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The Online World Of Negative Product Reviews

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spyI got bought, and I bet you’ve been bought at some point or another, too…right there in the online product reviews of Amazon.com.  I don’t feel good about it, I actually am upset that I caved.

Let me share:

1. Kidlet wanted a new iPod case; none of them were available or appealing at Best Buy.

2. In a search on Amazon for “iPod cases” this Harry Potter SkinIt brand “case” appeared.

3. We bought as it was the most reasonable price; it arrived and to my chagrin and lament, it was a sticker.

4. Then I felt dumb; ah-hah, the “SkinIt” brand was all about skins as stickers and not skins as gel cases or what not. How was I to know? A mom trying to appease a pre-teen with what she wants with nary a look at the fine print.

5. We went to Target and found a white case; kidlet trimmed the SkinIt to fit and now she’s happy. But, Mom wasn’t.

Write A Product Review

When the request came to write a product review (it caught me at the right moment as I had ignored the request many times previously), it was the right moment. I gave it 2.5 stars and said that maybe I was a dumb mom for not knowing SkinIt meant sticker.

Wait several days and here comes the product team for SkinIt. “We have refunded the prices of your purchase, will you please now alter your product review to something more positive? After all, the fine print says explicitly that this is not a case at all, blah, blah. Here are the steps you take to change your review to a positive one.”

A Range of Emotions

From the “I got bought” trashy feeling to the “really? Are you kidding me?” and the “I’m so pissed off” emotions, I ranted and raved internally and was none too happy with this chain of events.

Options were to:

1. Oblige them with a new glowing review.

2. Do nothing.

3. Delete the comment totally.

4. Rant and rave in the comments section for all the world to see.

5. Write a blog post on the experience.

Before I share my decision, let me share one of my peer’s blog posts with you; it was so timely it was uncanny.

Mark Schaefer’s Dongle Blog Post

Mark Schaefer, blogger at {grow}, shares a scary post about the world in which we now live policed by onlookers and bystanders (no longer innocent) looking for an instant of fame (in this case negative) to influence the what-used-to-be-jokester mentality of peeps having fun in and amongst themselves.

In a gist, two guys yak together about the “big dongle;” the girl in front of them snaps a photo of them, posts it to Twitter with an “I’m offended” comment and what ensues is where nightmares are written. I want you to read Mark’s post to get all the gory details, and how this is relevant to me is the following:

1. Your fellow man is no longer trustworthy.

2. The online world is scarey and full of those wanting to take advantage.

3. Employers are caving to the online pressure of negativity by a few who have taken advantage.

4. Innocent people (who joked amongst themselves) are losing jobs as a result and fighting back via cyber attack.

5. And, me? I wrote a negative online product review because it was true and was bombarded with the appeal of a refund and strong request to alter the truth.

What did I do? Number 3 and number 5.

By Jayme Soulati

You might like Mark Schaefer’s latest book, Born To Blog:

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Creative Thermostats, Called Nest, Apple Style

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Credit: Nest.com

This post originally appeared Nov. 30, 2011 and is being resurrected in honor of Apple becoming the largest U.S. company ever, surpassing Microsoft, according to this morning’s Wall Street Journal.

In my favorite ‘zine, Fast Company, in its “Next” series, and within that there’s a story about a cool, coming-soon new thermostat inspired by the iPod’s first developer Tony Fadell. Tony used to work at Apple; made 17 versions of the iPod, then departed and is now all creative with a thermostat.

This story is a great next segment in my creativity series–about how you take a product every single house has one or two of and turn it into something innovative, interesting, worthy of notice, and trendy.

Fadell’s Nest–Learning Thermostat costs $250, and it’s differentiator is that it learns your preferences as you dial your temperature up or down. After about 10 or 20 twists of the shiny, artsy dial, the thermostat regulates your home’s temperature on its own. No more adjustments or forgets; automatic temperature control.

>>Attraction #1: I’ve tried to program my thermostat for morning, day and night, but it was too complex and was never reliable. I resort to manual programming about three times daily.

In the article, these interesting tidbits corroborate what I just said:

>>10 million thermostats are sold annually; only 11% of users actively program them.

>>Thermostats are “treated like a light switch, with people manually adjusting them 1,500 times per year,” said Fadell.

Fadell has plans to add his thermostat to other devices networked throughout the home, but he learned at Apple to build slowly, let people learn about the device, get excited, and then introduce new concepts.

Attraction #2: If my thermostat could tell me the weather in the morning at school bus time, that would be incredible. If the potential is there at some point, that’s cool. With the knowledge we have about Apple products and devices speaking to each other wirelessly, it’s not too far fetched for a thermostat to be included in the mix. And, it’s not a device I ever expected to think about; at all.

Fadell designed his product with one function — a dial that turns the temperature up or down. He took this from the iPod which has a scrolling dial to allow music logs to move up and down the screen.

Attraction #3: Not too many dials, controls, instructions, or complexity. Keep it simple for the masses.

Here’s where creativity really comes into play — in the packaging. Fadell’s iPod was packaged neatly and really cool. (I still have the acrylic boxes mine all came in.) He put his thermostat within packaging that includes a custom-manufactured screwdriver and a level indicator at back so people know if it hangs level on the wall. While this isn’t cheap,  Fadell says the “unboxing experience” contributes to ease of installation.

Attraction #4: When I bought my house, I installed my own digital thermostat with help from dad. I read the complicated instructions and told dad what to do with the color-coded wires. It was an ordeal and made me nervous because I’d never done that before. In fact, how many of you have? If I know Nest is plug and play for real, then I a) want one and b) become an automatic grassroots champion. (Ooh, just read that Nest offers a professional concierge service for installation!!)

Lastly, design. Like most things Apple that are techy, modern and cool, the Nest is also one neat device to look at. Silver edge, black inner circle with ocean blue inner circle and bold white, large numerals; not overly large. Fadell says he wanted a “symbol of hipness intended to be shown off like a badge and a jewel on the wall.”

Attraction #5: Take a look at your thermostat; is it a design element or eye sore in your home? When I remodeled my living room, I wished I had a more contemporary thermostat instead of the beige box I have now.

How is all this creative?

Look at all the steps Fadell and his team needed to strategize how to sell something no one replaces that often (albeit 10 million are sold annually). They really thought, creatively, about how to take a mundane product and turn it into something trendy, hip, green, and eco.

Those are a few reasons why you gotta appreciate Apple and all its offshoots who continue to bring us innovation in really creative ways.