Are consumer reviews nonsense?

A couple of things happened recently that made me wonder if consumer reviews and ratings published by retailers should not always be believed. Call me a cynic, but…

Volvo

From recollection, most times I take my car to my local Volvo dealer I am asked for feedback after the visit. Recently I had a less than satisfactory experience. I wasn’t asked for feedback.

Odd that. Of course, it could have been an oversight, but I’ve experienced this before, bad service and no invitation to give feedback.

Scores can look good if you don’t include the bad reviews.

Halfords

The second event was at Halfords. Signs were taped to the entrance and exit doors that stated, “Please give feedback about our service and our store but please be aware that scores 0-4 count as zero and 5 is the only score that counts as positive. Thank you.”

It is wrong for a retail outlet to attempt to skew customer feedback. Someone must have set up a method of capturing data that worked for Halfords. Individual branches influencing the result create false results.

So when we get told how popular a brand is, should we believe it?

Kevin Harrington

I’m a UK-based B2B marketing consultant, specialising in strategic advice for SME business owners. I bring extensive hands-on expertise to every client engagement. Senior leadership roles across technology, media, payments, and publishing have shaped my practical approach. Highlights include serving as Chief Marketing Officer at The Panoply plc (now TPXimpact), Chief Commercial Officer at Tungsten Network, and Global Marketing Director at BBC Worldwide. Over the years, I’ve guided numerous SMEs through transformation and value creation. Helping businesses evolve and thrive is a genuine passion. Practical marketing insights and succession planning strategies are at the heart of what I do, as I believe growing a business’s asset value should be a rewarding and positive journey for every entrepreneur.

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