We all like to deal with businesses that receive positive feedback from other customers. Whether choosing a restaurant, hotel, or a renovation company we now resort to the Internet to find companies that is “customer approved”. But as you’re looking at reviews for local window companies consider one question: are these reviews real?
In the last few years websites that provide a platform for people to post reviews such as Yelp, Homestars, Google Plus etc. became very popular. In order to figure out whether reviews are legitimate, we need to look at each website individually and analyze their policies to determine whether or not the reviews are trustworthy.
Homestars.com which initially was created to rate contractors is the most dominant review site in the window replacement industry. It is very easy to post a review on Homestars as all you need is an e-mail address. You can review any existing company or easily add a page for companies that aren’t on Homestars yet. As there is a certain algorithm the website uses to track the IP address of the review location, fake reviews from outside the window company’s service area are automatically removed. However, if you are a business owner looking to pad their stats and you have lots of friends with e-mail addresses, you can certainly ask them to post positive reviews from their home, and if their IP address is valid, most likely it will be posted on the site.
For negative reviews, Homestars implemented a review verification program which allows companies to verify the source of negative reviews. Therefore, if there is a fake negative review from a competing company, most likely Homestars will remove it.
Google+ or Yelp, on the other hand, will not deal with any review verification.
They have an automated algorithm, so any competitor company can add negative reviews and most likely it will show on the site without any verification.
To make things even more confusing, in the world of internet some people generate extra income by opening accounts on review websites and offer to sell their positive reviews to businesses for 5 to 20 dollars per review.
Of course not all reviews are fake; many times customers share their real experiences. Some businesses make a lot of efforts to get genuine reviews from real customers by offering gift cards or monetary incentives.
The world of online reviews in the replacement window industry is far from being unbiased. That’s why the imperative lies on the customer to do their homework required in order to find a superior windows company.
At Ecoline Windows, we understand the importance of online reviews for window companies. We’ve had our fair share of both real and fake negative reviews. Ultimately however, it made us more attentive to the customer service side of business, and ensuring all our clients are satisfied with their replacement, regardless whether they choose to write an online review or not. As you begin to do research into your window replacement companies, you’ll notice in their reviews that most customers aren’t upset about the quality of the product or installation. Most homeowners are dissatisfied when they need post-installation service and the original company is impossible to get a hold of. That’s why we have created a designated service department to take care of your problem quickly and efficiently.
Check out:
Ecoline Windows Reviews: Calgary Window Companies
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