How much trust do you put into product reviews and ratings?

[2manyrocks]

I've been shopping for a pole saw for months and just happened to find a special sales $269 price on a M18 polesaw over the weekend.

When I search for "top rated products," the M18 consistently appears near the top of the results even over the Dewalt 20v pole saw, but when I started reading reviews, it says 88% recommend the M18 in comparison to the Echo gas pole saw ppf-225 which is recommended by 94%. It seems odd to me that the M18 is at the top of the results for top rated products, yet the Echo has a higher percentage of customers who recommend the Echo.

So how much trust do you put into product reviews and ratings like these?

Milwaukee M18 FUEL 10 in. 18-Volt Lithium-Ion Brushless Electric Cordless Pole Saw with QUIK-LOK and 6.0 Ah High Output Battery 2825-20PS-48-11-1865 - The Home Depot

The Milwaukee M18 FUEL 10 in. Pole Saw w/QUIK-LOK meets the needs of landscape maintenance professionals, giving them the power to cut hardwood branches, reach full throttle in under 1 second, and delivers

www.homedepot.com

ECHO 10 in. 21.2 cc Gas 2-Stroke Cycle Pole Saw PPF-225 - The Home Depot

The ECHO PPF-225 pole chainsaw features a 21.2 cc professional-grade, 2-stroke engine. The 7.8 ft. fixed shaft found on this gas pole saw provides outstanding reach for pruning hard-to-get-at limbs. The

www.homedepot.com

 

[Eagle1]

Because ICE is bad.....and should not be recommended. I like 2 stroke engines, they tend to run for 20+ years for me and don't care if they freeze in the barn. Just have to deal with that BS ethanol in gas when you store it.

 

[IXLR8]

A lot of the reviews I find are just regurgitations of other reviews and in general I trust them less and less.
They can be a bit annoying, but I like the YouTube reviews by Project Farm.
My last few Milwaukie battery products have been a disappointment and I would go for the Echo.

 

[scootr]

I read reviews. If one person says the product is wrong I listen and try to determine by reading other reviews if that one person was a fluke or a indication of what I should expect.

 

[slckeys]

I'm not sure if I have same exact version... But this has been unstoppable for me. Starts every time no issue. Remington gas pole saw. I think I paid $130 years ago? Just another option if you were looking.

But as far as reviews go...I see a lot of the same regurgitation over and over as mentioned.

RM2599 - Remington Power Tools

The RM2599 Maverick™ gas pole saw is powered by a 25cc 2 cycle engine with QuickStart™ technology for smoother and […]

remingtonpowertools.com

 

[kenmbz]

I have the M18 pole saw.
It's ok for that price. The chain loosens up in long cuts.
It's a bit slow.
It does not oil all that well.

With 8AH battery it lasts a bit.
Good balance and can add a center section to extend it.
Uses a pretty easy to get oregon bar/chain

I put a lot of hours on mine and while I like it for the ability to start/stop quickly.
Not sure if I would buy it again, but I got it cheap with the weedwacker attachment.
I love the WW even though it goes through batteries somewhat fast, but I do 500-600 feet of cleanout on 2-3 batteries.

 

[2manyrocks]

I have the M18 pole saw.
It's ok for that price. The chain loosens up in long cuts.
It's a bit slow.
It does not oil all that well.

With 8AH battery it lasts a bit.
Good balance and can add a center section to extend it.
Uses a pretty easy to get oregon bar/chain

I put a lot of hours on mine and while I like it for the ability to start/stop quickly.
Not sure if I would buy it again, but I got it cheap with the weedwacker attachment.
I love the WW even though it goes through batteries somewhat fast, but I do 500-600 feet of cleanout on 2-3 batteries.

When the M18 arrived today, it struck me as heavy compared to the gas saw I am using now. I was leaning towards returning the M18 and now I'm for sure returning it.

Thanks very, very much.

 

[MossRoad]

How much trust do you put into product reviews and ratings?​

If I read reviews and everyone says it's the best thing since sliced bread, I try and get my hands on whatever it is to test it first.

If I see a bunch of bad reviews, I usually look for a different product.

Now movie reviews, I never trust.

 

[Cycledude]

its a good idea to read reviews but also don’t believe everything you read, many reviews aren’t even about the correct product .
I have a Stihl gas operated Combi tool, has weed wacker, brush cutter, pole saw, gravel sweeper heads and a few other optional heads that I don’t own. I like it a lot but if I was buying a new pole saw I would probably choose a battery operated one. Milwaukee and Dewalt both make excellent tools.

 

[Oaktree]

​

If I read reviews and everyone says it's the best thing since sliced bread, I try and get my hands on whatever it is to test it first.

If I see a bunch of bad reviews, I usually look for a different product.

I take most reviews with a grain of salt. "Best thing since sliced bread" reviews tend to set off my BS alarm, to me it sounds like someone's being paid to submit rave reviews. Not to say it's a bad product, but I'd tend not to take those at face value. Not always easy to tell who you can trust, and reading between the lines is a must.

I like 2 stroke engines, they tend to run for 20+ years for me and don't care if they freeze in the barn. Just have to deal with that BS ethanol in gas when you store it.

Meh. 2 strokes have their place, but I've had mixed experience with them. Chainsaws...almost always good, likewise snowmobiles. Other stuff, not so much. They can be very finicky on fuel, and hard to start if everything isn't just right.

 

[2manyrocks]

I tend to think many of the reviewers are cutting a few limbs off their trees in their yard on a limited basis and aren't subjecting them to my level of use. It took all day yesterday to cut 7 or 8 cedar trees that had blown over and the limbs had gotten tangled with each other. I mostly used a gas trimmer powerhead with a pole saw attachment. Ran through two tanks of gas. I suspect a gas pole saw is still my best option for speed of cutting and for being able to work without having to wait to recharge a battery.

Still, it struck me as odd that 84% recommend the m18 while 94% recommend the Echo, but the M18 is what I saw first when searching top rated products?

 

[JasperFrank]

Zero. All online reviews are crap. ALL ONLINE REVIEWS ARE CRAP.
Well BOLTR isn't.... but he just gets demonetized with every post. Cause he is true to his opinions.

Find people in the field, and what they use and work with. This is how I buy new tools.

I was so lucky in when I started out building my house, that a 20 year contractor went with me to the tool store. I had a munch of money to spend, and he said you need this and you need that. And you don't need these other things. He was right, and everything purchased 30 years ago, I still use. Even the Makita contractor site table saw, the 2708. Which I have abused in many ways, still works.

 

[ponytug]

Zero. All online reviews are crap. ALL ONLINE REVIEWS ARE CRAP.
Well Boltz isn't.... but he just gets demonetized with every post.
Find people in the field, and what they use and work with. This is how I buy new tools.

I was so lucky in when I started out building my house, that a 20 year contractor went with me to the tool store. I had a munch of money to spend, and he said you need this and you need that. And you don't need these other things. He was right, and everything purchased 30 years ago, I still use. Even the Makita contractor site table saw, the 2708. Which I have abused in many ways, still works.

Lucky you! That sounds like an awesome experience.

 

[2manyrocks]

True, awesome experience.

Having an experience contractor that you personally know say this is good and that you don't need is radically better than taking some enthusiast's opinion as complete gospel when that enthusiast may have only used a tool a couple of times and hasn't used any similar tools to be able to compare them.

Cutting a few small limbs here and there isn't the same experience as clearing a very grown up fence row.

 

[kenmbz]

That is why I responded. I put a lot of hours on the M18 PS and have worn one chain already.
Most people take it and trim one tree and then write the review.

Living with a tool for a year shows the shortcomings.

I have a lot of M12 and M18 and the power head is nice for the weedwacker.
Since I got the head/ww and saw on a deal I just kept the PS and use it.
But sometimes I just use the manual pole saw.

Now my echo gas chainsaws and long hedge trimmer impress me and always start.

I don't think a battery HT would get through the ornamental grasses or be able to handle hundreds of feet of honeysuckle and bushes I need to get done. Like to not spend extra hours on that if I can help it.

 

[2manyrocks]

And I value your opinion a great deal.

 

[alexpops]

I tend to start at the 1 star reviews and see why. If it's delivery time/packaging/or obvious lack of sense in usage, that's one thing ... whole different thing if it's someone that sounds like they know how to use a tool. The 5 star tend to be the least helpful IMO and anything with "I got this free in return for a review" I ignore as pure shills. the 3-4 star reviews I find to be the least biased & actually might teach me (or warn me about) something about the tool that I don't know. I've basically come to the conclusion that most reviews are more concerned with "likes" than actually reviewing the item, so a LOT less useful than maybe 5 years ago.

 

[ZTMAN]

When the M18 arrived today, it struck me as heavy compared to the gas saw I am using now. I was leaning towards returning the M18 and now I'm for sure returning it.

Thanks very, very much.

I saw that deal the other day and was going to order on line because I had a 10% off coupon plus and extra $25 off. A little voice in my head told me I better go to the store to see one in person.
Picked it up, and even without the battery, it was a lot heavier than my current two stroke model so I decided to pass.
I will stick with my current gas set up

 

[ning]

Thinks to look at with ratings: rating vs how many ratings.
I don't trust a 4.5 with 18 ratings, but I may trust a 4.2 with 2000 ratings.

Reviews matter a lot more. Scan a few of them, but pay attention mostly to the 4*, 3*, 2* reviews.
Ignore reviews that clearly show that the product hasn't had much use (I just got it, delivered on time! 5*).
Ignore reviews that sound like someone has an axe to grind with the seller (mostly 1* reviews) - unless there's a large proportion of such reviews.
5* reviews may be legitimate (I leave 5* reviews when I'm really happy with a product), but they are often shill-ish.
So don't completely disregard 5* but they require more careful reading to see if they're real.

So that leaves the 2,3,4 * reviews; IMO rarely is a shill going to leave a 4* review as that typically brings down the average, so 4* should be a real person.
Still though you can't just look at the 4.3* average and say "ok" because some of those 4* are like last night I'm reading HF reviews for a winch and a few 4* reviews were "I installed it but haven't pulled my truck yet so I'm just leaving a 4* review" well that's f'n helpful.

The most believable reviews are like "this seems like a great product but I can see that this thing here is going to eventually break. but at $20 compared to the $80 I could've spent, it's good enough and a good buy"
or something like "I can see what they were trying to do with this product but they really didn't get there. It works... kinda. It's obviously going to be in pieces the fourth time I use it, and I do need to use it 4 times. The fact that it's working so far is worth 2* but I really can't recommend it unless you only need to use it once"
see there's content there, and the guy isn't super happy about the product but he's not trying to burn it down with lies either.

 

[JasperFrank]

For those not familiar with BOLTR.. Strong language is involved...