Dooyoo want to hear about another review site? (reviewcentre.com)

Member Name: benniash

Product:	reviewcentre.com
Date:	12/03/04 (161 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy to use with some excellent functions

Disadvantages: Little incentive scheme

I'm pretty sure that the fact you are logged onto dooyoo and reading this you are interested in product review sites, so I thought I'd share with you a new one i've found at reviewcentre.com. The site is aimed at giving consumers the chance to pass on knowledge to fellow consumers in order to aid them in their purchasing decisions. The big question though is whether the appeal is strong enough as the only incentive to join is a prize draw for one prize of £150 a month, but more about that later.

To register simply log onto the site and click on the registration link, you?ll then be asked a few minutes worth of profile questions, nothing unusual though. As soon as this is done your account will be activated and you can start using the site.

The site itself is well laid out and although green and orange doesn?t sound like a great colour combination, the fact that the background is white makes it look clean and crisp. At the top of the page is a set of tab links that include links to all the main product and service areas. These are very much like the ones on ciao and dooyoo and they seem to cover all product areas that you are likely to want to write in. If you are unsure then there is a search facility on this page where you simply type in the name of the product that you are looking for. I must add that the search facility really puts ciao and, especially, dooyoo in the shade as it always seems to bring the correct product to the top of the search listing if it is already on the site. Once you have found your product or service then you click on the ?write review? link and you are taken to the review submission page. The page always consists of a section for good points, a section for bad points and a section for the main body of the review. Underneath these are several pull down menus depending on the product in question. With the internet as temperamental as ever I would always recommend writing your review in word first
and then copying and pasting. When you have completed all the sections you confirm your review but the next part is where I really like the site. Rather than simply submit your review straight onto the site it actually has to be approved by the reviewcentre.com team. I don?t think they are looking for unbeatable quality, just good honest reviews that will be helpful to the consumer. However this does stop the types of reviews we usually see on opinion sites claiming such and such product is rubbish (or words to that effect!) and then copy and pasted twenty times to make up the word count. When you submit your review you are told that it will be checked within forty-eight hours although I have always received the confirmation email and had it posted within twenty-four. The email you receive simply gives you a link to where the review has been placed on the site, unless it has not been accepted and although I?ve not received one yet I am lead to believe they outline the reasons why is has not been approved. Also at this point your review might be awarded ?Expert? status. If the team feels the review is of exceptional quality then your review will appear with the word expert next to it. This doesn?t gain the writer anything except self satisfaction but does help the consumer when they are searching for products as they know the review has been well written and should help them in their purchasing decision.

Once you?ve posted don?t sit back and wait for the reads and rates to flow in. The reading and rating is optional and is hardly used. In fact it is mainly there for consumers who come to the site and find a review helpful to let the next person know. This adds value to the site and the opinions because it doesn?t open the door to revenge rating as the rater has nothing to gain and the writer nothing to lose. The only person who would lose out would be the potential consumer looking up products to see whether they should buy them or not. At this
point you can also comment on the review, but again bear in mind who this is aimed at. If I write a comment I do it to help the potential consumer. For example if I don?t agree with a review I will state this so that the potential customer can read the review and then see that it might not be accurate or that not everyone has had the same experience. The last thing that can be done is to rate the review with respect. Again this aimed at helping the consumer and I think it is something other sites need. For example how many times, under the rating guidelines, have you had to rate an excellently written review ?Very Helpful/Useful? on ciao or dooyoo, yet you totally disagree with what has been written!? It makes no sense at all and is not helpful to the consumer, even if you leave a comment saying so it will simply be lost amongst the tens of others.

Another area that this site wins points for is its products suggestion system. Rather than wait weeks for a product to be added you can add one as you submit your review. To do this you simply go through the usual search process but when the product is not found a button will appear at the bottom of the screen to ?add new category? or ?add new product?. If you click on this then the same screen for writing reviews will appear except for two additional boxes at the top. These boxes are for you to input the category and name of this new product. Once all sections have been completed you simply submit and when the review is approved the new category/name will be entered into the system. This takes the same amount of time as a normal review submission.

Whilst the approval of reviews has been quick and painless I?ve also received excellent customer service via email. Twice I?ve emailed with queries and both times I?ve received a detailed reply within twenty-four hours ? again something our friends at ciao and dooyoo should take a look at.

Overall I?m very impressed with most things on t
he site. The layout is absolutely superb and the functions for adding new products puts other opinion sites to shame, and for a fairly new site the database of products and services is extensive. Obviously the biggest flaw is the lack of incentive. At present I?d say the site isn?t that busy but the chances of winning the £150 Amazon vouchers is very low. At present they offer an entry for every review that you submit, but even the really prolific writers don?t get too much of a head start. Therefore I think it comes down to two things. I?ve often heard members on ciao/dooyoo say that they are not in it for the money, fair enough, but what about the feedback too? Is anyone really content to spend time and effort on a review to help other people make a purchasing decision? If not then you might use the site how I do. All I do is simply copy and paste my review from ciao/dooyoo over there. I might still have little chance of winning the prize but for a few minutes of my time after I?ve submitted on my usual sites it is worth it ? plus I might help a few people along the way. I?m even inclined to think that as the site builds up they might even raise the awards, which would be better than many sites who seem to drop them every few months.

Therefore I recommend all review writers to go and take a look, maybe copy and paste a few reviews, just to get a feel for the place. I very much doubt under the current incentive scheme that I?ll be writing any new reviews for there but definitely keeping an eye on how it develops.

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