User Reviews: we want to hear from you

User Reviews are very important to us here at Master of Malt.

You may have noticed that you when buy a product from Master of Malt, you get asked to leave a User Review with your details. 

“But why on earth would I want or need to do that?” we hear you cry! 

Well, there’s actually a very, very good reason to do this. Let’s explain…

Come with me, and you’ll be, in a world of pure evaluation

Tell us your thoughts, and you’ll be, 

Raised in our estimations

We’ll begin with a spin

Travelling in the world of pure interpretation

What you’ll see will be my explanation

Why we want your user reviews

Leaving user reviews on our products is a welcome and beneficial practice for several reasons, both for you, other consumers, the businesses whose products we stock, and ourselves.

Here’s why:

You’re helping other consumers make informed decisions

User reviews, written with honesty, provide a genuine insight into a product’s performance, quality, and value. If you’re buying a product, you’re far more likely to indulge when you see 5 shiny gold stars, aren’t you? We often base our purchasing choices on the experiences of others because we know from experience that being able to read reviews leads to more informed purchasing decisions. 

People are more likely to trust the experiences of others who have already used the product. Let’s face it, official descriptions or advertisements are all well and good, but they have skin in the game. Your fellow whisky lover may be more objective. This can lower dissatisfaction after purchase, which in turn reduces return rates for businesses. See how we all win?

They encourage product improvement

If a flavoured gin that’s supposed to taste like strawberries gets 100 reviews saying it tastes like oranges instead, then the producer knows that something is up and they need to change it. Businesses benefit from understanding what customers like and dislike about their products. Constructive criticism and positive feedback can guide improvements, innovations, or even fixes in future product versions. They also create greater accountability. Regular feedback from users holds businesses accountable for the quality of their products and services, pushing them to meet customer expectations.

They promote a fairer marketplace

User reviews can level the playing field for smaller or lesser-known brands to compete with bigger names. You can’t argue with quality and user satisfaction, which will always be more appealing than just brand reputation. A great brand making an excellent product could live or die based on whether it gets the reviews it deserves.

Don’t forget the blog!

Leaving reviews benefits the entire shopping ecosystem by enhancing product quality, fostering trust, and creating a transparent, engaged consumer base. The same is also true of our online blog. 

On every post, you have the opportunity to leave a comment. That could be to say you like what you read, to raise an issue, or to just start a dialogue. Comments create a space for readers to engage with the content, share their thoughts, and connect with other readers who have similar interests. This sense of community encourages deeper engagement with the blog.

As somebody who writes most of the posts you see on this blog, I can tell you that I love to receive comments. When a blog post receives them, it signals to me and other readers that the content is resonating with the audience. A lively comment section shows that the topic is relevant and engaging. Plus, your comments often contain valuable information, resources, or alternative perspectives that complement the original post. They help me understand how the content is being received. Constructive criticism can guide improvements and inspire future blog posts.

Why we review your reviews

Back to user reviews for a moment, you might notice that your review hasn’t been posted after you submitted it. That’s because all product reviews that are posted to our site are reviewed by a real trained human being. Let’s call them, Steve. We have trained Steve to make sure that every review:

– appears to have been authored by another human being (and not AI)

– is relevant (we’re sure you had a lovely trip to Tahiti, but if it has nothing to do with Monkey Shoulder, it’s gotta go).

– is not offensive (criticism is fine, abuse is not. Play nice).

– are not clearly a brand trying to improve the rating of its own products. Yes, we can tell when you do that. You’re not as clever as you think you are.

This review takes place as soon as possible after a user review is posted. 

Steve is well aware that not all people like all of the whiskies and everything else we sell. They will allow negative feedback that falls within the bounds of fair comment to be published. You will note that most of the products we sell have reviews from customers who loved them as well as from customers who weren’t so keen. This Is A Good Thing.

Defamation, slander, and libel

What we can’t allow is defamation, slander, or libel. That’s not because we’re sensitive souls. It’s very much the law. 

We have legal obligations to follow section 5 of the Defamation Act 2013 and the Defamation (Operators of Websites) Regulations 2013. This legislation provides a defence for the operator of a website that publishes defamatory material written by a third party, but only if certain conditions are met. 

In basic terms, if a person who considers that a product review published on the Master of Malt website is defamatory sends us a formal complaint, then we have only a limited period of time in which to either contact the author of that product review or to remove the relevant product review.

Now, if you’ve left a review deemed to have met this criteria, but you disagree, then we can have a dialogue about that. But only if you’ve left contact details. If not, we’ll have no alternative but to remove reviews that are complained about.

Reviewers who want to share honestly held opinions with other users should leave their contact details. By providing your contact details whenever you contribute, you will have the opportunity to defend any comments that you make and prevent them from simply being removed.

We probably won’t even laugh at your jaspercarrottlover69@yahoo.co.uk e-mail address. Probably.

Oh, and if you would like to challenge as defamatory any content that we publish, you’ll need to ensure that your complaint to us contains all of the required legal gubbins, viz.:

(i) your name and e-mail address;

(ii) where on the Master of Malt website the content complained of is posted;

(iii) what the content complained of says and why it is defamatory;

(iv) what meaning do you attribute to the content complained of;

(v) the aspects of the content that you believe are factually inaccurate or opinions not supported by fact;

(vi) confirmation that you do not have sufficient information about the person who posted the content to bring proceedings against that person; and

(vii) whether you consent to your name and e-mail address being provided to the poster of the relevant content (where we are able to identify that person).

So there you have it. We welcome you to engage!

 

*Although this is a bad example, this thing tastes exactly like the big JCs. That’s what I call Jaffa Cakes.

The post User Reviews: we want to hear from you appeared first on master of malt BLOG.