Suspicious bad reviews on Mobihand?

[dougeefresh]

For one of my themes, 2 days after I published the theme, I get two 1-star reviews with bad feedback about lag and memory leak. This was before I started heavy promoting. So I looked up the names and they are not found in my customer database.

Suspicious but whatever, so I contacted more betatesters to check for problem and they all report it back as fine. The theme's been out for almost a month had 6 reviews on it until I checked today. There are 24 reviews and I see three 1-star and one 2-star reviews in a row, and other 1 to 2 star reviews (I think the flood of review was due to Mobihand's getting back-logged). Again, some of the names are not tied to any sale.

Now, my themes are in no way perfect and some of the 1-star reviews there are from actually customers that I contacted to resolve the problems.
I don't have a problem getting a low rating when it's done by actual customers with problems and I try to fix every problem otherwise offer refund.

Maybe I am the only who has experienced this but it suspiciously like some people are purposely trying to drive down the rating.

Mobihand's rating system doesn't check for legitimacy of review (by matching the purchase order number) so I guess it's free range out there but it really sucks to see something like that when I try so hard to make it right.

Had to vent a bit

[Pete6]

Maybe you should take this one up with Mobihand.

[hastings]

I've dealt with a similar problem before.

Keep in mind, that just because the reviewers name isn't present in your database it does not mean that they are fake reviews. A huge number of people use their parents credit cards (or friends, girlfriend/boyfriend, etc) to purchase, and so their name would be in your database.

Also keep in mind that if they're complaining about lag, there is a good chance they're not lying. If you're selling to Bold 9000 or Storm users you can expect a few of them to complain about lag. Of course, those who are not satisfied always tend to be the most vocal.

I think most people who are buying your themes will read through more than just the negative reviews, if they even read them at all.

[dougeefresh]

Originally Posted by Pete6

Maybe you should take this one up with Mobihand.

Already wrote to them.

[Shao128]

Ive actually encountered this before. My apps get pretty good ratings, and I would notice some 1 star reviews with stuff like "stay away this app bricked my device!!!" or "this app messed up my device and i emailed support 5 times and they ignored me" (I love those ones since I reply to all emails within hours so I know they are fake). I would email mobihand and they would check to see if that person actually purchase the app and of course they hadn't so they will remove the review.

[dougeefresh]

Originally Posted by hastings

I've dealt with a similar problem before.

Keep in mind, that just because the reviewers name isn't present in your database it does not mean that they are fake reviews. A huge number of people use their parents credit cards (or friends, girlfriend/boyfriend, etc) to purchase, and so their name would be in your database.

Also keep in mind that if they're complaining about lag, there is a good chance they're not lying. If you're selling to Bold 9000 or Storm users you can expect a few of them to complain about lag. Of course, those who are not satisfied always tend to be the most vocal.

I think most people who are buying your themes will read through more than just the negative reviews, if they even read them at all.

Yeah, I know some of the reviews are based on fact because I've personally communicated with them.

It's a good point about the names not in the DB.

I doubt anything will change through this but I just wanted to know if this is a trend in making or just random things. I really hope the review system gets overhauled though as it's pretty much wild west.

[Shao128]

Originally Posted by dougeefresh

I doubt anything will change through this but I just wanted to know if this is a trend in making or just random things. I really hope the review system gets overhauled though as it's pretty much wild west.

Yeah it would be nice like with AppWorld where you had to buy the app first. Im sure eventually they will implement it. They have already made improvements. At least now you have to log in to to leave a rating and can only do it once.

[hastings]

I'll also just add that, at the risk of sounding totally pompous:

I've noticed that selling a theme for $0.99 (or close to) tends to bring in some pretty non-tech savvy individuals who barely know how to use their device. This leads to bad reviews. It's pretty consistent, the lower I price my themes the worse my reviews and the more tech support I have to do.

Also, by selling an iPhone theme you're asking for it. You're attracting people who expect the theme to magically transform their device into an iPhone, and when it doesn't happen, they get upset.

In the end, as long as you've got some 5 star reviews for your product I'm sure you will be OK.

[dougeefresh]

That actually makes sense. And true about iPhone themes as well as the first comment I received on CB was iPhone sucks

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[miz_pimp]

This seems to happen with (free) apps in App World as well. It seems like people are just randomly giving apps bad ratings, and they just write reviews that make absolutely no sense whatsoever.

I hope you get it sorted though. :-)

[dougeefresh]

Originally Posted by miz_pimp

This seems to happen with (free) apps in App World as well. It seems like people are just randomly giving apps bad ratings, and they just write reviews that make absolutely no sense whatsoever.

I hope you get it sorted though. :-)

Thanks!

I contacted those whose record I was able to find, to straighten things out and to provide solutions or refund.