You should post it. It reinforces the perception that your review process is uncensored, and most people dropping over $5000.00 for hop up parts would be able to read between the lines and not put any stock in the comment. Certainly I would not.
And really what you are asking is whether to censor a review you don't like......
I am not asking that at all. I already let ones I don't like go through.
I just don't want to let anything truly misleading out there. If someone did buy this kit and blow their engine, I'd put it through and possibly add a note with any information that was missing. For example, I had one a while back where someone ripped our customer service because "we never responded to his email". We tried to find that email and couldn't. Tracked the customer down and it turns out he'd never actually sent it. Ooopsie. So there's a note on THAT review.
bearmtnmartin wrote: You should post it. It reinforces the perception that your review process is uncensored, and most people dropping over $5000.00 for hop up parts would be able to read between the lines and not put any stock in the comment. Certainly I would not. And really what you are asking is whether to censor a review you don't like......
I would agree, if there were more reviews. It's a low volume product, with only 1 review.
1 poorly written review on a $5400 product does not show anything about "censorship" to the buyers. It highlights that they don't sell very many, and the only guy who got one is both unsatisfied and dumb as dirt.
And ALL business communication is "censored", at least the way the word is being used here. The fact that the posts are reviewed at all is a form of "censorship"
It's not unethical to not show irrelevant dumb comments.
I agree with SVreX. He gave a bad star rating but states it isn't your part that failed it was his knowledge that failed him. On the other had if you need some positive reviews of that part let me know 
Oh and make people log in to review. Most people don't bother because they don't have too and it will weed out any people who bought things second hand or can't be bothered to call customer service before bitching about it online. It will also make it much easier to follow up with the unhappy customers.
In reply to SVreX:
Yes, yes, yes, and yes! Personally, I despise reviews that tell me nothing useful about a product. I don't care if review is good, bad, both, or neither, I just want it to give me something real I can add to my decision process.
Nick (Bo) Comstock wrote:DrBoost wrote: If I were you, I'd also ask a random (or not so random) guy from Fenton Michigan if he would like to test out one of your completed cars for a few years to see how well they hold up. Just an idea....You spelled Temple TX wrong...
I thought he meant Orlando florida.
Not to be a complete pessimist but is there any chance that someone is selling knockoff products with your name and you don't know about it. If its not in your system then something is amiss.
Personally if im reading reviews i only pay attention too them if they provide detailed information on why its a good or bad product so i would ignore that one. if he could pin point an issue with your system and explain why it happened id pay a bit more attention. Im always worried about companys that have nothing but positive reviews though. i work with people and theres no way you can make everyone happy so atleast a few complaints or bad reviews should surface from time to time.
I'm in agreeance with SVreX here.
It's not a review, plain and simple. It's a comment. There's no information and nothing of value.
If you do actually post your bad reviews, thats fine, but this isn't a review.
Wal-Mart once asked me about a review being too positive. Back in the 90s there was an English firm making turbo Miatas that was frequently profiled in CCC. Might even have had a tie in. Well a customer had complained about the rear end stepping out in the rain on roundabouts to which the company owner chastised him about not having a "modicum of anticipation....". Pretty funny stuff.
Maybe it's because that turbo setup is on my lottery wish list, but for something that expensive, I can't picture someone just googling "turbo miata" and buying the kit right away.
What I'm getting at is that by the time someone found their way to that part of the site, they would know about FM and the work that comes out of the shop, and know that comment is just a comment, if it was posted.
It's a bit annoying, looking at it from your side, that you couldn't post the comment without the star review, but I really wonder why someone(as a consumer) would take reviews from the shop site versus the hundreds of real world reviews available on the vast miata forum network.
Maybe this guy just didn't realize you(keith), and I think I've seen Bill on forums as well, are actually interacting with customers through the magic of the interwebs and was just relaying a short story.
This is reminding me I should go post reviews about the things I bought.
...and if he leaves it out, the person doing their research on FM turbo kits won't know that there was a comment that wasn't posted from an unverified owner that provided no additional information that could help him make an informed purchasing decision. Unless he sees this thread, in which case he'll know the full context about the comment, why it wasn't posted, and what was done before making the decision not to post.
In reply to Beer Baron:
No offense, but who cares?
You should feel really happy that you have that kind of control over your reviews.
I get all sorts of reviews posted to Yelp etc and I can't do anything about them. I can't even properly respond due to Federal Privacy laws.
So people can post the most outlandish, completely wrong, inflammatory things about me and my business and I have to sit there and take it.
Maybe I'm missing something here jumping in late but can it be proved that the review actually came from a customer?
Most of my orders from internet sellers anymore are followed up w/ an email request for rating/ reviews from a weeks time to a month later. Amazon orders are a good example. Even w/ phone orders they've asked for my email that they later followed up. In all cases there is a trail that I had actually purchased the item(s).
American Muscle has a good customer review section w/ their parts that helped w/ decision making on some purchases, probably better than chasing around the internet from other, maybe unknown sources. I've learned to trust the reviews.
If it were my sales site I would only post reviews from verifiable purchasers, good or bad.
SVreX wrote: In reply to Beer Baron: No offense, but who cares?
None taken. That was kind of my point. Does anyone care if they don't get to read something that contains no useful information?
In reply to Beer Baron:
Oh!- Got it. Guess I missed the point.
I agree with you.
Were I in your shoes I'd probably toss a web banner on the site that only shows after the customer logs in that offers free shipping or some FM swag to customers who leave reviews. Get those numbers up.
I'd say hold until verified. If you are able to verify he didn't buy it second hand and can get more information as to the circumstances then post it with a note of the additional information. At this point it isn't what I would quantify as a "review" as much as a rambling with out much substance
I say post it (but not for moral reasons) along with a note that you don't have record of selling one to asmil, but if he would contact the shop you would be happy to help get his car going again.
Business wise, it's a huge opportunity to start a conversation with someone who probably wasn't your customer to begin with, and maybe make a new sale. Also, it is a very public place to show how helpful and caring the folks at FM are. Exactly the kind of message you want to send to potential $5k kit purchasers.
https://www.amazon.com/Thank-You-Economy-Gary-Vaynerchuk/dp/0061914185
I couldn't remember the book title last night, but this book explains in detail the business case for posting that review.
Given your situation and efforts, I would not post it to the review section. I might however use it as an opportunity to demonstrate customer service, explains that you are unable to verify the purchase, do not have contact information, and write an open letter via blog post asking Asmil to contact you. In the open letter post their entire review and comments verbatim.
The result: Unless I can verify that this is a legitimate review, I'm not going to publish it. If it contained any useful info, I'd do something different. But it's anonymous, unverified and contains nothing worthwhile.
If I can identify it as legit, I'll get more information and publish the review with that.
I'll continue to publish any bad reviews that come in, and continue to read every single one so I get the feedback our customers are providing.
Thanks for all the input, guys. Interesting discussion.
You know, someone with mad tyte Google skills, doing research on Flyin' Miata before making a purchase, may run across this thread (though likely they will not). I think they way you've presented and handled this discussion here speaks highly of your integrity as a company.
My opinion, of course, but I am impressed with what I've seen just following along.
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