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Home Depot Scamming People with Fake Reviews?

instigatorblog.com — Blogger notices some awfully fishy comments while shopping on Home Depot's website. Surely Home Depot wouldn't post fake reviews to drum up sales would they?

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Skitzzo 1 year 155 days ago, made popular 1 year 155 days ago

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byosko, on 10/12/2007, -3/+15Here are the 3 comments I found as product reviews on the Home Depot site that make it look like a scam:

Rug #1
“I was looking everywhere for a multi-coloured rug for a small budget–and saw this one online, went to home depot the next day to look at it and it is better in real life–love the fact that there is matching smaller rugs too.” - Sudbury gal, January 12, 2007

Rug #2
“My husband and I were searching for a new area rug, and we could not find anything we liked for a smaller budget. But then I found this rug online. I went to the Home Depot the next day to see it, and it was better than the picture! This rug is nice and dark, with lots of great patterns. We get compliments on it all the time! To find an area rug this size for this price is extremly hard, but we could not be happier with our purchase!” - Great rug, great price!, November 28, 2006 / By Small town gal from Saskatchewan

Rug #3
“My husband and I were searching for a new area rug, and we could not find anything we liked for a smaller budget. But then I found this rug online. I went to the Home Depot the next day to see it, and it was better than the picture! This rug is nice and dark, with lots of great patterns. We get compliments on it all the time! To find an area rug this size for this price is extremly hard, but we could not be happier with our purchase!” - Great Rug! Great Price!, January 5, 2007 / By Sally from Toronto
- RevChris, on 10/12/2007, -0/+61Thanks for the reviews , I have been looking for a new area rug on a small budget, I went online and found one. Im going to the home depot later to take a look .... I'll let you all know how it turns out... (although I bet you can guess)
- rm999, on 10/12/2007, -4/+15"Home Depot Scamming People with Fake Reviews?"
  
  The conclusion from the article - they don't know, and don't have a shred of proof pointing at a home depot employee. I love (hate?) how you can accuse someone of something by asking a question. Someone who doesn't read the article (and this is a large percentage of people, I suspect) may actually believe Home Depot is writing glowing reviews on their own website.
  
  The fact that these reviews only exist in a small subset of rug reviews leads me to believe this is not being done by home depot, but by some random person or someone at the rug company itself. I was looking at reviews of lights on home depot recently and did not find a similar pattern.
- Lord_oftheTrons, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9@RevChris
  
  Let me know if it looks better in person compared to the picture online.
- LogicBomB, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Maybe it's just me but I always assume that the ones they show are canned - I always delve pretty deep in reviews for any products I'm unsure about. 2-3 100% reviews usually means I look elsewhere. I like 30-50+ as a nice guage of actual opinion. Seeing horrible reviews don't bother me - everyone has problems with everyone.
  
  Even though I'm Canadian I LOVE newegg for their review system. I can't purchase a damn thing from their site but sorting by lowest ranked and most helpful says VOLUMES about a product. If the same problem keeps popping up you know there's an issue. If a few different errors pop up you can probably assume there are some duds or stupid people who don't know what they are doing. More often than not there is also "great product if used in the following way...." which is awesome.
  
  Use common sense - never buy from the first thing you read.
- gharding, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5@RevChris:
  
  Please let us know if there's a matching smaller one.
- jerwong, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1Newegg has a similar policy, except they tend to delete negative reviews. Kind of difficult to say which one is worse though.
- Cornloaf, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5Last week I was researching dishwashers. I found several inexpensive washers at Best Buy and Sears and read the reviews. Most of the reviews were 1 to 2 stars and the comments were very informative about how bad these washers were. I head over to Home Depot and find the exact washers but they have 4-5 stars and great reviews. Most of the reviews read like the rug reviews above. I'll stick to buying my sprinkler heads and vegetable plants from Home Depot.
- lcohiomatty86, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5@jerwong
  
  while newegg may delete bad reviews, what matters here is what the criteria is for deleting a review, if they are going through getting rid of flaimbait reviews, than thats totally acceptable, when i browse the site, i constantly see plenty of honest poor reviews for products, so products that actually are bad, do get their proper negative reviews.
- Wonderkind, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1@RevChris I'll let you all know how it turns out...
  
  I hear that a lot of people in Canada like them...
- cawpin, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2@logicbomb - Well, then I won't tell you that NewEgg is known to have deleted bad reviews of products. I love them too for there return/exchange practices. I just wouldn't trust their reviews 100%.
CraigB12, on 10/12/2007, -26/+7A couple of weeks ago I was looking for an area rug, but couldn't find one that fit my small budget. Luckily i saw this one, and went into the store... It looks even better in real life!
- Skitzzo, on 10/12/2007, -4/+9you should apply at Home Depot...
- timdorr, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Wonderful. Now we've got fake Digg comments, too.
phynodedotnet, on 10/12/2007, -6/+1The real news is that they didn't use Digg to spoof advertising interest. There seems to be a lot of that here.
- oakj423, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5perhaps this blog is fake, and they knew it would get to digg's front page. ?reverse psychology marketing?
Quijibow, on 10/12/2007, -4/+7Maybe it was the company that distributes the rugs...or something...
- Skitzzo, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Um... that would be Home Depot
- RexMaxus, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Nope, the rugs are made by three different companies.
samssf, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7"Surely Home Depot wouldn't post fake reviews to drum up sales would they?"

I guess when you suck and are desperate for sales, this is what you do. I hate home depot.
- FartyMcPooPants, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4"Home Depot Scamming People with Fake Reviews?"
  
  "Surely Home Depot wouldn't post fake reviews to drum up sales would they?"
  
  People who watch too much FOX News use question marks to make statements?
UO07, on 10/12/2007, -1/+19Goddamn Home Depot.. scammed me into buying a lower quality rug.
davidave, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Surely you wouldn't make a purchase based solely on reviews?
- Jwoey, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1better a personal review (especially a large collection of similar opinions) than an ad or slogan.
  
  I'd never have been able to feel good about my TV purchase without reading reviews.
- jmontes, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Doesn't matter if you buy just based on the reviews. They just want to get you in the door.
- Chompy, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7What else would you base a decision on? Advertising?
mikeazorin, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2http://duggmirror.com
insomuchas, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6Its not necessarily Home Depot . Could be the manufacturer. While Im sure Home Depot sales people want more sales, they don't necessarily want more sales at a store other than their own. The rug manufacturer though, they benefit no matter where you buy the rug.
- Skitzzo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3RTFA - they were all from different manufacturers
rodzilla, on 10/12/2007, -0/+21"being a lesbian I am always looking for a new rug to munch on, So I went to Home Depot and started hitting on the overweight nasty cashiers. Now I have all the rug I want to munch on."
ABadInAlbany, on 10/12/2007, -5/+2404 .... conspiracy!
- ABadInAlbany, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1getting dugg down, must be because I forgot the sarcasm tags :duh:
- Skitzzo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4or because it just wasn't funny...
thehuntedpossum, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2who buys rugs at home depot?
- oakj423, on 10/12/2007, -2/+13people that need a rug - not a $1000 chinese woven masterpiece
- thehuntedpossum, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2well, you can purchase a cheap rug anywhere, why do it at home depot? places like Target, Bed Bath and Beyond, etc, would have better looking rugs.
- drmangrum, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3You can buy affordable rugs at:
  Wal-mart
  K-Mart
  Sams
  Costco
  Any furniture store
  
  It's actually easier to find a place to buy an inexpensive rug than it is to buy some high-priced masterpiece.
- oakj423, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@thehuntedpossum: ever bought a box of kleenex or tylenol from the grocery store?
- signal15, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2$1000 for a handwoven chinese rug? Not in the US. I've never seen one that cheap. The cheapest I've ever seen a quality silk on silk chinese rug sell for was $7000 at an auction. It originally sold for over $72,000.
thebusdriver, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I noticed something similar the other day while browsing for a new LCD monitor.

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=18704&vpn=LS19HAWKBQ/XAA&manufacture=Samsung

scroll down to customer reviews and check some of the reviews by Firstname_Lastnamefirstletter. Specifically by Paul_U, Andrew_H and Janek_L.

I thought some were strangely similar.
ryguy9090, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7if you read the article he mentions that all 3 rugs had different manufacturers
NondescriptID, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10Removing the tin foil hat for a second, Home Depot will enter you in a draw for every review you write on their website. They are currently running a promo for a free $500 gift card. This could just be a case of someone stuffing the ballot box.
- LordAndrew, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Review spamming to try to win a gift card? That's a possibility.
LordAndrew, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1If those comments really were from an employee, that's really lame.
CRasH180, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I thought the same thing when I read some of those reviews about a week ago. I thought that they sound very "plastic" and like a corporate employee was completing a product description.
Axeman2063, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Yeah, I call marketing ploy. Sad thing is this and other tactics are becoming more and more common. I watched a documentary (The Corporation: The reentless Pursuit of Profit and Power), in it they discussed tactics like having people walk into a bar and order a specific drink, and rave about it. Before you know it the entire bar will be ordering it. Or as mentioned, people would walk in to a store and try on clothes, making nice comments about them, et cetera. While this particular example is poorly executed, the harsh reality is generally that is not the case...most companies know what they are doing.
nopenope, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0a lot of companies do this. i thought this was common knowledge.

ever see the amazon reviews? look at a product with horrible reviews from everyone and look how the positive ones are worded. no real person talks like that.
- gharding, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1So they use fake people to post fake reviews?
- CRasH180, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I may get dugg down for this, but oh well...
  
  "I see fake people.....", me quotes in a Haley Joel Osment tone of voice....
Calann, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Home Depot sucks. They advertised a refrigerator on sale in my local newspaper. I took the ad that day to buy it. They told me it was a national ad and that they didn't have any of those refrigerators for sale in my area. They would not offer a rain-check or another model at a similar price, nothing. Classic bait and switch tactics.
- ccahill, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Or they just didn't have it. did you check online first?
quiks48, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2i worked for home depot and lets just say this doesnt surprise me...
DeFex, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1lol that is nothing compared with , say paying magazines or web sites to give a good review, threatening to pull ads in case of a bad review etc etc.
brewer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1This is just viral marketing to get people to come in and looks at Home Depot's rugs.
thethresh, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Calann - you should have called your AG from the store, that ***** doesn't fly. I saw Sears try to pull the same thing on a washer with a guy when we were buying a dispose-all (sp) and he wanted 3 washers (landlord?). They told him it was a national ad - he said no problem, he would call the Attorney General's office and see what they would have to say... when were leaving 15 minutes later they were loading the washers in his truck. :)
diulei, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Could have been the OEM company, could have been a web developer testing their database, lots of things...
rodgerdodger5, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Can you be snug as a bug in these rugs?
Can you sweep something under these rugs?
Can you pull one of these rugs out from under someone?
Can you cut one of these rugs?

These are the things I need to know when rug shopping.
ThisIsBob, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I think the lesson here is that once you see a nice rug on the internet, you better get your ass down to the store the next day.
oMeSSiaHo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"Home Depot sucks. They advertised a refrigerator on sale in my local newspaper. I took the ad that day to buy it. They told me it was a national ad and that they didn't have any of those refrigerators for sale in my area. They would not offer a rain-check or another model at a similar price, nothing. Classic bait and switch tactics."

Was the sale for a closeout item? If it stated on the ad "while supplies last" whats the problem. Also, it's only bait and switch if they didnt have any items at the start of the sale and tried to sell you something more expensive instead. I would say its more "classic bitchy customer who didnt get what he wanted".
madcomments, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0*shrugs*
It's likely the manufacturer as someone said. Marketing don't always keep track and just cut and paste to save time. It might be all over the web.
davidlow, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Nobody says, “I’m going to THE Home Depot”. Ask anybody. They’ll tell you they’re going to Home Depot, without the THE. Only Home Depot employees, and perhaps even only the corporate and marketing people, say the name like it’s written in those comments.
MorganLighter, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck you can be reasonably sure that it is a duck! You might want to read the FTC guidelines on advertising. It's a real "boondoggle".
LovelyMonkey, on 06/26/2008, -0/+0I think most of them are good, and I love read their reviews, but I won't buy unless I have Home Depot Coupons at http://www.couponmountain.com/Home_Depot-coupons-d ... to save money.
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Home Depot Scamming People with Fake Reviews?

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