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I'm a 19 year old girl who loves purple, anything pretty, and anything, well, pleasurable :) I hope you enjoy your stay! Companies, if you need verification that I'm a real blogger, check the link at the top :)

Monday, June 28, 2010

Speechless

A quick notice, the review spoken about in this conversation is NOT and will not be taken down. The EF website messed something up. It will be posted as soon as it's re-approved.

Before you even start reading this blog post, please remember that I am not here to bash, bitch, complain, etc. I was never in the "reviewing business" for that reason. I'm am here, as a reviewer, to HELP companies get their products out there. To HELP people who may like a product see if it suits them. I just.. I'm speechless. Please read these emails, please be aware that I DID support this company, but will no longer support this company. I will finish the reviews that I was sent TO REVIEW as I mentioned when I contacted them. Then I'll work with them, no longer.

I spoke with an advanced reviewer to see if what I thought was right, was right. To make sure I wasn't bullshitting myself. So, here's this blog..

This is long, but PLEASE read and pass this on.
I don't have the beginning emails, but this came about when I came across Pipedream on Twitter. I simply asked if they needed reviewers and they send to shoot them an email.

Removed, read next blog.

He then asked me if I could send the item numbers so it would be easier for him to find the products, I did - no problem. He said thank you and I'll send you the tracking number as soon as I get it. Very courteous. No problem at all.

Removed, read next blog.

I sent a quick email:
"Hello!
I just wanted to stop by and let you know that I am working on my reviews. I'm currently in a Mentor/Student process on Eden Fantasys, so all of my reviews are submitted to an advanced reviewer to make sure I'm writing quality reviews! I have two done so far and will let you know as soon as she publishes them, and more!"

He then asked me "Wait, you're publishing the reviews to Eden?" I said yes, provided him with the link and told him that his company name is what the product review and ask if it was okay. 

A friend of mine, after I REFERRED HER to Pipedream for their awesome customer service, told me that they replied and told her because she had posted a negative review on someone else's product, they wouldn't want to send her items for that reason. So I knew when I received a reply, something big was going to happen.

Now:

Removed, read next blog.

Notice this next post, I quoted his hundred of dollars mention.

Removed, read next blog.

And here's the point where I simply stopped emailing with him. I was utterly and completely at a loss for any words, whatsoever. I, as a reviewer, am not going to NOT post a review with the good and the bad so that someone else can WASTE their money (notice he wasn't upset about that) on products that won't work for them.

I'm... speechless.

15 comments:

  1. Staggeringly unprofessional, and I am not surprised.

    I believe that he's been in the industry for a while now, considering how much poor behavior I've seen from many companies in it. There are a lot of really great manufacturers and stores -- there's no reason to give money to anyone who wants people to be dishonest.

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  2. IT IS ILLEGAL TO POST A PRIVATE EMAIL CORRESPONDENCE AND PERSONAL INFORMATION TO A PUBLIC BLOG.

    REMOVE YOUR BLOG POST OR WE WILL TAKE LEGAL ACTION.

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  3. What a jackass. To be honest... most Pipedream products *do* suck, so he should probably not take on ANY reviewers, because there are bound to be negative reviews in there.

    He clearly doesn't understand the function of reviewers, but yeah. I RTed this, so hopefully more people will read it.

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  4. WOW - I can't believe someone wouldn't want helpful reviews. Because here's the thing I don't think they're understanding. Yes, a not-so-positive review might make some reconsider that particular item, however, they'll trust the honesty and therefore might be more inclined to buy something that the reviewer raves about.

    So much for helping the public. I review as well (under a different name) but so far only for one site. And they've been nothing but good to me, regardless of the review. Of course the reviews are only on my blog right now, but I'm hoping to graduate to their site.

    I see no reason for you to continue correspondence with this jackass. I'm sure that other companies would be thrilled to have someone with your dedication and scruples reviewing for them. If I had a product I certainly would.

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  5. LOL - it most definitely is not illegal, and using all caps will not make it illegal!

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  6. Anonymous legal action!

    This whole sex toy review business is getting totally nuts

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  7. Well I can safely tell anybody who asks for my advice on sex toy brands to not trust any reviews for Pipedreams, jeez!
    I cannot believe this. But I'm not sure what shocks me more....his insistence on following this, his claim that no one else has refused to do this, or that there actually are reviewers who would do this.

    And guess what Pipedreams...it is NOT illegal to re-post emails. #1 you don't have a privacy statement in your email footers and even if you did I'm still not sure it would be illegal. I should know, I've had it done to me and I had no ground to stand on, legally, in getting it removed.

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  8. Thank you all for the support. I'm reading as it goes!

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  9. I love how incredulous he is when you tell him that he didn't lay out his RULES about "negative" reviews ahead of time.

    You're completely right -- he is in the wrong arena if all he wants published is positive, sugarcoated reviews. He has no right to bully people into writing reviews like that and then keeping the not-so-positive reviews secret. Also, somehow I doubt that feedback about sub-par products would ever get back to anyone substantial.

    At least it's easy to avoid Pipedream, since their products pretty much all blow.

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  10. Someone from a PipeDreams IP address wrote me a very nasty little comment when I put up a blog post stating why I was removing links to EdenFantasys. After reading through the stuff they sell (which includes anal eze), your correspondence just re-confirms that they are not a company that I will ever recommend doing business with. Kudos for you for sticking to your guns and for being honest!!!

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  11. I looked on your EF account to see if I could find the review, but it doesn't seem to be there. However, I gotta say I'd definitely agree with him (on the point of EF) if you said you were going to review his product (which means on your blog) and the review was posted on EF. When you review it, they like the backlinks and blog exposure which EF doesn't give.

    Aside from the rest, I've honestly had no problems with them before. When I first started reviewing, he asked that, if I was going to post a negative review, to contact him first, and if he thought it wasn't going to be to their company's advantage, not to post it. I have no problem following that. I'm not lying to my readers, and since the company is sending me free sex toys, I think they are allowed to really decide what gets posted. They're not asking you to lie in your review - they're just asking you not to post a crappy review. In fact, they appreciate the honest feedback - just in their e-mail. I've had some of my suggestions taken for improving the product.

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  12. Those rules were never stated to me. We simply exchanged words in order to write a review. He also told me it was okay to review on Eden. Had he told me those rules, I would not have reviewed them.

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  13. What an unprofessional way to approach the topic, that is exceedingly poor form and definitely left a bad taste in my mouth...

    I think this is where the hazy line between advertising products and reviewing them really comes to the fore. Quite often companies who send things out for 'review' really just want an overwhelmingly positive review - basically an ad. Unfortunately, for those of us who want to be fair and honest no matter where our products come from, it's a hard balance to strike. If a company doesn't want an honest review published, then they're not looking for reviews, they want ads and they should not approach 'reviewers' then, they should approach people willing to give positive testimonials no matter what.

    If it were a small company struggling to get business then things might be different. A person's criticism might have much greater impact. Instead, sending them an email would help and get the process changed, but considering Pipedream's products most likely ship from some warehouse in China, then it's not like your advice to stock/not stock a product/change its design helps at all - it'll just be filed away in the trash. Hell, if they can still sell anal numbing products you know they don't listen to sense/concerns of customers.

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  14. Thank you. And in response to those of you who do agree with him, I'm fine. But from what he said, they want the negative stuff sent to them. I could be wrong, but I don't think they make their products, they just sell them, meaning the 'feedback' isn't going to be taken into account. That means they are going to make more money off of people who don't see those reviews.

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  15. A a sales company, I would not want to see negative reviews, because of exactly what Kevin said; it can hurt the sale of that product.

    That being said (and yes, I AM in the sex-toy business) I get a lot of information on what works and what doesn't from PC Magazine, Wired, Consumer Reports... I don't see the difference! if something is shoddily constructed, or doesn't work as advertised, or leaks - people DO need to know that, and companies should reconsider what they are promoting, or just put more heavy emphasis on better reviewed product (which in general I think they do).

    And too: there are some pretty inexpensive toys out there, I'd really be concerned that a $9.95 double bullet is going to hold together well. Like buying a real cheap flashlight, after a while the button stops working, the batteries fuzz over and wreck the insides, or the wires (on bullets, not flashlights) would come loose. Or it may be perfectly good, just inexpensive, but how does our end consumer know that without an honest review.

    Kudos to you Whisper!

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