Ask HN: What reviews sites are reliable? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: What reviews sites are reliable?

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After a recent cross-country move in which several boxes of our stuff (wedding photos, my military uniform) were lost, I dug a little deeper on review(s) on Yoogle, Consumer Affairs, Yelp, etc.

Bottom line: None of them are. In fact the most transparent of the 'reviews' site(s) seems to be the Wirecutter, which is not comprehensive but relatively transparent about their testing process and methodology.

What sources, analysis, or tools have you found to get reliable recommendations on products and services?

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I’ve found niche subreddits to be quite useful. Focal enough to attract a substantial interest group, and small enough that it’s not an attractive target for poisoning reviews. Eg: r/thinkpad, r/BudgetAudiophile, r/wicked_edge, etc.

Some of these enthusiast communities also have fantastic wikis/guides.

This for sure, can also use local subreddits for locally specific companies.

Sorry to hear about your move. I'm a young person, but I usually go by when buying something:

family > friends > Reddit > Discord > Google

If I see a name or product multiple times when asking/searching across those four things, I'm more likely to jump on it. I'd imagine finding the best local service is a bit harder, but the same methodology should apply.

I often try to see whether a product is reviewed on YouTube, a lot harder to fake a video review. For services such as movers, doctor’s, etc. I often use the reviews on Google maps. Word of mouth is probably best of all though.

Some general advice:

If you’re buying a product always buy via a credit card as you have greater protections and can always issue a chargeback if all else fails. Also, if you’re a victim of fraud and your credit card gets maxed you will still be able to make rent / mortgage payments as your checking / current account won’t have been exposed - plus credit card companies are motivated to help as they are the ones liable for the transactions.

For services, insist on payment after delivery. That way the provider is more motivated to provide a good service so they get paid and recoup their costs, and if it goes tits up you can withhold payment rather than having to try and get a refund.

If you can’t afford a reasonable worst case scenario, get insurance.

Sorry that happened to you. Moving is basically the worst.

Most movers are not end to end and there's a broker network in between. I mean if Amazon started a moving company I would use them.

I think one problem is that people generally don't do long distance moves individually that frequently so basically we put up with it. You can go higher end though and I think get decent service.

It's too bad you couldn't move via the military as they are pretty reliable.

My rules for long distances moves is to sell everything I have and only ship the essential. Then insure that cargo. When something is insured they seem to be less likely to lose it.

Outside of moving, I look at Amazon fakespot reviews but I try to not buy anything third party. Even then the drones I bought turned out to be turds. For other things I use reddit. And for cars I try to find the a website forum that specifically addresses the brand or model.

> Wirecutter, which is not comprehensive but relatively transparent about their testing process and methodology.

For TVs, RTINGS[0] is unmatched. Professional, comprehensive reviews with completely transparent testing process and methodology.

[0] https://www.rtings.com/tv/tests

I enjoy reading wirecutter but I had this thought: if there is a good product for category X that is sold directly by the manufacturer without any affiliate program, will Wirecutter even bother reviewing it?

I suspect Wirecutter is great for the subset of products that are sold via affiliates (which thanks to Amazon are plently)

Apparently they still review it if the product is really good. I remember reading it in their website somewhere. Maybe things have changed

> After a recent cross-country move in which several boxes of our stuff (wedding photos, my military uniform) were lost

I fear this the most when moving. A lot of these moving companies are fly by night. When moving I hand carry items that are irreplaceable or have sensitive private information.

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