au.trustpilot.com Is Now Being Piloted by Untrustworthy Bots?

GrumpyGandalf on 24/07/2025 - 04:45
Last edited 24/07/2025 - 12:32 by 3 other users

What is going on with trustpilot?

I feel like I'm having a brain aneurism. Wasn't the site almost entirely about keeping scammers in check and effectively high ratings were almost always reflective of you'll get what you pay for in a reasonable time? I was using it to check a niche store out from Vietnam and I came across ratings of stores like Amazon and Etsy to find reviews that almost reject reality. Amazon is a monolithic and problematic company sure, but for the most part it is still one of the safest ways to purchase online products, no? You get what you pay for fast. There's phone support, there are now hordes of untrustworthy 3rd party sellers but for the most part genuine products are consolidated by Amazon warehouses. The almost 1 star rating doesn't even make any sense.

And what's with the OzBargain rating on there too. People are complaining about how this is a far right community and they don't serve vendors well? This site isn't even supposed to pander to vendors in the first place. And I know people from OzBargain in real life and all of them are extremely left leaning. The (profanity) state of reality am I dealing with right now? It's a really weird problem to have where the site that uses a democratic voting system to effectively legitimise trading vendors that seems to be itself infiltrated by a stream of illogical (profanity). Like are these real people? It would make sense for a company to ill-legitimise a forum like ours by astro-turfing but then you have thousands of reviews of a huge marketplace like Amazon all reflecting the exact same sentiments. It's hivemind like and really pathetic. You can't argue that only upset people leave reviews because historically I have always found to agree with the average reviews left at establishments I purchase from.

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Comments

  • JIMB0 on 24/07/2025 - 04:53
    +4

    Funny thing is, most of those 1-star reviews seem to be less about the site itself and more about how the Enter key doesn’t work on OzBargain.

    • GrumpyGandalf on 24/07/2025 - 05:03

      Which ones might those be?

      • JIMB0 on 24/07/2025 - 08:29
        +1

        The ones that are just one long paragraph. On second thought I think the problem may be on their end.

        • GrumpyGandalf on 24/07/2025 - 08:32

          Yikes you may be right. Could be a programming error.

  • GrumpyGandalf on 24/07/2025 - 05:00

    And take reviews on a site like Etsy where vendors and sellers alike complain about poor management practices. Etsy is rated 1.4 from 17k reviews. Then you have shein rated at 4.1 from 300k reviews. Now I can tell you I have been recently scammed on Etsy but in the past I have bought beautiful handcrafted products and had the best consumer experiences ever, period. And every purchase I've had from Shein has been disappointing and shameful. I get polyester ill fitting clothing that goes directly in the bin and I regret that I helped support the abuse of sweat shop workers and justifying the post war decisions the US made to set the world stage by forcing its dollar as the official reserve currency. I love perpetuating the abuse of the marginalised (majority working class)! So when all these politically charged reviews of sites like Etsy pop up I wonder who is behind these opinions because they seem to be bottom scraping trash incapable of assessing real world experiences.

  • Jolakot on 24/07/2025 - 05:13

    If you get scammed on Shein or Temu, then you blame yourself. If you get scammed on Etsy or Amazon, then you blame the platform. Most people won't leave a bad review, if in their heart they knew it was too good to be true.

    Most good reviews are incidental, who goes out of their way to leave a good review for a site like ozbargain? Most bad reviews are intentional, so 90% of the time it will be negative. Same on sites like Glass door.

    • GrumpyGandalf on 24/07/2025 - 05:27
      -7

      That first sentence assumes you have experience and makes too many assumptions. Take an empathetic approach and you should leave a review with the mindset of "assume the customer searching this site hasn't bought from them before". That was the point of the trustpilot site.

      I think your logic is inherently flawed and a little robotic. This whole perspective about customers only leaving bad reviews for bad experiences is also just an assumption. If you want to really look at it in a purely logical way you also would take into account the possibility of negative experiences existing vs customers responding to post purchase review correspondence or "the small chance the customer is very satisfied" or "the customer feels personally obligated to leave feedback for others". Even mathematically it doesn't make sense to see these ratings. I have been scammed on temu with postage scams, and around half of the time I receive the product it is not what I expected. I agree I now don't actually leave a review personally because I am an experienced buyer and take that accountability on myself. But only after many purchases and initially I have left negative reviews on temu, and told friends how crap my experiences have been. But I did go out of my way to leave positive review on etsy and for buyers, even though I barely make purchases through Etsy. This is anecdotal sure, but it seems mathematically impossible to see such skewed reviews.

      As I said, USUALLY I see aggregated reviews of a business and almost always agree to some level. But I am looking at ratings that are so far out of my boundaries of expectations which infer I am experiencing something so far from what the average consumer is experiencing. I mean come on, we leave 5 star ratings on uber even though we don't need to, right? I am looking at a bunch of stats that don't reflect reality. They don't reflect historical trends, don't reflect existing trends, don't take into account how many positive reviews are left due to marketing or 'goodwill'. They seem to only reflect this sentiment that "only bad reviews are intentional". That doesn't make sense man, (profanity) that. I am looking at a bunch of reviews that are politically charged and aren't even slightly reflective of reality.

    • GrumpyGandalf on 24/07/2025 - 05:38
      -5

      If we really take your perspective at face value the truth is most uber drivers would be out of business. I've had heaps of average or poor experiences. I know if I leave a 1 star I don't have to deal with that driver again. If we all did this and ignored leaving 5 stars you would see every uber driver with ratings of 3-4. So why do you think your logic makes sense online and is suddenly different in an app? Sure you had a personal interaction, but you still virtually get to rate the driver after they are gone. You can do whatever you like. I am literally watching the logic of reality collapse.

      The reason I leave 5 stars is because I am empathetic and would rather people be able to work even if I don't like them. That extends to online. I do not go out of my way to leave negative reviews of businesses that aren't great. Scorptec is horrible with my shipping times even though I purchase from them on a monthly basis. So why am I looking at evidence for empathy on uber and completely different shit online? If you use your logic you have what you call a logical contradiction. And arguing that trustpilot draws in a particular audience doesn't make any more sense. It really looks like it has to be botted. That is the only sensible assessment from where I stand.

    • GrumpyGandalf on 24/07/2025 - 05:50
      -4

      And by the way, usually you would expect to see positive reviews of a site like ozbargain. It's a community. Just like you see google reviews of your local pub all circlejerked by the locals who know it really serves slop and overprices beers. We are an online community who goes out of their way to search hundreds of sites for deals. I would expect to see a bunch of 5 star reviews about how ozbargain helped them filled 3 draws of eneloop batteries. I'm looking at brainrotted comments mirroring some pathetic entity that literally describes the inverse of reality. How can this not bother you? The reviews are literally saying the opposite of what the community is about?

      • Jolakot on 24/07/2025 - 08:43

        You are prompted to rate your uber driver after each ride, it's an obnoxious pop-up every time you open the app as it completely blocks the page until you dismiss or rate.

        Very few companies even remind you to rate them after purchase, let alone a site like ozbargain.

        People aren't pre-determined to leave a review, good or bad, after using a service depending on their experience. Most won't review for a good or average experience because who has the time, if you're not basically forced to leave a review like on Uber.

        This is scientifically backed, it's called positive-negative asymmetry or the negativity bias: https://www.verywellmind.com/negative-bias-4589618

        • GrumpyGandalf on 24/07/2025 - 08:56

          Your explanations are sort of contradictions of your own points. You reiterated your own points but did not address any of mine. I know uber forces users to rate. My point is 99% of users employ empathy.

          This may seem like a difficult logical conclusion to make but it is already pretty clear most people show empathy. Therefore can we not assume there is a likelihood some users will leave a rating for other people (it's called empathy). I mean that is exactly what trustpilot was for. It was for the people who care about informing the customer of trustworthiness. They accomplish nothing by leaving a negative rating of a service that works well. They are not really affecting the existing customer base by leaving their rating on trustpilot. They are not airing their pittances out to anyone but the user who hasn't already dealt with the company. It just seems like bot behaviour. Their intentions don't make sense.

          It's also just bullshit. Amazon did not have a low rating 5 years ago, and Amazon is still pretty much as reliable as it always has been. It's nonsensical.

          My overarching point takes into account all you said. I am saying there are companies that ask for reviews (I have been asked to review on trustpilot from companies many times). I have left reviews. Yes I would be a minority, but when you measure that up against poor service experiences it is far more likely people like me will outnumber the people with bad experiences if the company is performing at a minimum standard. It is not logical for Amazon to have a less than 2 star rating. It is absurd, it is stupid.

          • Jolakot on 24/07/2025 - 12:18

            @GrumpyGandalf: No way do 99% of people show empathy, you must have never worked a customer facing retail or food service job

            Amazon is much worse than it used to be, I recently bought an item from an Australian store sold through Amazon, asked for an invoice and the invoice has some BS Chinese company name on it, which isn't accepted by private health for rebate.

            Their quality control sucks too, myself and several people I know have gotten 'new' items that have clearly been opened, used and returned. Including someone who bought a robot vacuum from recent prime sales that had a waste compartment full of dust and hair, sold as new. I'd leave a 1 star review for that.

            Most people leave negative reviews because they want to have a whinge and feel better about a situation, justified or not. They out number the people who want to leave accurate reviews to help future customers 10:1. The only reviews worth looking at are the 2, 3 and 4 star reviews because of that.

            People are willing to suffer in exchange for some benefit, they'll go to a dodgy petrol station for a discount, or buy cheap crap from temu. Nobody other than a machochist wants to pay a premium for suffering, that's usually where the more genuine negative reviews come from.

            • GrumpyGandalf on 24/07/2025 - 12:25

              @Jolakot: Nothing you are saying is lining up with what we see on the site.

              • Jolakot on 24/07/2025 - 12:41

                @GrumpyGandalf: And yet, that is what we see in the world.

                • GrumpyGandalf on 24/07/2025 - 13:18

                  @Jolakot: What we see in the world reflects a little of what you said but it looks more like an average google page when it comes to reviews. You usually expect a 4 star rating on a product or service that is good. Your entire argument (besides the Amazon perspective, and the ridiculous idea that you should ignore 100% reviews - I tend to mostly review items 5 stars when I am particularly pleased so you should take those seriously) is common sense and is part of my internal monologue too when thinking about this. Every item I order off Amazon (literally 100s, a very high number of these have been ordered over the past year) have been received in a timely manner and I have been satisfied for each and every purchase partly because I rely on the product ratings from other customers. Which shows whatever logic you wish to apply that reviews have value. Now if I were a new customer like some older person and I used trustpilot I would assume I was about to be scammed and assume I can't buy from this Amazon site because it has a fkn rating less than 2/5. IT MAKES NO SENSE. HELLO?

                • GrumpyGandalf on 24/07/2025 - 13:25

                  @Jolakot: I mean seriously why tell me what we see in the world when the WHOLE point of my confusion around this trustpilot situation is that it does NOT reflect what we see in the real world. I am asking why it does not follow most other review trends exisiting over the entire market.

                  It genuinely comes across as a bunch of trolls. And they all have the same way of expressing themselves. Like the reviews read like it's all the same guy. So I wonder if it really is botted by bitter losers.

        • GrumpyGandalf on 24/07/2025 - 09:09

          Bro your scientifically backed bias has been existing for decades. We all know. I am accounting for it. It doesn't change the fact we know what to expect in the real world. Google reviews better reflect reality. Trustpilot reviews apparently now don't seem to. Point made.

          In the end you can have negative thoughts you are attached to but often it is because there was a positive message you can gather from those thoughts. If you do enough self work I'm pretty sure anyone can eventually figure that out. Some of us like to be abused. Some of us like to use. It's simple as that. We like to suffer. But if we didn't like suffering would we continue suffering?

  • holdenmg on 24/07/2025 - 06:36
    +1

    First of all, OP's Name checks out.

    Second, leave a review of au.trustpilot.com on au.trustpilot.com

    Third, there is no third…

    • Shoocat on 24/07/2025 - 07:32
      +2

      Third is TLDR…

  • GrumpyGandalf on 24/07/2025 - 07:49
    -1

    If you're cool ignoring the state of things I fear for your kids. I am right about this. The website represents trust in fellow humans and it is currently unreliable and full of bullshit. You're wasting your time mocking me it does nothing for you and I have no meaningful reaction for you. This is problematic and I'm not just grumpy about it, I'm disappointed. You should disown your humanity and join the hivemind graveyard that will be your future.

  • GrumpyGandalf on 24/07/2025 - 07:51

    This is a message to people that still care about other people. Full stop.

  • pegaxs on 24/07/2025 - 07:59
    +1

    Yeah, I’d leave a bad review as well if the tin foil hat I purchased was far too tight.

    And again, another great example of why we need to be able to neg vote forum posts.

    • GrumpyGandalf on 24/07/2025 - 08:00
      -1

      Try harder you aren't getting a legitimate response. At least revert back to an older version of you that would engage in a meaningful conversation. Controversial forums are fun for that purpose

      • DashCam AKA Rolts on 24/07/2025 - 08:10
        +2

        Controversial forums are fun for that purpose

        Agreed, but this post is a TL:DR case.

    • GrumpyGandalf on 24/07/2025 - 08:02
      -2

      The tin foil hat people have become the people that buy into systems of oppression and condemnation of individual opinion. Might as well be made of metal entirely. Forget the aluminium on your head.

      I notice I didn't get a response but I just want to iterate and explain the joke because that's at least amusing to me even if it isn't for you. I'm calling you a robot mate. You come across as a brainless zombie being controlled by the powers that be. You should look into some aluminium deals when woolies decides to put on one of its legendary 1/2 price deals.

      Even if it doesn't help it'll suit you really nicely king.

      • pegaxs on 24/07/2025 - 09:29
        +1

        Lol, wut?

        • GrumpyGandalf on 24/07/2025 - 09:42

          Disappointing response friend. Now I feel like I'm just bullying you

  • GrumpyGandalf on 24/07/2025 - 08:08
    -1

    Not a single well formed opinion to be found

  • GrumpyGandalf on 24/07/2025 - 08:36
    -1

    Please keep the hate coming I am loving this. None of you know how to bully correctly you just do it like children and it's so funny. Especially considering I'm just raising a good point which should incite a bit of thought. I did not assume I would be humiliating people but lucky for yall I'm into that.

  • GrumpyGandalf on 24/07/2025 - 08:40
    -1

    I think maybe the people over on trustpilot could be right about us guys

  • Protractor on 24/07/2025 - 10:13
    +2

    I'm sorry but you must be living under a rock if you haven't noticed the impacts of social media on the once (relatively) balanced human mind.(Albeit the greed factor has equally changed the west for the worst in the last 40-50 years) So it's a cumulatitive CF.
    You are in for an even bigger disappointment when the current situation gets blended with the impacts of AI. I'm serious here, if you can't second guess the existing putrid behaviour now, I suggest you pull the pin on the web ASAP.

    • GrumpyGandalf on 24/07/2025 - 10:18
      -1

      I don't believe it happens. History always points in a different direction. I'm a guy with an IT background who worked with peers who had reasonable ideas about the evolution of tech and integration with society. My frustration comes from observing trends which are antithetical to human progression. I am concerned where they even came from since none of my peers seemed happy to ignore human rights. My professors and the tech world at large wasn't doing any of this shit. We thought about privacy before developing. We thought about social issues and support for the disabled. I turned my head for one second and it all got inverted, properly like stepping into the upside down.

      I believe humans stomp this AI shit out. Already see the youth and artists bring vehemently opposed to it. Either it retreats into the void or it kills itself when it realises it dies when its host is entirely absorbed.

      • Protractor on 24/07/2025 - 10:24

        Your background makes you a part of the problem then. Aiding and abetting if you will. If the downfall of the human race and humanity, is in your mind linked to a review site, that represents .00000000000000000000000000000000000000001% of people ,what can I say? What's going on globally as a result of the hostage taking of an entire species mindset, and how it has manifested in the downfall of democracy, and the abandonment of the rule of law, and the enabling of state murder and genocide peaks my curiosity and therefore prompts my outbursts a tad more these days. But tilt away at that windmill young man / person. Trustpilot needs a clean-out.

        • GrumpyGandalf on 24/07/2025 - 10:30

          My point is when I was part of the IT world none of this behaviour existed. I gave up my dreams of entrepreneurship when it comes to app development. I just do woodwork and make computers now.

          My point with this post was more like hey everyone can you see what's going on here. Does this make any sense at all? Because I used to be able to interact with a website knowing what it represented. As a concept the entire environment of the website in my opinion is now defacto. But who are the people continuing to use this broken system? And what happened to normal people? Because 5 years doesn't justify any of it.

          • Protractor on 24/07/2025 - 10:36

            @GrumpyGandalf: On the contrary. I'd say 5 years is about right. The universal mind mush thing is like a snowball and it's directly linked to the rise of greed under the tech bros model. It helps when the planet is overflowing with human hoards too busy to notice, or to desperate to care.There is so much power and influence in the hands of so few people now, that we are all just inconsequential conduits to whatever dead planet epoch lay ahead.
            Stick with the woodwork and plant more trees.

            • tenpercent on 24/07/2025 - 10:45
              -1

              @Protractor:

              there is so much power and influence in the hands of so few people now, that we are all just inconsequential conduits to whatever dead planet epoch lay ahead.

              Which conspiracy theory is this?

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