Competence: Products

COMPETENCE Written 19.6.2015
Competence: Surveys

Competence: Review Layout

Product Testing
As an example consider the Logik's L90SSS11 steamer http://www.which.co.uk/home-and-garden/home-appliances/reviews/steamers/logik-l90sss11/customer-views/#

Which? tested it in January 2012 and was most impressed with it and made it a Best Buy.

Since then there have been 27 reviews which almost universally say the product has very very limited durability. Members have suggested this is a Do Not Buy.

We do know is that Which? does not pay its testing laboratories for studies on durability/longevity.

We do know that as a Best Buy the seller Argos can expect higher sales. Which? makes this claim for the benefit of Best Buys in its Corporate Hub.

The Best Buy logo can be utilised in advertising at up to £15,000 per six months.

Subscribers reviews would seem to be a useful means of extended testing. I give some examples of how subscribers feel about it at the end of this piece.

As a manager I would think that when I set up a Product review system used by subscribers I would want to monitor the comments particularly where it concerned a Which? Best Buy. For instance if there are 20 reviews and the score is the worst possible; one might feel the need to take action.

Is twenty a significant number of dissatisfied customers? Perhaps if we knew what ownership levels were we would get a handle on the situation

I have raised it several times with Which? and there are Conversation threads dating back to 2013 regarding this lack of follow up and the defense raised by Which? is that these subscriber reports may simply be a rogue batch and not significant given total sales.

Which? has choices – do a long term test of the Logiks steamer, remove its Best Buy status, and /or annotate its review. Of course another possibility is to survey Which? Connect and see how many people own steamers, how many are Logiks, and are there problems. Or of course do nothing.

I specifically mentioned Logiks it in February 2015 as the most blatant example of ignoring subscribers views, and  suggested that Steamers be included in surveys. I noted with dismay when I received such a Small Appliance survey in May that steamers were not included. Steam mops but not steamers for cooking.

I have made the point in the last few days on the Members forum that Which? really need to consider the reputational effects of having so much disparagement of a Which? Best Buy and the decision not to respond.

''2011-07-28 12:29:17.587 wrote: W.G.Govan Sorry, same as the others, great while it lasted but digital controlled failed quickly and again twice more on replacements. As a which member for a lot of years, I am disappointed an updated report has not been published. 31/8/2014 2:44 PM GDT Report 2011-03-25 10:06:18.407 wrote: poor logik june after a few months the digital display gave up 16/8/2014 1:46 PM GDT Report CharteredEngineerJames wrote: CharteredEngineer Just about to buy a replacement for our old Tefal which lasted 5 years and gave very good service.The Logik is top of the Best Buys table but as usual I cross-checked the customer reviews before opting to buy a Logik. I was appalled.The chasm between the Which? best buy rating and the user experiences is a really worrying indictment of Which? and its testing philosophy. It couldn't really be much worse - even the response from the Which Editor was selective and abysmal. 24/5/2014 3:55 PM GDT Report Stribs wrote: The worst steamer I have owned The first one lasted four days was taken bake and replaced, the second one did better and lasted just 13 months but during that time it frequently was difficult to set. Eventually the timer stopped working. As a steamer the actual cooking worked ok and if it had beed a manual timer I suspect that it would have lasted a long time but the controller just kept playing up and eventually failed. 13/4/2014 8:48 AM GDT Report CMR402560222 wrote: Very poor indeed. Very surprised Which rated this as best buy???? As stated in other reviews, I also had great difficulty in setting timer/program buttons. Always joked that the product was Logik and there was nothing logical about setting this devise. Only looked at steamers on this site due to it packing in after 18 months. Relieved it did, so I could replace it. But a Which best buy???? You're having a laugh. 12/4/2014 6:01 PM GDT Report grumpyoldman wrote: not a good buy at all Difficult to operate and the timer stopped working after a few months. Replaced under warranty.Both old and replacement carries on cooking after time is up. Instruction book says that this is a "keep warm feature" but if you rely on it and don't uplug the device it will overcook your food. Your testers must have been sleeping on the job when they tested this one. 5/3/2014 2:06 PM GST