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Mosca

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Our dishwasher broke. Oh well, it happens. 5 years ago I bought the cheapest one, installed it myself, and it lasted 5 years. I've fixed it maybe a dozen times, and this time the pump failed, and that's enough.

So I went across the street from work to Lowes, and the appliance guy showed me that there was a deal on the Frigidaire FGHD2433; $549 retail, down to $379, plus a rebate, plus 5% off with my Lowes card. WOW. So, I signed up, and scheduled delivery and installation (I won't do it myself again, that was one PITA). And when I got home, I showed Mrs Mosca the picture of our new dishwasher, and then... I read the reviews.

Scroll down to the reviews...

Oh, my! 24 reviews, with one 5-star, one 3-star, two 2-star, and TWENTY 1-star! And comments like, "I've never written a product review EVER, but I'm writing one to warn people away from this piece of junk!" And the comments span a period of a couple years, so it's not like there was a bad sub-run on the assembly line.

This morning I went back to Lowes and picked out a different dishwasher; more expensive, but I've found that often the relationship between price and quality is very direct. Not always, but often. And I did have the foresight to check each model for satisfaction. I picked out a Maytag that owners seem satisfied with.

What would we do 15 years ago? This is when the hive-mind works best!
 

Passepartout

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I usually end up reading those reviews the week after the _____ has been installed. Where is that dope-slap smilie when you need it?

Jim
 

pjrose

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Similar experience here; we needed a new chain-saw, not a biggie, just for fallen limbs, but didn't want a cheapo junker either. Looked at Lowe's and picked out a probable, read the reviews online, which were poor, poor, poor.


Did some more checking online, found a less expensive one that got great reviews - we never would have considered it b/c it was so inexpensive. The only negative comments were that it was kind of hard to put together. When we got it it was already assembled, and it worked just great for our needs!
 

Patri

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I also like and use reviews, but someone in the marketing industry said to take them lightly. Employees of companies submit entries praising their own products, so quite possibly dish on competitors. If reviews are anonymous (ie no registration required on the site, anyone can say anything). The few times I ever post, though, I am honest.
 

Talent312

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I assume both 5* and 1* reviews are from ringers or wackos.
I focus more on middle of the road reviews to see what concerns peep w/o an axe to grind.

However, I will also consider the overall score what the general sentiment is.
 

artringwald

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DRI: The Point at Poipu, 3 deeded weeks, 1 of which is in The Club.

carl2591

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have to agree with consumer reports.. I have been a subscriber for 20+ years.. in appliances you see very quickly it the Whirlpools and Kenmore that lead the pack year after year in quality especially reefers, dishwashers & washer/dryers.

the more expensive models like Bosch, fisher paschal and other rate lower and cost more..

GE is the king of stoves, along with hotpoint.

consumer reports sent me a special deal of 12 buck for a year of online..

if you are looking for something let me know i will look it up.. within reason..
 

Mosca

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I trust my own judgment on things, but in this case the numbers and vehemence are really overwhelming. Check the link, it is truly impressive.

When I check reviews, I almost always read the worst ones first, then go back and think about what I'm looking at, and how I will use it and if it's something that I usually like. Then I read the positive reviews.

For example, Unbroken. Or as I'd put it, "Louis Zamperini gets Seabiscuited." I usually like this sort of book, and I really loved Seabiscuit. But I'd just recently read Tears in the Darkness, so Unbroken had a tough climb.

Most negative reviews of Unbroken focus on the style, calling it simplistic. And I'd agree. I still recommend the book, but the negative reviews are spot on. The style didn't ruin the book for me. So I took what I knew (that I usually read that kind of stuff, and I loved Seabiscuit) and figured that the negatives wouldn't bother me. And I was right. Good book. Maybe I didn't enjoy it as much as many others did, but the bad reviews didn't keep me away from it. (And check out Tears in the Darkness, it's pretty awesome; better than Unbroken.)
 
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