check that brand before you buy it for life!

Every time we need to buy a power tool (or batteries) we have the same conversation. We used to buy the yellow brand, but the yellow brand was sold and it's crap, what about the red brand? or the blue one?
Now there is a site where you can check to make sure brands are still worth buying.
I find it especially useful for power tools, since that is a big part of our life, but it was recommended to me for eyeglasses and technical clothing.

I feel the quality of most products, even name brands have gone down.

We are starting to use reviews to buy stuff.

I am not sure that reviews are safe bet.

Also price helps determine what I buy as I buy cheap and look for the lowest price.

I needed to buy another air fryer though I could no longer buy my $10.00 brand so I chose Walmart's Mainstay for $25.00.  They both function about the same though I think the $10.00 one cooks better.

Anne Miller wrote:
We are starting to use reviews to buy stuff.

I am not sure that reviews are safe bet.

This is a really valid point. As the internet is getting more and more fed by AI (and AI is writing more and more) a lot of info out there may simply not be real or trustworthy, and it looks like this is just going to keep declining.
Which makes places like Permies, with real people talking about their real experience, so valuable.

Tereza Okava wrote:

Anne Miller wrote:
We are starting to use reviews to buy stuff.

I am not sure that reviews are safe bet.

This is a really valid point. As the internet is getting more and more fed by AI (and AI is writing more and more) a lot of info out there may simply not be real or trustworthy, and it looks like this is just going to keep declining.
Which makes places like Permies, with real people talking about their real experience, so valuable.

I agree that more and more people will find the real people at the Permies forum, have real experiences that are so valuable.

My new desk top computer came with AI that I had to say no to, though I feel more and more folks will say Yes to just to find out what it is.

When Alexa came out folks thought that was great, and now with Copilot more and more folks are probably joining the bandwagon not knowing what they are really getting into.

So true about online reviews, they’re mostly useless now with all the fake AI spam. Honestly, what's that site you mentioned for checking brands? I’m tired of buying power tools that die after a year

For more reliable reviews I use reddit of all things. People there can be brutal and toxic, its useful when trying to cut thru all the B.S. to see if a product will pull thru or for seeing why a thing is broken and if I can fix it.

When reading reviews I am of course concerned about the knowledge and objectivity of the reviewer.  As important, when I read a review, I am concerned if what is important to the reviewer is important to me.  For example I recently read a review where the item was trashed for lack of color choice, but there was no mention of durability.  

This is not to knock the reviewer. This is a matter of individual choice.  I brought this topic up to someone who put  a twist on the color vs durability question I wasn’t expecting,  “ Why would you want to spend the rest of your life with with something you hated the color of?”  Where durability is major to me and color is not on the scale, others feel differently.  It is important to me to be sure the reviewer is reflecting my values.

Henry Moore wrote:what's that site you mentioned for checking brands?

Henry, it is https://ledger.worseonpurpose.com/ (if you click on the hotlink in the first post that's where it takes you.)

John F Dean wrote:When reading reviews I am of course concerned about the knowledge and objectivity of the reviewer...

My husband and I both have businesses with Google listings.
When we look at listings for other businesses we want to patronize we read the reviews and can often see exactly what's going on: bots and often just general stupid or axe-to-grind. My husband got several 1 star reviews after I threw someone out of an online Facebook group I used to run for harrassing members. The creep knew we had a shop and left a crap review on every single shop with a name somewhat similar to ours. My favorite was a bad review on a highway rest stop for having 50c coffee in a machine. "Too expensive for a toll highway, the coffee should be free, what a ripoff this place is." You must be a delightful houseguest, lady!!!

The good thing about bad reviews is usually that they show it is a real place. Anything with all 5-stars I just immediately assume must be faked.

Hi Teresa,

Indeed.   As an accreditation surveyor, I was always on high alert when an organization had perfect feedback reviews.  If you are doing your job you are going to say something to someone that is going to tick them off royally.  To me, all perfect reviews means you ar3 not doing your job or the reviews are fudged.