PSA: Newegg has converted all review nicknames to real names

[Termie]

I know a lot of folks in General Hardware buy a lot of gear from Newegg and probably post a fair share of reviews. It appears that all review nicknames have now been removed and replaced with people's real names (first name, last initial).

What are people's thoughts on this? Are you less likely to review now? Do you think Newegg should have sought out permission to use people's real names? Without the full last name, it's still pretty hard to identify people, but I'm a bit surprised. I wonder if it's just a temporary glitch.

 

[Charlie98]

They also DX'ed some of the reviews... I can't find some that I know I submitted feedback on.

Meh, probably buried somewhere in the agreed to terms for use of the site is something along the lines that they can do whatever they want... but I bet it's going to cut down on reviews.

 

[JEDIYoda]

I know a lot of folks in General Hardware buy a lot of gear from Newegg and probably post a fair share of reviews. It appears that all review nicknames have now been removed and replaced with people's real names (first name, last initial).

What are people's thoughts on this? Are you less likely to review now? Do you think Newegg should have sought out permission to use people's real names? Without the full last name, it's still pretty hard to identify people, but I'm a bit surprised. I wonder if it's just a temporary glitch.

If your review is honest and truthful what is the issue??

 

[wabbitslayer]

If your review is honest and truthful what is the issue??

If you buy a lot from newegg, you will notice that there are others who make similar purchases, and you learn to either listen to or completely disregard their reviews. WIth the name change, it's a matter of going through the process again of figuring out who you can trust and who to ignore....although many times it's apparent who you can ignore from the get-go when they claim their knowledge is "above average" but the content of their posts reflects they don't know WTH they are talking about.

What would really help would be restricting reviews to "verified owners". I know that would get rid of possibly valuable reviews from folks who got it elsewhere, but it would also get rid of all the annoying-as-hell reviews from idiots who haven't bought the product and don't know jack about it.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

They also DX'ed some of the reviews... I can't find some that I know I submitted feedback on.

Meh, probably buried somewhere in the agreed to terms for use of the site is something along the lines that they can do whatever they want... but I bet it's going to cut down on reviews.

It's getting harder to submit negative feedback anywhere. Newegg is just the latest distributor to buckle under the OEM pressure.

 

[piasabird]

I sent a WD Blue Label 1GB hard drive back to Newegg and I titled the review "Junk" They (Manufacturer) did not like that much. I think newegg needs to double pack all hard drives and ship by AIR. I think Newegg should be required to give statistics on how many drives have had to be returned. Who knows how many are returned and whether that source can be trusted?

I think that Hard drives are not inspected that well at the factory. I think they should all have to have zeros written to every location on the drive and the drive should come formatted to prove at one time it did work.

 

[nwo]

No big deal, I will still continue to write my reviews. I could care less who reads them (users, newegg, manufacturers...). If they find them helpful then great, if not, I don't care if they start defaming me.

 

[sleepeeg3]

It's getting harder to submit negative feedback anywhere. Newegg is just the latest distributor to buckle under the OEM pressure.

Newegg has been censoring reviews for years. I'm definitely annoyed that they sneakily switched to using my real name, but they are giving me free products for their Eggxpert review program, so mmm... Between Newegg and Amazon, someone could figure out my real name. So much for the anonymity of the intarweb...

I found you can edit your "display name" to "Display as anonymous". We'll see how many products I get to review using that, though.

 

[lehtv]

No big deal, I will still continue to write my reviews. I could care less who reads them (users, newegg, manufacturers...). If they find them helpful then great, if not, I don't care if they start defaming me.

You mean you couldn't care less. If you could care less, then you actually do care :sneaky:

 

[z1ggy]

It's getting harder to submit negative feedback anywhere. Newegg is just the latest distributor to buckle under the OEM pressure.

This. I take reviews online with a grain of salt anyway...

 

[NeweggSupport]

I know a lot of folks in General Hardware buy a lot of gear from Newegg and probably post a fair share of reviews. It appears that all review nicknames have now been removed and replaced with people's real names (first name, last initial).

What are people's thoughts on this? Are you less likely to review now? Do you think Newegg should have sought out permission to use people's real names? Without the full last name, it's still pretty hard to identify people, but I'm a bit surprised. I wonder if it's just a temporary glitch.

Hi OP,

As you pointed out, we don’t post the last names; for privacy, we only use the last name initial. However, reviewers also have the option to post reviews anonymously. To choose this option, Newegg customers can log into their account, click on Account Settings, select "Display as Anonymous" (towards the middle of the Account Settings page) and submit. Please note that this option may not appear until after at least one review has been submitted.

We are tweaking the product review system a little bit with the intention to make a better experience for both, reviewers and readers. Nonetheless, thank you for initiating this thread because it is generating valuable feedback to us. We'll continue to monitor the comments posted and report to our webmaster team.

 

[paperwastage]

Hi OP,

As you pointed out, we don’t post the last names; for privacy, we only use the last name initial. However, reviewers also have the option to post reviews anonymously. To choose this option, Newegg customers can log into their account, click on Account Settings, select "Display as Anonymous" (towards the middle of the Account Settings page) and submit. Please note that this option may not appear until after at least one review has been submitted.
.

well, you are leaking more customer information after the switch from nickname->actual real names, even if you use the last name initial

the default setting SHOULD be "display as anonymous", at least for the reviews before the switch...

 

[Termie]

Hi OP,

As you pointed out, we don’t post the last names; for privacy, we only use the last name initial. However, reviewers also have the option to post reviews anonymously. To choose this option, Newegg customers can log into their account, click on Account Settings, select "Display as Anonymous" (towards the middle of the Account Settings page) and submit. Please note that this option may not appear until after at least one review has been submitted.

We are tweaking the product review system a little bit with the intention to make a better experience for both, reviewers and readers. Nonetheless, thank you for initiating this thread because it is generating valuable feedback to us. We'll continue to monitor the comments posted and report to our webmaster team.

Thank you, Newegg Support, for considering this forum's feedback about the policy change.

 

[lagokc]

You mean you couldn't care less. If you could care less, then you actually do care :sneaky:

The term originates from Yiddish sarcasm. Imagine Dr Zoidberg's uncle from Futurama saying, "Sure I could care less... if I was dead"

 

[monkeydelmagico]

well, you are leaking more customer information after the switch from nickname->actual real names, even if you use the last name initial

the default setting SHOULD be "display as anonymous", at least for the reviews before the switch...

And it should NOT go back through all the items you posted reviews for and delete the user name replacing it with the real name.

Besides, changing to "anonymous" doesn't even work for me. I just updated my profile and tried the anon option. The newegg site says "thanks your profile has been updated" but defaults back to first name last initial.

Fail

 

[NeweggSupport]

well, you are leaking more customer information after the switch from nickname->actual real names, even if you use the last name initial

the default setting SHOULD be "display as anonymous", at least for the reviews before the switch...

Thank you for your feedback paperwastage.

Thank you, Newegg Support, for considering this forum's feedback about the policy change.

Of course!

 

[NeweggSupport]

And it should NOT go back through all the items you posted reviews for and delete the user name replacing it with the real name.

Besides, changing to "anonymous" doesn't even work for me. I just updated my profile and tried the anon option. The newegg site says "thanks your profile has been updated" but defaults back to first name last initial.

Fail

Hi monkeydelmagico,

We are sorry about this. Can you email us your account information and reference this thread to wecare@newegg.com? We'll be happy to look into this.

 

[aigomorla]

If your review is honest and truthful what is the issue??

because if u write a bad one, u might get black listed by the vendor.

This has happened on YELP a lot, where if u bad mouth someone cuz they deserved it, they literally black list you.

Although it doesnt really matter, because if u hated the place, the odds of u going back is slim to none, but on a vendor side, because u hated one product should not black list you on all the other products which you do happen to like.

@ Newegg support.

This is a VERY BAD MOVE...
Again people sometimes look for reviews by users who have bought a lot of products from you guys.
It is setting up that user to get black listed by the Vendor Support, because he may have written a lot of bad ones in regards to a failed and sloppy product.
Again, Look at YELP and what has happened there with Stores Black Listing bad review writers.

 

[DSF]

Yelp has problems of its own.

http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2013/01/yelps-rocky-relationship-with-small-business029/

Generally speaking, less anonymity on the internet is probably a good thing. There was actually a study done that found that large numbers of reviews, both positive and negative, came from people who had neither seen nor used the product. Sometimes they were people paid paltry wages to write reviews in developing countries, sometimes they were just people with nothing better to do.

 

[Sword-of-Kings]

I really hate it that websites want to destroy anonymity.

 

[NewYorksFinest]

Meh, big deal. There are probably 10 million people named Jake G. If it said full last name however, there are probably 1000 people with the same name.

 

[Cozarkian]

Thanks for the heads up, I just bought a lot of parts from Newegg and was getting ready to review them. I'm not sure if I'll do that now.

 

[aigomorla]

Meh, big deal. There are probably 10 million people named Jake G. If it said full last name however, there are probably 1000 people with the same name.

not 10 million that tells the vendor the product was bought at newegg...

they can trace the item via serial to see where the primary vendor went to.
Then lets see how many Jake G. posted on newegg feedback, which bought the item at newegg.

 

[NewYorksFinest]

I just realized this, this thread isnt the best for general hardware and would probably get more replies in the cesspool (OT.)

 

[Atreidin]

What is the point of going to real names? What are the benefits to everyone involved? This just seems like pointless bandwagon-jumping. Let me guess, Newegg got a new manager that wanted to make a mark by doing something, anything, even if it is completely pointless or possibly counterproductive? Or maybe it was an existing manager that read about this new "real name" trend and wanted to follow along to feel hip when he's hanging out with the other cool managers from other companies. Or maybe it was just someone who was feeling pointless and wanted to make a change to make himself feel important.

Edit: I am giving Newegg management the benefit of the doubt and assuming that the change was made out of stupidity and not malice, privacy-busting, or other evil intentions.