I left a 4 star review on etsy and the seller has messaged me twice about it. According to etsy review system 5 stars means amazing and 4 stars means you like it. I listed the things i liked about the order I received such as the fast shipping, really cute packaging and soft fabric but I also listed things that were not so great such as the personalized stitching detail. I think giving honest feedback is important because I rely on reviews so much. I didn't think a 4 star review was bad. Am I missing something?
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I think it’s impoetant to be honest in reviews because others use them to make purchasing decisions. I don’t know why some people harass users about reviews that are less than 5 stars but I find it super inappropriate. What did she say in the messages??
To answer your question, I believe a 4 star review means “good, not great.”
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Seems like you reviewed it appropriately, it was mostly good and there was some bad... so good, not great! She shouldn't be bugging you about it!
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I don't count a 4 star as a bad one when reading reviews, when I search Amazon I choose 4 Star and up to filter usually. Honestly I take 3 & 4 star reviews as the most honest and subjective.
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@Jennibenni: yeah its kind of a thing now that people pressure you to give a better review than your honest first impression. She said she didn't understand some of what I meant and that maybe my expectations werent in line with her item description.
@psw27: thanks thats what I thought -
I recently ran into this on AirBnB. When rating a rental, if I choose less than five stars in any category, the system prompts me with a "what were your complaints about this?" I think 4 stars demonstrates that something is good, 5 stars is exemplary, and not *everything* is exemplary. As others have said, I don't find a straight 5-star rave very helpful as a consumer.
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@lady baltimore: so glad I'm not the only one that feels this way
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In the setting you described I don't think a four star review is bad. Though I don't know a lot about etsy's system.
But for many companies (restaurants, stores, hotels, etc) it is treated as all or nothing. A 5 star review is 100% and any thing else is zero. Which isn't really fair when many customers don't realize that.
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@Mrsbells: I think a 4 star review sounds completely appropriate and generous. If she wants to raise it to 5 star, she should be willing to send you a new one with the corrections made.
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@catgirl: yeah that would be strange because then why give us the choice between 5 stars if we really only have two options.
@crazydoglady: I agree! I think theres a sender of entitlement sometimes. In NY oncevs waitress came back to question the tip we left. She wasn't a good server and didn't really deserve a tip but my husband gives 15 to 18% as a minimum regardless and she was very rude in questioning because she expected 20 to 22% -
I agree with @catgirl: I’m not sure how Etsy works but I know a lot of review systems are basically all or nothing for their algorithm. So for the seller, anything less than 5 doesn’t help them play the game to get further up the page and such. However, I do think your review helps the rest of us know what we’re getting so I don’t think you should feel bad at all for doing it. And if there is nothing the seller can really do to make your experience 5 stars then she’s just going to have to live with it.
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In general I think that if you’re going to write a really bad review you should give the seller a chance to make it right first, but a 4 star review isn’t bad and it’s also weird that she would message you asking why you only gave 4 stars when you explained why in your review.
When we bought our last car the dealer asked us to fill out a survey and said that if we gave them perfect in everything they’d give us free winter car mats. It was weird.
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@erinbaderin: it might seem weird, but they probably get judged based on their survey scores. Most places that do surveys only get credit for perfect scores, which is really annoying to the people who’s performance it impacts because a lot of customers have no way to know that. I used to work for a major wireless carrier and your survey scores impacted raises, bonuses, and could lead to corrective action if you got below a certain percentage of non-perfect surveys. I’d be willing to bet the car company gets a bonus of some kind for good scores and that easily outweighs the cost of the mats.
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@cookiemomster: I’m sure you’re right, I just found it offputting because our saleswoman was actually really bad, and then to be asked to write a perfect review rubbed me the wrong way. It is, however, really a dumb system that it’s all or nothing.
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@cookiemomster: What bothers me about this though is when they tell you that and make it clear it’s all only for the score and not because they actually are concerned with great service. As a customer I feel like an afterthought when I’m bombarded with statements or signage that say “We want all fives! Give us a perfect score!” It makes me feel peripheral instead of central to the transaction.
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This happened to me too! I ordered three personalized tshirts and they asked to specify font, color and glitter color. Super cute shirts but one of them was the wrong color and wrong font. She did eventually send the correct one but it was after I needed it (we took some photos). I gave her 4 stars (said super cute shirts and how communication was great...just wrong stuff sent) and she got mad
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I just had an incident with Home Depot where they emailed me that an item I booked online was backordered. I needed it tomorrow so I saw that it was in stock and ordered it for in store pick up and asked them to cancel my online order. They told me they couldn't cancel b/c it was just shipped. Then how was it back ordered???
Either way, I got these lines in my email from customer service and had to laugh:
"If it is of no inconvenience to you, I invite you to complete my Customer Care Voice of the Customer survey that you may receive, which is a specific representation of my service and level of professionalism.
I consider anything less than a “5” on this survey to be a failing grade, so if any part of your experience fell short of a “5”, please let me know so I can personally address your concerns."
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Instead of reaching out directly to the reviewer to change the score I like to businesses write a reply to the review. How a company responds to a critique or imperfect score matters to me as a consumer. A “4” rating isn’t a bad score especially if it’s followed up with a written review.
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@cookiemomster: @erinbaderin: that is so weird and uncomfortable, if they care so much about getting a perfect review they should make a good attempt at great customer service! @Mommy Finger: wow its like a guilt trip and they want to force you to rate them higher than they deserve.
@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: Yes so true! -
@Mommy Finger: Yes, that’s what I hate! Like they don’t give a flip about actual customer service but they are allll about those scores. I hope you did the survey.
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We just had a bad experience with this a few months ago. We signed up for an exterminator service, and immediately after signing the contract, the guy insisted we leave both a google and Facebook review—we hadn’t even experienced what their service was like yet. But he outright said that the company gives him a commission based off five star reviews, and we felt bad denying the guy some of his pay (he seemed nice enough).
It turns out that we’re not happy with our service at all, but th company has like 200 five star reviews, so the rating system that’s supposed to warn customers is useless.
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@Jennibenni: Haven't receive it yet but yes, I will be taking the survey. The problem though is that I think the survey is more about the customer service I received vs the actual issue. So technically, they did a fine job on that b/c they were courteous and professional but they didn't do anything other than send an email saying they couldn't do anything for me. So you hate the penalize the worker for something the company did.
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I mostly agree with everyone else that 4 star is no way bad in my eyes. 5 stars is perfect so if your are not 100% satisfied, 4 stars is warranted. I think it's great that you went into detail of what is 5 stars and what is 4 stars about what you received!
I understand why a seller would want 5 stars only, but with your constructive and detailed review, maybe they should have gave you a coupon for a future purchase to try to win a 5 start review next time....?
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@Mommy Finger: HD really is crazy about their ratings! Every time I ordered something for PU they tell me that too. I did give them 5 stars each time b/c I was satisfied, but just felt like they were so pushy about getting the review!
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@Hypatia: yes that's the thing that bothers me and it makes the the review system deceptive
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