# Do you read reviews first?



## SwitchBlade (Aug 30, 2014)

When shopping for a new vps if you are going with a new company, do you read reviews first? I see companies with many bad reviews and not many good and it makes me wonder if people even read reviews or not. Also if you see many bad reviews do you still sign up if the offer is tempting or no?


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## drmike (Aug 30, 2014)

Well, I read reviews for everything first.... Nearly everything - consumer goods, services, utility companies, everything.


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## DomainBop (Aug 30, 2014)

> Also if you see many bad reviews do you still sign up if the offer is tempting or no?


If there is a clear pattern of bad reviews with similar complaints (downtime, bad support, etc)  the offer isn't tempting to me.

If the site's TOS and privacy policy look like they were written by a 12 year old the offer isn't tempting to me.

If the business doesn't have public WHOIS information the offer isn't tempting to me.

If the business isn't a registered company the offer isn't tempting to me.

If the provider doesn't own their own equipment and IP space the offer isn't tempting to me.

I could go on but the tl;dr is I like to be 100% sure that my company's data will be in safe hands before I use any provider.

If you're asking does the average online shopper read reviews (or terms of service) before jumping on that "amazing" offer, then the answer is NO they don't.


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## GIANT_CRAB (Aug 30, 2014)

i dont read reviews, if the service is $1/year for 100GB RAM, i will just buy it and then cry on the forums after getting scammed and shits.


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## RobertM (Aug 30, 2014)

I tend to always read reviews and the corporations pages, including about me, terms of service etc.  If you can't convince me that you're worth trying, then I'm not going to waste my time.

Sometimes, very rarely, I will go with a new promising upcoming company and test their services out.  It's a hit and miss kinda thing, generally, I go for more known companies with feedback.


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## wlanboy (Aug 31, 2014)

I don't buy anything blindly.


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## MannDude (Aug 31, 2014)

I read reviews for _everything_. Amazon has greatly replaced my need for getting some general items locally, so i'm usually sorting products by 4+ star reviews or higher and reading those before making any sort of purchase.

As far as VPSes go, I do also read reviews. I'm not as much tempted by a good price as others. If it seems like obvious mass overselling and if the price is _too low_, I won't even consider it unless from someone that has already proven themselves to be reputable. I think most vpsBoard members are pretty smart and likley do the same as well, being less tempted by a 'good offer' from a poorly reviewed company than others, which is a good thing.

I'll admit that I don't dig as deep as some others. I just read for reviews, check the domain WhoIS and that is about it. I don't read the TOS in full as most servers I use is for just general web-stuff (LAMP/LNMP stacks, dev work, VPN, etc) and would not be anything that would be prohibited by any normal TOS.


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## Dylan (Aug 31, 2014)

Hell yes.


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## MannDude (Aug 31, 2014)

It's still comical to me to see all these CVPS/GVH/123Sys/Whateverlowendbrand get a new bad review each or every other day on places like LET. Horrible comments peppered with one or two good ones on their LEB offers and people _still_ say, "Hmm, well, it's only $20 a year. Maybe my luck will be better."

Yes, maybe your luck will be better. I'm sure they actually have lots of customers with acceptable service for their needs. Either way, if you just want to spend money for the sake of spending money at least put it towards something good like a charity. I'm not a gambling man so I don't like to risk my hard money like that.

/rant

But yes, read reviews. Always read reviews. If the good ones outweigh the bad, go for it. Probably a wise choice. If the bad greatly outnumber the good? Run like hell. If it's 50/50. You decide if you want to take a chance or not.


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## msp - nick (Aug 31, 2014)

Every single time, never want to throw money at a wall..

Reviews help everyone to see what the provider is actually like.


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## SwitchBlade (Aug 31, 2014)

Thanks everyone. I read them to, I guess other people do not or do not care about reviews if they think a deal is good.


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## switsys (Aug 31, 2014)

SwitchBlade said:


> When shopping for a new vps if you are going with a new company, do you read reviews first? I see companies with many bad reviews and not many good and it makes me wonder if people even read reviews or not. Also if you see many bad reviews do you still sign up if the offer is tempting or no?


Of course!


I also look for reviews on everything.


When it comes to hosts with mostly bad reviews, I generally stay away from them.


However, regarding a few, I've come to the conclusion that their bad reviews are unfair, created by customers with unrealistic expectations.


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## RLT (Aug 31, 2014)

Problem with reviews is that you have to go through and weed out the chaff. So many shill or just want to hurt the company reviews you feel like you can't trust any of them after a while.


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## drmike (Aug 31, 2014)

MannDude said:


> It's still comical to me to see all these CVPS/GVH/123Sys/Whateverlowendbrand get a new bad review each or every other day on places like LET. Horrible comments peppered with one or two good ones on their LEB offers and people _still_ say, "Hmm, well, it's only $20 a year. Maybe my luck will be better."
> 
> Yes, maybe your luck will be better. I'm sure they actually have lots of customers with acceptable service for their needs.


_"A fool and his money are soon parted."_

That said,   I want to see people try these LE* ShitCO Incs. and I want to see folks posting ad naseum about the horrible services.   If the provider delivers something stellar for $12 or $20 a year, yeah I'd like to hear about that too, in all fairness.

I am baffled though why folks at this point would even throw a stolen dime at ChicagoVPS, 123Systems and their often affiliated shit co's.  Either those buyers are NOT reading/researching pre-purchase or they have money to burn [and do not care about their personal account details].  No sane person should be picking the TWO TIME, TWO TIME, TWO TIME, hacked and database dumped with all customer info, $7 2GB originator of market destruction, original shell company company to try scamming LEB with BuffaloVPS company, and who collaborated with his best buddy to covertly to successfully steal Lowendbox and Lowendtalk.  Oh yeah and let us not forget, that same Chris Fabozzi who committed mass fraud operating UGVPS in the name of a woman he had no relationship with and lying to customers all that time. [There are masses of lies from ChicagoVPS... long list].

When I read reviews of VPS and hosting companies, I look for:

1. A company representative replying to customers.

2. What is the tone and nature of the company representative?

3. Is the mad customer made whole and situation resolved?

4. Does the rep go taco loco on customers and the public?  Perhaps insult people, laugh at customers, tell customers unaccptable things?

5. Are there tickets posted in public?  Do the responses by the company support answer things sufficiently or does it read like a flat rate, all you can eat, rotten in the hot sun, curry-go-round outsourcer?

6. Do the people involved repping the company actually exist.  Do they have community profiles, social posts, relative interests outside of their company?

7. Do I believe the customer had a legit inquiry that should have been handled?

There are some other things that I apply when reading along, depending on the thread/conversation/situation.


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## zed (Sep 1, 2014)

After dealing with Blu?VM, I learned to take VPS reviews seriously.


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## iClickAndHost (Sep 2, 2014)

Problem with reviews is that more often you will find negative reviews, rather than positive ones. 

Happy customers will say they are happy if asked, but only a few would go to a review site or something and post a positive review. 

Looking at my desk i am surrounded by stuff that is well built and works great - but i haven't went online and posted a review to neither of them. But for comparsion i bought an expensive guitar effect which never actually worked even after replacement and for a coffee maker that started leaking water after just a few weeks - i went online right away and gave a negative review.


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## 24/7/365 (Sep 2, 2014)

DomainBop said:


> If there is a clear pattern of bad reviews with similar complaints (downtime, bad support, etc)  the offer isn't tempting to me.
> 
> If the site's TOS and privacy policy look like they were written by a 12 year old the offer isn't tempting to me.
> 
> ...


Haha! We run a brand that is deliberately brutally honest but inexpensive - it reads brutally for those that are used to candy coated marketing but it works out quite well for us. Our first Google hit is a thread condemning us for the attitude of the site.

What this tells us is that people are primarily focused on cost. I say 'primarily' because we run another brand that happens to be very trustworthy so there's some trust by association there. To be fair, both brands are trustworthy but because one is so direct and honest, it does feel a touch 'scammy' (even though it's not at all).

I always read reviews but the way I do it is probably different to everyone else. I find a product that I'm interested in, which meets my criteria THEN I look for bad reviews. If the bad reviews aren't about things I care about or I feel they're being bitter and just posting trash about the product then I go ahead and order.

More often than not, a LACK of reviews is what makes me consider a different product. A negative review isn't necessarily going to put me off. Once you've taken into consideration some people don't understand a product and/or they're naturally biased (it's hard to find an unbiased reviewer either for or against) then most reviews (positive or negative) aren't really all that useful.

E.g. This £2000 camera is awful - it doesn't even come with a lens!

(Cameras bodies in this price range are targeted at professionals who already have expensive lenses - some more expensive than the body itself).

or

Can you help me setup my VPS because your version of CentOS doesn't have Apache installed so I can't find it. What do you mean you won't install it for me? I've paid my £1 you thieves! I'm going to file a PayPal dispute, get my lawyers on you and spend days on the Internet writing bad reviews on you!


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## TekStorm - Walter (Sep 4, 2014)

I read some reviews but I tend to talk to people and find what there experiences have been with the product that i am interested in, i trust people rather than reviews


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## 24/7/365 (Sep 5, 2014)

TekStorm said:


> I read some reviews but I tend to talk to people and find what there experiences have been with the product that i am interested in, i trust people rather than reviews


How do you weed out their biases though?


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## ssgsunny (Sep 26, 2014)

Yes i read reviews and check ratings before watching any movie.


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