View Full Version : Palmgear DOES indeed remove reviews!
I had a review posted for BackupBuddy here http://palmgear.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=software.showsoftware&sid=3F42ABE4-8CAE-41BE-8741F4E685D6EED7&prodID=14301 that was only 3 stars and then there was another review that was only 2 stars not too far below mine. These were relatively at the top after BlueNomad released the latest version. I thought that both had legitimate criticism but nothing nasty or anything of the sort!
Well, now several days later I look to see if a newer version has come out and both "less than stellar" reviews are gone! Only the 5 star reviews remain!
My question:
Do certain developers bribe palmgear?
Another thing: MSDict seems to be upgrading every week without much that has changed. Another practice that keeps your software at the top of "updated and new" section?
tifosiv122
12-22-2003, 08:58 AM
It's all about money...if the program has a bad review Palmgear looses money too...so they "censor" reviews...
Erik
so what's the point of having the "star" system to grade then? If they only leave 4 and 5 star reviews... (in this case, just the 5 star...).
Why isn't Amazon removing 1/2/3 star reviews? or versiontracker.com?
OK, I just looked again - there's only ONE 3-star review - the very first one - from May of 2001. I guess they think they can make potential customers believe that since then the program is nothing what it was in its initial release... very interesting...
tifosiv122
12-22-2003, 10:14 AM
Originally posted by alsa
so what's the point of having the "star" system to grade then? If they only leave 4 and 5 star reviews... (in this case, just the 5 star...).
Why isn't Amazon removing 1/2/3 star reviews? or versiontracker.com?
Simple...so they can remove reviews easier...lol
If they only had 4 and 5 stars nobody will believe that people actually like the program...
Why don't other sites change reviews? The words honest, trustworthy, etc...come to mind.
Erik
frosty85
12-22-2003, 10:22 AM
well if we really want to cause some chaos just flood them with 0's and ones. i think they would have some fun then. just my 2 cents
jmg_NX21
12-22-2003, 10:42 AM
I get my s/w reviews and recommendations FROM THIS site... not PG nor handango.
I sure hope FEW people believe the update/reviews from THOSE sites, but I somehow doubt it >_<
iboar
12-22-2003, 10:44 AM
They are not to kind to developers either, they take 25% of the sales as commission and fees.
Shrink
12-22-2003, 11:01 AM
Question:
If PalmGear is a big bunch of deceitful crooks, why did ClieSource choose to affiliate with them for their software site?
I personally have never had any problems with PalmGear and I've been dealing with them since I had my fist PalmPilot with about 2MB RAM. I have bought countless apps for me, my wife and two kids over the years and have always known Kenny West to be very accommodating and up front with me.
I have posted many reviews and not all glowing but never noticed that they were "censored".
alan:confused:
TechnoCat
12-22-2003, 12:20 PM
Originally posted by Shrink
Question:
If PalmGear is a big bunch of deceitful crooks, why did ClieSource choose to affiliate with them for their software site?Because of all the sites, they are the most competent least-decietful crooks. Yeah, they're evil, but who isn't?... at least they do about what they say they'll do and they do it pretty well. The other two main sites (Handango and PDAGreen) are significantly less competent, have less selection and less-professional customer service departments. (I did a very careful comparison a year ago and again about 75 days ago, posted here.)
It's pretty common knowledge that PalmGear scrubs reviews. Just as it was pretty common knowledge and also explicitly stated by me here in August that certain mail order houses in NYC are slimeballs dedicated to the bait-and-switch. But some people lack the common knowledge, some poor Joes didn't do their research and got gypped, etc. As long as you pay a fair amount of attention and do some research, you can at least get a decent picture of what to expect.
ClieKun
12-23-2003, 06:48 AM
Cnet.com does ALOT of this crap! Like others have said its all about money.
yktan
12-23-2003, 08:55 AM
Originally posted by iboar
They are not to kind to developers either, they take 25% of the sales as commission and fees.
They actually take 30% (and more if you have higher volume sales). Imagine developers working their butts off just to see 30% of their hard earned cash swallowed by them.
JasonO
12-23-2003, 09:41 AM
Originally posted by yktan
They actually take 30% (and more if you have higher volume sales). Imagine developers working their butts off just to see 30% of their hard earned cash swallowed by them.
30 points?
Have you people never been in the retail industry? The wholesale industry? This is nothing. I wrote a software and my business partner marketed it. Most retail establishments wanted 40-60 points, and a certain wholesaler (Egghead) wanted 80 points! And they don't do anything more for you than Palmgear does. 30 points is a bargain.
Now in regards to scrubbing reviews: I think the practice is OK but only in one small way -- where the review contains something offensive to most people (swearing, brazen name-calling, etc.) From the messages presented, it looks like Palmgear goes way beyond this, and that degrades their whole review system. Why not just remove the option to rate it 1, 2, and 3 stars? It'd save them work and retain just as much integrity as they have for scrubbing them.
AlexanderT
12-23-2003, 10:16 AM
Originally posted by alsa
Another thing: MSDict seems to be upgrading every week without much that has changed. Another practice that keeps your software at the top of "updated and new" section?
Yeah, I noticed & mentioned that already half a year ago. MSDict is champion when it comes to releasing fake updates to push itself up in the update/new list again. This unfair doing was my reason to switch to another dictionary.
AlexanderT
12-23-2003, 10:24 AM
You cannot do much about the deleted reviews, since "PalmGear.com reserves the right to accept or decline any and all reviews added at the sole discretion of PalmGear.com." Whatever that means; as someone mentioned above: it is all about money.
However, it could help to do a screenshot once your review is submitted and displayed. This way, if there are some screenshots together that show how negative reviews were deleted, I could write and publish a short note to inform others of the non-value of PG reviews.
Just my two cents.
lesliefranke
12-23-2003, 10:56 AM
As an aside, what happened to the PG Team Leaders? I do not see them around any more.
rob_squared
12-23-2003, 05:19 PM
If people hated me, I wouldn't show up either.
lesliefranke
12-23-2003, 09:16 PM
If people hated me, I wouldn't show up either.
Just because people disagree with you, does not mean they hate you. I would hope people would be more thick skinned than that. On the surface it only appears to prove that those that disagreed with you are right.
Unregistered
12-27-2003, 12:44 PM
Originally posted by SKA
just boycott PalmGear
Best solution. Been doing that for a long time now. They've always been partial to reviews.
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