I’ve officially concluded I’m at a loss for how to determine if a product is worth it’s cost anymore.

  • Brand loyalty with local retailers is non-existent anymore, big box stores etc all seem to be switching manufacturers and I can’t buy the same products that were offered before

  • Online reviews are no longer reliable. On site, it’s paid reviews by “special” users who are given perks to review. Off site it’s paid affiliation links, all of which scream “conflict of interest” to an actual honest review.

  • Ratings are no longer functional. I can view 20+ products and all 1 star reviews or even 5 star reviews just look like copy/paste from competitors or their own employees. Every product has the same reviews now.

  • Quality Control is gone. It’s all being mass produced with no oversight, it’s a hit or miss type of ordering now. What’s perfect for one person, another person will get defective products repeatedly (even auto parts, store brand tools do the same thing)

  • Return windows are a joke, or you pay extra so you can return something defective after 30 days. This doesn’t always mean the product is less defective, but if it does then they’ve just hidden their full product cost in extra “charges”.

  • Less often, companies quality tank when switching manufacturers or lowering production costs. I have no clue how to officially keep up with this unless it’s random friends/co-workers or a forum post I stumble onto.

So, besides paying 10x-20x more for a high priced company to hold my hand and apologize for every mistake they make (and they sometimes still ship defective products), what are some effective methods you’ve used to purchase a decent product that will perform for the entirety of it’s intended lifetime?

    • Scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.tech
      122·
      7 months ago

      In addition, I read one star reviews as if they’re all written by Karen. If Karen is just pissed off because the employee treated her bad or they didn’t read the instructions, I can throw that review out. I read the actual well-thought out 1 stars, those ones give good insight.

    • rdyoung@lemmy.world
      6·
      7 months ago

      This right here. The shitty reviews tell you more about the company, product, etc as well as the reviewer than stellar reviews.

    • Gamma@beehaw.orgEnglish
      4·
      7 months ago

      Also see if their complaints are even valid. I saw a phone case where half of the 1-star reviews were complaining it didn’t fit and their review clearly showed they bought the wrong size

      • SkaveRat
        9·
        7 months ago

        the most annoying ones are “delivery driver didn’t put the package where I instructed him to. 1 star”

            • metaStatic@kbin.social
              2·
              7 months ago

              Depends where it is.

              3rd party reviews? Those should be removed. Company website? Knowing they use DHL is very useful to set expectations low.