …. awkward! Oh well, we love a good fight.
