Testing

The greatest assets of Which? are its perceived position for honesty and its reputation for testing.Regrettably the testing appears to be thought through badly, see the cordless vacuums below.

The results and displayed in a way where readers reviews can be dispersed amongst several different colours or finishes whilst being all to do with the same mechanically identical machine. For an example see Responding to comments.

Best Buys
When it comes to small appliances Which? has been recommending items which in the home have been found to be less than ideal. Despite many complaints Which? does not seem to respond quickly or well and many Best Buys keep their rating despite many adverse comments.

This leads to a major mismatch on what Which? says compared to what members who own the product say. The owners products are open to anyone browsing on the Web so criticisms of Which? and the product are harmful to Which?'s reputation.

Whilst Which? proudly says it does not take money from advertisers it becomes distinctly murky when you know that Which? enters into contracts for £7,500 for 6 months to allow our Best Buy logo to appear in their adverts.

Put this into conjuction with Best Buys that remain Best Buys despite overwhelming adverse comment and it appears an awkward situation.

Examples
'''Which? Customer Reviews '''

http://www.which.co.uk/home-and-garden/kitchen/reviews/kettles/kenwood-kmix-sjm-042/customer-views/

Launched April 2011 and according to Which? tested and a Best Buy in January 2011. [!]  One person rates it a five. Which? has posted three times with four star ratings advising that Kenwood has been improving the faults mentioned by subscribers. Three three star scores, four two star and five one star reviews so overall not happy buyers.

http://www.which.co.uk/home-and-garden/home-appliances/reviews/steamers/logik-l90sss11/customer-views/#

Twenty-three reviews of this Best Buy steamer tested in January 2012 with 18 scoring it on the worst rating of one star, one at two,  one at four and two giving it five stars. The high star ratings come from two people who had "Just" or Recently" bought the product. The final five star was from Which? responding to an unhappy purchaser in March 2012. The product is still available and still scored at 82% and still a Best Buy.

http://www.which.co.uk/home-and-garden/home-appliances/reviews/microwaves/next-red-800w/customer-views/

This almost defies analysis as it has multiple posts from Which? and responses from Next in the 25 entries posted. Reading the comnets it would appear that there can be many different problems with the microwave but not everyone suffers from faulty machines.





Responding to Comments

Which?'s response to adverse comment has often been very slow or non-existent though since it has been highlighted I hope things may have improved. I have been talking about the inadequacies and the Trustees acknowledge this is an area of weakness and told me in June 2014 more money will be spent on testing next year. Spending money on testing is only useful if the testing is well  designed and also takes into account how well it performs over a period.

 How Easy is the Review System to Understand

For some reason Which? decided to use manufacturers codes so with kettles we may have up to eleven separate colours [places] where a purchaser can write his/her comments. This little piece shows that the most fault-free Opula is the blue one. Personally I do not believe it. I think Which? with some intelligence should have aggregated the individual kettles so there is only a single thread for the Brevill Opula.

 

<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm">As of today 25/10/2014 there are apparently 66 Best Buy kettles ranging in scores  from 86% to 72%. Apart from wondering what the word " Best" means nowdays when looking at the Best Buys you will swiftly notice that in fact the actual number of kettles is substantially lower if you believe that colour does not affect performance. A dozen of the 66 are actually just two kettle types both in six colours. Many others are in three or four different finishes.

<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm">It would be so so much easier if it was presented as type of kettle and the variants listed in the review with a gallery if needed of all the different colours/finishes..

<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm">'''This plethora also affects Which? staff where replies on complaints on one colour of kettle are not put to the other colours.''' <h2 class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm">Cordless Vacuum Cleaners http://www.which.co.uk/home-and-garden/home-appliances/reviews/cordless-vacuum-cleaners/

Despite many comments in Conversations over the last year or more we have a series of reviews that do not mention whether replaceable batteries available. This is actually highly relevant as the reviews in some cases state that the average Which? subscriber spends 38 minutes hoovering their home. With most of the handhelds only having a charge of half that time some people might actually buy a spare so they can clean all their house, or even alternate batteries as some of the vacuums take 16 hours to recharge.

Paying £200 or more for a cordless without knowing that when the battery dies it may be useless ..... come on Which? how can any of them be a Best Buy if apparently Which? has no clue to the availability of spare batteries or their cost.

"Bosch says that this model's battery should last for up to an hour on its standard setting. However, on the maximum power that we tested it only lasted 15 minutes 30 seconds, which is about average for models that have a turbo setting." It would have been very helpful if the testers actually discussed if the turbo usage was necessary. A second-rate testing regime.