Do you actually use Trustpilot?

[MyAccountantOnline]

I'm interested to know if anyone actually uses Trustpilot when deciding whether to buy goods or services.

Personally I dont and I've run My Accountant Online since 2010 and had no desire to use Trustpilot to promote the practice and so far I have never asked a client to leave a review.

As an accountant I have always found a very large proportion of clients come from referrals, I have a very low client turnover and no real need to use sites such as Trustpilot.

Late last year I found a review on Trustpilot left by an individual back in 2019 for a firm with a very similar name to mine and a link to my firms website. I got in contact with Trustpilot and they were extremely unhelpful; rather than remove the link to my firms website they changed the name of the page to My Accountant Online so that the poor review left appeared to be for my firm!

Since then I've had two reviews left by individuals which contained statements which were factually incorrect. I have responded to both on the site.

I'm wondering whether it's time to ask clients to leave some genuine reviews?

 

[Mark T Jones]

I do occasionally look at reviews - whether Trustpilot or other sites (other than Tripadvisor I don't have any favourite or 'go to' sites)

When reading reviews I pay a lot f attention to who the reviewer is and what their angle is; particularly the negative ones. (Reading 1-star reviews is entertainment in itself)

I don't belong to any review sites for my business, but I do note that the biggest crooks in the industry have consistently top ratings.

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

We have good TP feedback the problem is the high end customers don't leave this type of feedback and that's really what we would like to see but the individual customers coming through our site are very nice people indeed
The downside is that you have to work hard to get customers to leave reviews and apparently there are only 24 hours in a day

 

[ctrlbrk]

I don't use any type of review sites. They can be manipulated and are not reliable. I prefer to judge for myself.

 

[Annoying Donkey]

I sometime do a search for reviews, but don't have any specific or favourite sites I look at....
Like others, I am skeptical of online reviews and would rather ask trusted contacts their opinion...

 

[Ian J]

I use both Trustpilot and Trip Advisor but I tend to ignore all of the five star reviews and look only at the poor ones to see if there is a pattern

 

[WaveJumper]

Don't trust them so don't use them

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

I use both Trustpilot and Trip Advisor but I tend to ignore all of the five star reviews and look only at the poor ones to see if there is a pattern

Trip advisor is my favourite site better than car sites ?

 

[Ian J]

Trip advisor is my favourite site better than car sites ?

The problem with Trip Advisor is that it's only as good as the people who contribute to it and most seem to be clueless. I used to use it primarily for restaurants years ago when it was used by people who had a rough idea about food but it's less useful nowadays. We holiday in Kefalonia a lot and eat in what we think is the best restaurant in the region but according to Trip Advisor it wasn't even the best restaurant in it's village as that honour was taken by a bar that didn't serve food.

We haven't been to Javea on the Costa Blanca for a while but the town has some excellent restaurants yet half of the top ten restaurants were curry houses according to Trip Advisor and we read about one restaurant that had a one star review because they had the temerity to be closed on their day off just when she wanted to visit.

Facebook groups are just as bad. We holiday in Playa Blanca once or twice every year so I look in on the Playa Blanca Group and when someone is daft enough to ask for the best restaurant you get 25 people all giving 25 different answers and I would guess by their answers that many of them regards Burger King as haute cuisine

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

The problem with Trip Advisor is that it's only as good as the people who contribute to it and most seem to be clueless. I used to use it primarily for restaurants years ago when it was used by people who had a rough idea about food but it's less useful nowadays. We holiday in Kefalonia a lot and eat in what we think is the best restaurant in the region but according to Trip Advisor it w

asn't even the best restaurant in it's village as that honour was taken by a bar that didn't serve food.

Kefalonia! Now that's a little place we know well
We have stayed in Scala quite a bit they say that Poros is a dump but it was the the best 10 days of my life
We are looking at buying a place there

 

[percolated]

I think you've done yourself no favours claiming negative reviews if they weren't for you. Then replying with such long responses will turn off many who don't have the time to read it. Brevity is usually the better approach with something like:

"Unfortunately we do not recognise you as a client nor ever having any business dealings with us. If you have a genuine concern or query please email us at myemail @ company . com"

Then for genuine, but poor reviews something like:

"Thank you for your review. I am extremely sorry to hear of the issues you have faced above, please can you email over your company details to myemail @ company . com so I can review this further for you. "

It shows your offer support and are listening.

In the meantime I would still encourage you to get some positive Trustpilot reviews as currently you only have 3 1* reviews and personally I would think no smoke without fire wihtout a single positive one. Plus who knows whether Google uses Trustpilot credibility to determine rankings. Also consider getting Google reviews as that's where many would look for an accountant review. Trustpilot tends to be used for bigger brands.

Either way, creating a page long monologue of defence doesn't reflect well.

 

[Ian J]

Kefalonia! Now that's a little place we know well
We have stayed in Scala quite a bit they say that Poros is a dump but it was the the best 10 days of my life
We are looking at buying a place there

We tend to stay in Karavados as it's quite central for going anywhere. I'm not sure that I would describe Poros as a dump but it's not central enough for my liking.

This year will be the first year that we will not be visiting as there are very few villas to rent at a sensible price and the flight prices seem to have doubled since last year

 

[lesliedocherty]

The shop next door to me has this negative review "Drove past, didn't like the look of the place"
1-star review, they tried and failed to get it removed,

 

[4getaboutit]

We had someone once who posted up false reviews, a few of them. TP said the person could post as many negative reviews as they liked. They said someone doesn’t even need to have ever used a company before to leave a negative review about them, and they can leave as many negative reviews as they like about them. That’s when I learned trustPilot was useless and not to be trusted.

It must be a nightmare to be a review site to be honest as you’re stuck in the middle and always the bad guy if you keep or remove reviews. But TP has never struck me as a company that tries to police their own site.

Unfortunately many people do use it and presume it is accurate so you’re forced to play their game. Im amazed a big company hasn’t taken court action against them yet.

 

[fisicx]

There’s a whole industry out there getting paid to leave reviews. I had an email this morning from a company offering reputation management by means of posting umpteen 5 star reviews. All totally fake.

 

[percolated]

hey said someone doesn’t even need to have ever used a company before to leave a negative review about them, and they can leave as many negative reviews as they like about them.

I have left several reviews and Trustpilot have reached out as the company has said they don't recognise me as a customer. The onus was on me to prove I was.

The first time this happened was about a company constantly spamming me and despite repeated requests they didn't stop so I wrote a review. Trustpilot removed my review. The second time, similar situation but this time it was upheld as I sent them everything they needed to validate that whilst I was not a customer, I did have a real experience with the firm.

Not sure why the difference but I'd be almost certain it's based on whether you are a paying client of Trustpilot or not.

 

[4getaboutit]

Not sure why the difference but I'd be almost certain it's based on whether you are a paying client of Trustpilot or not.

It’s an interesting business model isn’t it.

 

[Karimbo]

it's mainly, irate customers taking out their anger at a company and the company responding with 10x positive fake reviews to drown out the negatives.

 

[sivayogi]

There’s a whole industry out there getting paid to leave reviews. I had an email this morning from a company offering reputation management by means of posting umpteen 5 star reviews. All totally fake.

I agree with you but there are some valid reviews too...
Let me share my experience

1. Like you said most of them getting paid review or offer review (Mostly done by B2B companies)
2. Some negative reviews are placed to threaten business owner and seeking money to remove the negative review.
3. There's some valid reviews need to consider, those reviews explains their experiences and relationship with the business without promoting either side.
4. Now a days, most of the review management sites are adopting lot of security check to valid the a customer review and business owner listing.

In Bottom-line, we need to be more careful on the reviews thrown through the internet. Don't instantly believe on any review. Please analysis before make your decision.

Thanks

 

[MyAccountantOnline]

I think you've done yourself no favours claiming negative reviews if they weren't for you. Then replying with such long responses will turn off many who don't have the time to read it. Brevity is usually the better approach with something like:



Then for genuine, but poor reviews something like:



It shows your offer support and are listening.

In the meantime I would still encourage you to get some positive Trustpilot reviews as currently you only have 3 1* reviews and personally I would think no smoke without fire wihtout a single positive one. Plus who knows whether Google uses Trustpilot credibility to determine rankings. Also consider getting Google reviews as that's where many would look for an accountant review. Trustpilot tends to be used for bigger brands.

Either way, creating a page long monologue of defence doesn't reflect well.

Thank you very much.

I think your first sentance is probably spot on I should have left it alone but when I saw a site for My Online Accountant with a link to my firms website I wanted it corrected.

 

[MyAccountantOnline]

It’s an interesting business model isn’t it.

It certainly is.

 

[Mark T Jones]

The problem with Trip Advisor is that it's only as good as the people who contribute to it and most seem to be clueless. I used to use it primarily for restaurants years ago when it was used by people who had a rough idea about food but it's less useful nowadays. We holiday in Kefalonia a lot and eat in what we think is the best restaurant in the region but according to Trip Advisor it wasn't even the best restaurant in it's village as that honour was taken by a bar that didn't serve food.

Not unlike a business forum - or potentially any other forum.

Unless you have some insight to the background and motives of a poster you can never quite know if they are offering solid advice, random opinions or just talking bollocks.

Time & a little bit of research can usually guide.

 

[Paul Carmen]

Realistically this is one of the main problems with online reviews, many businesses don't really need them, as their client lead generation process is personal and they can refer them to real clients to speak to etc. This only tends to be an issue if a negative review is left somewhere, whether that review is justified, correct or not.

The problem with Trustpilot, and to a lesser extent Google Business and Trip Advisor, is that anyone can leave a review, whether justified or for the wrong business, as long as they create an account.

This isn't such an issue if you've created the business listing on the site, but Trustpilot lets anyone create a listing for you to leave a review, just by adding the URL! If they get this wrong, and review a different business as you, there's not much you can do about it unless you claim an account and then pay to manage it, as otherwise you potentially get the situation you've had. There are several review platforms that work along this route, and use negative reviews against you.

To avoid this you have to take control of your business listings and reviews, with a process to generate reviews and make sure your site/business ranks for reviews about it. That way you effectively deal with negative reviews or incorrect reviews, even if you can't remove them, you bury them with real good reviews, and they're less of a issue. As people tend to look at negative reviews, its important to reply and call out if the reviewer is not a customer or reviewing maliciously.

There are really good review processes that can be put together fairly cheaply that can actually boost your websites organic and Google Business rankings, and there are more cost effective platforms than Trustpilot to do this with.

 

[HouseReno]

i only occasionaly use this when i have heard of something im unsure of and have never heard of

 

[aqfsports]

Yes i use it .

 

[Marantzdigital]

As said above, the review is only as helpful as the poster is knowledgeable.

I see many negative reviews where the poster is being unrealistic/misinformed or generally doesn't know what they are doing.

The one lines, eg. AVOIDDDDDDDD!!! don't really help. I think if you are leaving a negative review it should be detailed so the reader can determine if the reviewer is being fair or not.

 

[Russ Michaels]

I'm interested to know if anyone actually uses Trustpilot when deciding whether to buy goods or services.

Personally I dont and I've run My Accountant Online since 2010 and had no desire to use Trustpilot to promote the practice and so far I have never asked a client to leave a review.

As an accountant I have always found a very large proportion of clients come from referrals, I have a very low client turnover and no real need to use sites such as Trustpilot.

Late last year I found a review on Trustpilot left by an individual back in 2019 for a firm with a very similar name to mine and a link to my firms website. I got in contact with Trustpilot and they were extremely unhelpful; rather than remove the link to my firms website they changed the name of the page to My Accountant Online so that the poor review left appeared to be for my firm!

Since then I've had two reviews left by individuals which contained statements which were factually incorrect. I have responded to both on the site.

I'm wondering whether it's time to ask clients to leave some genuine reviews?

Lots of people use trustpilot and believe everything they read on there, so it's certainly worth getting yourself listed.
But Google reviews are more useful for your rankings, so best to give clients both options. I would get Google reviews first before trustpilot.

I give my clients a list on of review sites to choose from, some will leave me reviews on more than 1.

When it comes to looking up other companies reputations, don't believe everything you read on trustpilot. Always use other sources.

 

[tony84]

Most of your customers have come from referrals. But is that because you do not advertise much? If so, then it is no surprise as realistically that is the only place they are going to come from.

If you are not asking for reviews, it is quite likely that any reviews you do receive will be negative ones as people are more inclined to go online to complain than they are praise.

I dont look at reviews (on any site) to choose a company to use. But if I do find a company I want to use, I might then go and look for reviews. I think the good thing with review sites is that they help to push you as a legitimate company from people who have already found you (if that makes sense).

I ask people to leave us a review on Trustpilot/Facebook/Google. Most end up Trustpilot or google - funny as historically it was always facebook.

 

[Porky]

I now always use Trip Advisor but only look for the negatives for patterns just like @Ian J

Previously, I had booked a two night short hotel break on a deal and when I read the reviews they were mixed but the negative ones said “hotel restaurant really slow, we waited so long we had gone off eating, it was awful, they gave us a cheap complimentary bottle of wine because it was so bad, as if it made up for the experience - avoid” and very similar posts. The rest were a river of 5 star “Hotel is best ever, booked already for next year” you can guess what’s coming....

Yes, we go and the wife and I have a god dam awful meal, really painfully slow about an hour wait between a cold pate starter and the main meal after a 45 min starter wait and sure enough they apologise and offer us a cheap complimentary bottle of wine. Exactly as others had commented.

Totally agree at least half are often paid or fake, also, to confess my sins, a small business I was once involved with I did set up about five different google emails just to get the positive reviews flowing - probably won’t go to heaven now, although I understand it’s warner down below and they have a late night bar you can pay to have it done just like paying for followers.

However, in relation to your accountancy business if a friend recommended you, I would go with that all day long over anything posted online, word of mouth is far more powerful than anything written on a review site.

 

[IanSuth]

I'm interested to know if anyone actually uses Trustpilot when deciding whether to buy goods or services.

Personally I dont and I've run My Accountant Online since 2010 and had no desire to use Trustpilot to promote the practice and so far I have never asked a client to leave a review.

As an accountant I have always found a very large proportion of clients come from referrals, I have a very low client turnover and no real need to use sites such as Trustpilot.

Late last year I found a review on Trustpilot left by an individual back in 2019 for a firm with a very similar name to mine and a link to my firms website. I got in contact with Trustpilot and they were extremely unhelpful; rather than remove the link to my firms website they changed the name of the page to My Accountant Online so that the poor review left appeared to be for my firm!

Since then I've had two reviews left by individuals which contained statements which were factually incorrect. I have responded to both on the site.

I'm wondering whether it's time to ask clients to leave some genuine reviews?

If you want an example of something obviously similar look at this one https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/vivant.com

After you scroll down a few you will see multiple replies saying "are you sure you are reviewing the right company we are vivant not vivint" but it looks like they are getting all the flack for a v.poor alarm monitoring firm

 

[AlanJ1]

We use it and have 30k or so reviews.

The main frustration from a business side is, 90% of our negative reviews are for couriers not sticking to there promise. Very few actual negative reviews from ourselves.

Me personally I look at negatives for other companies and see if there is a trait to follow.

 

[tony84]

We use it and have 30k or so reviews.

The main frustration from a business side is, 90% of our negative reviews are for couriers not sticking to there promise. Very few actual negative reviews from ourselves.

Me personally I look at negatives for other companies and see if there is a trait to follow.

There is an argument you are still to blame for that to an extent. If you spot a theme, you need to take it up with the couriers or find a new one. Obviously within reason. If your 90% is 10 reviews in 30,000 I think its acceptable. If it is 1,000 in 30,000 I dont think it is.

 

[AlanJ1]

There is an argument you are still to blame for that to an extent. If you spot a theme, you need to take it up with the couriers or find a new one. Obviously within reason. If your 90% is 10 reviews in 30,000 I think its acceptable. If it is 1,000 in 30,000 I dont think it is.

I agree, is a non argument though as it is such a small % of our orders.

 

[MyAccountantOnline]

If you want an example of something obviously similar look at this one https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/vivant.com

After you scroll down a few you will see multiple replies saying "are you sure you are reviewing the right company we are vivant not vivint" but it looks like they are getting all the flack for a v.poor alarm monitoring firm

I do have an immense amount of sympathy for them.

I do hope they can eventually get it sorted and that Trustpilot are more help with them than they were with me!

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

The main frustration from a business side is, 90% of our negative reviews are for couriers not sticking to there promise

Oh Yeh

 

[AlanJ1]

Oh Yeh

If I had the margin I would of been in touch already!