So I recently read a book about how companies have to be extra careful about consumers these days. They have to be truthful and put forth the best product at the best price always because of how the internet is these days. Any consumer who is unhappy with a product is more likely to tell people then someone who had a good time. You expect all products to work and be useful and therefore, you are less likely to say good things about someone then if you have a bad experience. If you have a bad experience then you feel more obligated to warn others, to let other people know what is going on with this company.
In some cases I agree with this, for products that are tangible, sure. If I'm looking to buy a car, I want to be able to see what people who actually have driven a car have said. Although, I'm EXTREMELY brand loyal when I find a company/brand I like. So I'm less likely than most people to do this. I'm more likely to go to the dealer, tell them what features I want and buy a car. In fact, when I got my latest car-even though it wasn't my purchase (my parents were fronting the cost and choosing the car because of it), when the choice was between a Honda Civic and a Toyota Camry, while I like both companies, all the cars I've driven have been Hondas. I like Hondas. And I asked for the Honda. Knowing nothing about the two cars and their options. (I also had very min requirements. I wanted automatic, anti lock brakes, air conditioning, good gas milage, automatic windows, and doors that I didn't have to manually lock.) I'm the same way for other things. I'm an Apple girl through and through. I like HP printers. I'm a big believer in Cuisinart and KitchenAid. I was looking for an iron the other day and I had a choice between I brand I knew of (Black and Decker) and a brand I had never heard of. I chose to not buy an iron because the Black and Decker was out and I preferred making another trip in order to get the brand I've heard of and already trust.
All of these things are tangible products. There are easy ways to measure how they function and the value of the product. It's easy to compare the brands of the same product together because we all expect the same things out of them. We don't expect our car to vacuum. It's easy to compare a car to a car because they do the same thing. A vacuum is easily comparable to a vacuum. I expect the same thing out of my dishwasher mostly that you do.
When it comes to human services, it can get a lot harder to compare these things because things start getting a little more subjective. I'm a big fan of yelp, but I'm not always interested in the same type of food other people are. In and Out gets good reviews, but I'm a bit of a food snob and I don't consider it any great eats. But luckily most people on Yelp tend to explain their reviews well.
I'm not a member of Angie's list, but I kinda like the idea. If someone goes above and beyond the call of duty it's great to be able to hear about it. Consequently if someone ends up charging a lot of money for something that needs to be repaired right away again because the contractor made a bad repair, I'm fine with someone saying something-provided it's respectful. I don't like it when people start saying defaming things or swearing in reviews. On yelp either. Restaurants have bad days too. Service is subjective. And I don't know how obnoxious your party was to a server. I'd like to think that people who write reviews didn't do anything to get bad service (not that anyone really should get bad service, but as a member of the customer service industry and as a member of the sales industry, I know that if you are rude to me, I make no effort for you, because I deserve to be treated with respect, even if I'm serving you.). I don't know that they don't. I don't know all the details of the encounter.
I was reading about these medical gag things today. And I was quite torn. On one hand, a patient should be able to talk about their doctor and the good and bads. But at the same time, unlike most of the other things being reviewed, doctors literally cannot respond to a bad review. Anyone else can respond in some way to defend themselves and explain the situation to make themselves appear more favorable so a reader can get both sides of the story (they might not, but they COULD). Because of doctor/patient confidentiality, a doctor couldn't. And maybe it's because my mother is a doctor, but I really don't like this idea of rating doctors. Good health care is more subjective then someone realizes. And I don't think I could trust online reviews to help me chose a doctor.
I got super lucky when it came to my health care plan anyhow. I'm still covered by my parents insurance for at least another year, even though I'm no longer in school. Dental too. And if I wasn't, I know they wouldn't let me go uncovered. Plus, since my mother is a Kaiser doctor, I'm a member of Kaiser, which I think is the best thing to be a part of (brand loyalty again, although I've seen/heard about other insurance through my mother and find everything else to be way too complicated and not focused on preventative health care which doesn't make sense.) Kaiser is non-profit and their doctors aren't paid on commission or anything which I think is the smartest way to do health care, but that's neither here no there and this isn't a health care post. I got doctors who were not currently accepting patients because I had inside information. Not everyone has that.
Choosing a doctor can be hard, but I don't think online reviews are the best way to go about it. The only way to get the best health care professionals for yourself is to figure out what you need in a doctor and go and see some. You don't even need to have an appt. to figure it out. A short meeting would probably suffice. I can't say I care too much about the bedside manner of my doctor provided they do a great job. I want a capable well educated and certified doctor. Kind bedside manner isn't all that important to me. I don't want them to be too blunt and harsh, but I don't need it sugar coated. Some people want that. So if someone is complaining about bedside manner, I can't really judge for myself from that.
Mostly I'm worried how this could hurt doctors. Part of the reason I believe health care is so fucked up in this country is because doctors have to worry about malpractice so often. For many surgeons it seems the rule of thumb is not "if" you are sued, but "when." No wonder prices are extravagant. No wonder the heath care is so topsy turvy. Patients don't seem to take enough interest in their own health, and to me, don't seem all that educated about medicine. Some are, but I would say the majority of people I talk to know nothing about health, nothing about medicine. And that's not just people my own age. How many reviews would come about someone not being well informed to begin with and then when finding out the truth is retaliating?
It just seems like such a can of worms. Yes, if doctor is really bad people should know about it, but isn't there a way to do it without jeopardizing reputations. I investigated and it seems like a lot of places don't require you to register or anything. Anonymous reviews? SUCH A BAD IDEA. It could be anyone.
I like the idea of consumers keeping products and companies honest by use of the internet. But how do we deal with the grey areas if the party has no way to defend themselves. Surely there is a better solution to this?
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