Reviews are like art, they are subjective. If you depend on reviews to help you decide where to stay, where to vacation, which business to use or product to buy, you may be lending yourself to feelings and emotional opinions of others. I personally don’t place much value in reviews. Think about it. You go somewhere and get a mediocre lunch; you’re disappointed but decide you’ll give the restaurant another try before writing them off completely. However, the next stop on your list of errands finds you in line, 10 people back, in an understaffed business. You stand there becoming more and more upset at the time it costing you and now you have time to think about the “not so good” lunch you just paid for. By the time you get out of the line, you find yourself extremely upset not only by the excessive wait in line, but by the awful lunch you just had. Now you decide to write a review about the restaurant and your lunch. You say the meal was horrible and that you may not ever return. Your frustration from the long wait in line colored your remembrance of what the lunch was like. Frustration influenced your review.

Let’s look at another reason reviews are tainted. I may stay in a hotel that is clean and smells fresh, but is small and doesn’t have a double sink in the bathroom. I write a review stating the cleanliness and clean linens. Someone else, however, might be completely oblivious to the cleanliness of the room because there was only one sink. To them, that was a deal breaker, to me, it might have been a slight inconvenience, but it wasn’t a deal breaker. Are you following me now? We all know those people who are never satisfied, think how their reviews will always read.

Remember, many reviews are influenced strongly by “feelings” not reality. Also remember that there are those that are never satisfied! Do not let reviews rule where you go, what you do or who does work for you. Word of mouth, suggestions of friends, actually experiencing and then reviews are the best decision making ways to make an informed decision!