Give us your view on user reviews

Re: Dieseltaylor,

I think this is an excellent and well-researched comment. Perhaps there should be an attempt to do some systematic analysis of the correlation between expert verdicts and user reviews in other product categories, using your comment as a starting point. I would expect that there are going to be patterns to the things that Which doesn’t predict through its expert testing. Maybe there’s a need to send out small numbers into homes for consumer testing, or maybe there’s a need to beef up the accelerated ageing regimes used in the lab.

Which does not have its own labs; its testing is undertaken by independent test houses (including Intertek, the original in-house Which lab that was sold off). I’d imagine that these projects are commissioned as discrete contracts and that the test house has no ongoing contract or obligation to follow-up its testing in the light of user reviews. Perhaps this should change, with the test house being required to monitor user reviews and re-evaluate best buy recommendations if required over a period of 1 or 2 years. The best buy recommendations should be date stamped and say explicitly whether they have been updated.

To my mind the disparities where they exist between expert tests and user reviews should be a cause for concern at Which because they go to the heart of the Which value proposition. Online reviews didn’t exist when Which was formed and Which’s expertise was once a unique source of consumer empowerment. But now things are different and I’m not sure that it is self evident that a few weeks in the lab is a better test than several months in peoples’ homes.

To be fair to Amazon, they do react to wrongly described or incorrectly delivered items. I’ve seen many that are marked as ‘no longer available’, with the reason that the item is not as advertised or similar reason.

And Amazon returns policy is second to none (not even John Lewis).

If you go into Comet or Richer Sounds and buy a washing machine, it too may be dangerous, so it’s not as good as buying from Amazon because there are no user reviews to read.

You should always read the reviews before buying!

I agree that reviews are useful and accept that Amazon is good at handling returns, but their site is selling some electrical goods that are unsafe. Apart from adaptors without earth connections and fuses (see the Convo in my link) you can buy electrical products with unfused continental two-pin plugs. That contravenes the regulations, which require all electrical appliances sold in the UK to be fitted with 3-pin fused plugs. If you plug a continental two-pin plug into a 3-pin socket you could burn down the house if a fault occurs. There are two Conversations that discuss two-pin plugs and other electrical safety issues.

One of our contributors has also found products with counterfeit three-pin plugs sold on Amazon. These can have no earth connection and/or no fuse. I have seen some glowing reviews for products that are dangerous, but thankfully the listings have been reviewed. Many people don’t understand electrical safety.

I believe that Amazon should take responsibility for ensuring that their Marketplace traders are selling safe goods that comply with current UK regulations. I suspected a problem a couple of years back and Amazon would not intervene regarding a suspected safety issue. Many of us would avoid dealing with a totally unknown company, yet we are happy to do this if they are an Amazon Marketplace trader.

I used to look at online reviews and shop in Comet – when it was still trading.

Oops. That should read: I have seen some glowing reviews for products that are dangerous, but thankfully the listings have been REMOVED.

Agreed that the plug issue really needs sorting. The government legislated that a UK plug must be fitted, but there are just so many devices sold either without or worse, a crappily designed adapter.

I’m not over-concerned about the lack of earth connection because so many devices don’t need the earth and frequently the standard 3-pin 13A plugs actually have plastic earth pins – needed solely to open the safety shutters of the sockets.

But it does need sorting out. There should be a UK plug with exception of certain items for use in bathroom safety 2-pin outlets (mostly mains electric razors).

As you say, most products don’t need an earth connection. The problem is that if someone plugs in one that does, you could have a fatality if a fault develops.

A bathroom shaver socket is only suitable for low power devices such as shavers and rechargeable toothbrushes. I’ve seen a figure of 50W and that may not even be a continuous rating. Even a laptop charger will take substantially more than this. But that’s getting of the subject of product reviews.

This comment was removed at the request of the user

This comment was removed at the request of the user