Simply Stacie

This weeks question comes from fellow Nova Scotian Blogger – Simply Stacie.

Her question is about products that don’t stand up to what they claim to be, how to approach the companies, and whether or not to write the review.

This is totally up to each blog owner.  In my case, I only write about products that I would want to tell my family and friends about.  If a product does have minor issues, such as sizing or shrinking, this is no big deal really.  I include it in my review so when people are going to purchase the product, they know to get a size bigger or smaller.

On the other hand, if a product breaks, or just doesn’t do what it claims to do, I will send the company an email explaining my situation.  The email usually sounds something like this:

Dear So & So,

I would like to Thank you for sending your products on My Wee View for a product review.  My Wee View’s intention is to bring positive online exposure for sponsors, and recommend products to my readers.  I have tested  your product for this past month, and unfortunately, the lift came out of my shoe/ the strap broke/ the lettering on my shirt fell off/ the stitching came undone, etc.  I will have to disclose these issues in the review, please let me know if you would like a review to be written and published.

Most retailers really appreciate the feedback, and in some cases, it was just a freak product that was sent.  They understand my situation, and will decline a review.  However, for the sponsor it was good that I was sent the product rather than a paying customer.  For example, my daughter was recently sent a pair of shoes that were too small because it was put in the wrong packaging.  Hopefully that company did some quality control to ensure that would not happen in the future.

However, some companies can be very upset about not writing a positive review.  In fact, I have lost a huge PR firm because I refused to budge on some issues I had with a product.  I reviewed one product and had 3 separate issues with it.  I told the PR rep I would write the review, but that I would have to include all three items.  The PR firm wanted me to exclude 1 issue, but I refused.  The PR firm then threatened to never work with me again.  I still refused to change my view, and lost the PR firm – but it was worth it – for your guys!!!!

To all my readers, you can be rest assured that although my reviews are mostly always positive, it is because I have had no issues with the products.

So to Stacie, and the rest of you out there,  you have 2 options if you receive a product that is faulty and does not meet your standards:

Option 1: Before getting started with review blogging, decide if you are going to publish negative reviews

Option 2: (If you haven’t chosen Option 1) Let the company know about the problem, and they can decide whether or not they want the review written and published

Hope this helps!

To the rest of you, what do you do?!?