LewBK wrote:If all I see is five star reviews, I immediately think the reviews are slanted and possibly fake. It makes me distrust the source of information, and I see the reviews or comments more as advertising as opposed to open and honest discussion of a company's merits and drawbacks.

How do we know the one-star reviews aren't fake? Being exceedingly paranoid, I've always suspected that some of them come from competitors.

Nonetheless, often I read only the one-star reviews. I want to know if there's some sort of design/construction flaw or gotcha with a product.

My main problem with the post in question isn't the report of a negative experience with a particular vendor, or even the one-sided presentation. It's the use of the phrase "horrible kafatek experience" in the title. That's going to show up forever in every Google search on Kafatek or its products, whether Kafatek deserves the criticism or not.

I understand the disappointment, anger and sadness that occur when a purchase goes wrong (been there many times), but I think we have a responsibility to tone down the emotions, present the facts, and let readers judge for themselves.

I'm not saying the OP wasn't justified in posting his complaint, but the title of the post was unfair.

[Disclosure: I own a Kafatek Monolith Flat and I'm a big fan of Denis and his products.]

I agree that some one star reviews are fake and probably from competitors, but I often see more of the other sort--five stars reviews that seem very similar on Amazon. There is a site called Fake Spot https://www.fakespot.com/ that supposedly helps identify fake reviews. But I use my own judgment when I see poor reviews. The more specific the details of the problem and how or whether it was resolved, the more interesting the review becomes to me. Years ago I subscribed to Consumer Reports and I liked their extensive testing and refusal to bow to commercial pressures. Yet I know that even with their testing they only had products for a limited time to test. That's why reviews of products from long-time consumers are valuable, both positive and negative. I agree perhaps this exchange got too heated and needed to be shut down after a time, but I also needed to know that it is OK for HB posters to say, "I don't like this product. Here's why." That's why I asked the question. Thanks.

FWIW the Kafatek post was not closed because of the negative experience that was posted there. I think it's fair that HB does not want manufacturer fans starting flame wars. IMHO posts about purchasing/ownership experience, be it positive or negative, should still be allowed as long as the conversation is civil and objective.