Did you know homestars has someone write reviews

[kyfe]

So in April I had my roof replaced, they did a great job and I was very happy with the work. About a month later I received a call from a private number referring to my homestars referral for service asking me about my thoughts on the job and I expressed the above in a bit more detail. She said she would send me the review to "review and asked that I publish it.

I read the review but didn't feel the need to publish it
here is the published review

I have no issues with the review itself but I do have concerns that it was published without my real consent (consent being that I posted it myself). This experience only leaves me wondering just how many of these reviews are legit and if they're farming them out to a private company where did I agree to have my information distributed.

Anyone else care to comment if they have had this type of experience?

 

[acheron]

seems like Homestars has a (not surprising) problem with getting people to write reviews, particularly positive ones. People are much less likely to provide a positive review than a negative one... they will report positively if asked but people are generally selfish and don't like to share their successes. So Homestars has taken the bull by the horns and started writing reviews for customers, asking only for their signoff.

 

[SJN]

I received a $10 itunes card a few months ago for writing 2 reviews on Homestars. I've written quite a few over the years.

 

[awwnaw]

I'm a little confused. Why would Homestars pursue positive reviews or know which company recently did what business with whom? For Homestars the goal is traffic; so positive or negative so long as there are reviews.

Are you sure it wasn't the roofing company that contacted you? It's not unusual for review sites to bonus/encourage members to provide reviews. Tripadvisor as an example constantly sends emails and updates about how amazing and valuable a review was and to keep writing more! OpenTable, same thing. Other sites send eBlasts with built in incentives; write a review and get a iTunes gift card. Pretty par for the course. They encourage posting, but don't aim influence your opinion or evaluation in your review.