I will only review a product I use, a place (vacation spot, restaurant, etc,) or a service used.  I wouldn't be able to do a review on something I am not familiar with.  To me, it wouldn't be fair to give an opinion on something I know nothing about and just guess.

I have only reviewed thing I have or watched..I don't feel qualified to do otherwise.

I think experience counts as experience. In other words, you can't pretend that you've used something if you haven't.

On the other hand, if someone does a lot of research on car seats and knows that one has been recalled or has issues, I would want to know that.

I value contributions in general. If someone wants to make a quick note about a restaurant that is reviewed closing, that's helpful (to me). I'd hate to go and find the doors closed. If a website is listed with the Better Business Bureau with issues, and I didn't think to check, I'd be glad someone told me (even if they had not purchased from the web site).

I value reviews based on experience.  Otherwise people could just browse the web, find recalls, and post them all over Viewpoints.  If your product was recalled, please share.  Otherwise you really don't know, you really don't know why it was recalled or if it was necessary to return that car seat, perhaps some of them were fine, perhaps some were replaced and now they are fine, etc etc.  The point is, you don't know, so you shouldn't share.

And how could you fairly rate this product?  Give it 1 star b/c it was recalled?  Is that fair if the product was repaired and returned to the buyers at no cost?  Is it fair if future versions of the product are fixed so they don't have the problem?

IMO, it is not fair for someone to review a product they know nothing about. That is misleading the reader and costing your creditability.

I only review a product that I personally own and use unless it is a place I have been to, or services I have used. I have several products that I bought recently, but have not tried yet. I will normally write a review on it after using it for a good month (depending what the product is) so I know the pros and cons of it. I think this is a good time frame to use the product to see if it is going to break or tear up on you. Also, say, I wrote a review and sometime later the product is not what it cracks up to be, or breaks, recalled, etc. Then I would update my review to that effect. 

If I used a product of a family member or a friend, I probably would not do a review on it unless I was very familiar with it or I could borrow it for a couple of weeks to try it out.

mysticstarfish said…
I will only review a product I use, a place (vacation spot, restaurant, etc,) or a service used.  I wouldn't be able to do a review on something I am not familiar with.  To me, it wouldn't be fair to give an opinion on something I know nothing about and just guess.

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I agree - something you've had personal experience with. As for recalls I don't think it's a good idea to plaster the site with that information. I once worked for a retailer and products got recalled all the time. Recalls were often for ''possiblle defect'' or an ingredients label printed wrong.  The recall often applied to small batches of the product too. It was rare for an item to be pulled permanently.

I respect your way of revieiwng krislynn.  If I were to review a product of my husbands or my friends, it's usually because I do have quite a bit of experience with it.  I've driven my husbands car about a dozen times, and been it in everyday.  Haven't reviewed it but I feel that I could when I'm in the mood.  Husband's are different though, I guess, because we usually know their products almost as well as they do :) 

I don't have a timeline for how long I need to use something though.  Most the time my opinion doesn't change much from the first use on things like soap, for example, but if it's something that I need to learn before using (like a camera) then I will use it a lot more before reviewing. 

I agree Jovial, a lot of recalls are just precautions and a lot of times if the person who owns the product calls and gives their specific sku or model #, they find out their product doesn't need to be sent in. 

Something more than "I saw this in the store and it looks dangerous so I would never buy it." 

Ok so that's extreme but for a while there I was reading many of those kinds of reviews.  Basically people who had only seen or heard of a product and were writing something about it not knowing anything about what it is or even does. 

I feel you shoulds have at least some hands on (eyes/ears on in the case of media) real life experience with a product, service or place to do an honest review.  There may be some that I would do on products my husband uses as he is mot prone to review them himself, yet is able to tell me enough about it for me to be able to write it up.  As for products friends have.. that's hearsay and unless you have done something with the item it's not as valid to me.  An example would be a friend telling me that she really likes a certain brand of diapers but me never using them for my own children.

lilsquibb I've seen that too.  Or I've seen "this movie looks like it is gonna be good, can't wait to see it!"  I agree about the husband thing although I still haven't reviewed most of his things, I know a lot about them just by using them a few times and hearing him talk about them.

When I talk about products friends have, I mean I've used them too, not that they tell me about them only.  If your friend lent you a few diapers out of the pack to try out and told you the price, I'd say that's enough experience to form an opinion of the diapers. 

If it's someone you live with, I'd say less experience needs to be involved b/c you may learn enough just by watching the person use it (i.e. I will never be testing out my husband's razor but I might review it eventually), but if you don't live with a person, I'd say you have to use the product or else you really can't know anything other than hearsay as you said.

One of the best things about this site is that just about anyone can review a product. Viewpoints leaves it up to the reader to determine how useful the review is.

I may or may not own a product that I review. I check out books at the library for my girls all the time. If it makes an impression, I tend to review it. The same goes for toys that I check out at the toy library. My kids might only play with the toys or games for 2-3 weeks, but if it makes an impression (good or bad), I'll tend to review it.

I find negative or safety-related reviews helpful. If I saw ten positive reviews on a product and then one stating that it had been recalled or injured someone, you'd better believe I'd do a bit more research before considering buying that product, if I considered buying it at all. I buy most of our items at consignment stores or yard sales. Many people are trying to sell recalled toys (due to lead paint) at yard sales, for example. (I tend to check toys out at our toy library and save the cash!) I know it's buyer beware when making second-hand purchases, so I'm going to be a buyer informed before forking over the money if possible.

Katrena said…

I may or may not own a product that I review. I check out books at the library for my girls all the time. If it makes an impression, I tend to review it. The same goes for toys that I check out at the toy library. My kids might only play with the toys or games for 2-3 weeks, but if it makes an impression (good or bad), I'll tend to review it.

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I agree... I wouldn't say it's necessarily about owning the item either but at least in these situations you listed you have experience with the items.  This is different than saying something is horrible just because it looks unstable, yet you've never even touched the item. 

I also have had to use it; own it, borrowed it or spent time with it. I have a whole host of reviews I haven't even begun from a visit at our friend's house. I don't know enough about her big ticket items but the tv in the kitchen I do. Ditto to my husband's phone but I still feel I need a bit more use myself (though I do know I don't like it) to feel comfortable reviewing it.

CyndiA said…

I think experience counts as experience. In other words, you can't pretend that you've used something if you haven't.

On the other hand, if someone does a lot of research on car seats and knows that one has been recalled or has issues, I would want to know that.

I value contributions in general. If someone wants to make a quick note about a restaurant that is reviewed closing, that's helpful (to me). I'd hate to go and find the doors closed. If a website is listed with the Better Business Bureau with issues, and I didn't think to check, I'd be glad someone told me (even if they had not purchased from the web site).

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I agree.  I want to find out all I can about a product, service, resturant, etc. before I use it.  Sometimes just reading someone's review will remind me of something I like or dislike about that or another product. Honest, thoughtful reviews make it easier for others to make decisions about whether or not to use the reviewed item.  I want to hear from not only the peopl who use and love it, I also want to know why some don't like it and from the people who have researched the product and/or have some sort of inside information.