Video Fitness Forum  

Go Back   Video Fitness Forum > Video Fitness Reader Forum > Vendor Comments/Reviews

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
Old 05-24-11, 05:38 PM  
ldy_solana
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Lynchburg,Virginia
thank goodness for this forum!!!!

i started questioning a lot sites! i see collage won't sell certain videos but states that jillian's shred it with weights was a safe advanced workout and even disputed a reviewer's review about it. i like their site b/c of the clips, good service, and decent selection, but it is a shame i have to take the descriptions and reviews with less then a grain of salt.
__________________
Kassia \m/(>_<)\m/


DISCLOSURE: I have a professional relationship with a seller or producer of fitness videos or products. For details, please see my profile.
ldy_solana is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-24-11, 06:42 PM  
RedPanda
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gams View Post
I am disappointed in a lot of the reviews at Amazon. I hate it when people write negative reviews because of the amount of time it took to get the product or something similar that has nothing to do with the product itself. I've also seen positive reviews by people looking forward to the release of a product, but the product hasn't even come out yet. I complained to Amazon, but they said those types of reviews don't violate their policies either.
Plus, many of the reviews are planted by the instructors and/or production companies. This is why I no longer write Amazon reviews.

As for Collage, I can't understand why they don't have a log-in system for reviewers.
__________________
Maintaining a 90-pound weight loss since 2003.
RedPanda is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-24-11, 10:33 PM  
KathAL79
 
KathAL79's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Another thing to watch out for with Amazon reviews is that some companies ask Amazon or bully reviewers to delete negative reviews, saying they misrepresent the product or something such, leading to lopsided representations of 4- and 5-star reviews. This has been done for a number of exercise videos, including videos by BodyWisdomMedia and Ravi Singh & Ana Brett. Now, it's easy to argue that some of the reviews that only say something about how Ana's doing yoga in her underwear or that doing yoga is bad for you or things like that are questionable and Amazon has every right to delete them, but some of the people who have had reviews deleted reposted them, and while their reviews were negative, they weren't inappropriate or bad reviews because they reflected the user's actual experiences ("This type of yoga didn't work for me and made me irritable instead of relaxed," "The electronic music's weird, and they didn't edit out the instructor's mistakes in the voiceover," and things like that).
__________________
Kath
I listen to my body and respond compassionately. - sankalpa from Jill Miller's Yoga at Home level 1, month 5 practice

Note: I have had a professional relationship with a vendor of health and fitness books and media. For details please see my profile.
KathAL79 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-25-11, 01:19 AM  
RedPanda
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Quote:
Originally Posted by KathAL79 View Post
Another thing to watch out for with Amazon reviews is that some companies ask Amazon or bully reviewers to delete negative reviews, saying they misrepresent the product or something such, leading to lopsided representations of 4- and 5-star reviews. This has been done for a number of exercise videos, including videos by BodyWisdomMedia and Ravi Singh & Ana Brett. Now, it's easy to argue that some of the reviews that only say something about how Ana's doing yoga in her underwear or that doing yoga is bad for you or things like that are questionable and Amazon has every right to delete them, but some of the people who have had reviews deleted reposted them, and while their reviews were negative, they weren't inappropriate or bad reviews because they reflected the user's actual experiences ("This type of yoga didn't work for me and made me irritable instead of relaxed," "The electronic music's weird, and they didn't edit out the instructor's mistakes in the voiceover," and things like that).
Wow. I didn't realise that kind of censorship was going on.

I have had my reviews censored. I've had the word "butt" deleted in a reference to Global Rides' stated policy of producing virtual cycling DVDs in which the user didn't have to look at people's "sweaty butts". It's ridiculous to censor the word "butt" in a review of a workout DVD, when many workout DVDs contain that word in the title.

I've also had a reference to "Gay Gasper" replaced with "[...] Gasper", which is beyond ridiculous.

I think I may delete all my reviews from Amazon, update them and post them here.
__________________
Maintaining a 90-pound weight loss since 2003.
RedPanda is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-25-11, 09:04 AM  
Buzzer
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Quote:
Originally Posted by RedPanda View Post
Plus, many of the reviews are planted by the instructors and/or production companies. This is why I no longer write Amazon reviews.

As for Collage, I can't understand why they don't have a log-in system for reviewers.
I was wondering the same thing. I thought you had to register to leave a review. That seems silly!
I wrote a review for a book a friend of mine wrote once on Amazon. I didn't like the book (thought it was useless, actually), but wrote a good review since it was a friend. I felt icky afterwards. I figure most of the glowing reviews are written by friends/classmates/family (especially the ones that are specific such as "Mindy Cooper, a registered Dietician and a friend of animals, created a 29 minute warm up with dynamic range of motion to get your joints properly prepared for the work ahead." Whatever, not-so-a-layperson!).
__________________
Do-over day for Vidiots Anonymous 2011, 2012, 2013: Aw heck. Never mind. I just can't keep up with my do-over days.
I'm weak and easily influenced
STS GRADUATE! 11/30/10
TA Omni 90 days completed! 7/11/11-ish
Tapout XT1 90 days DONE! 6/29/13
Body Beast: Done 3/14, minus the last week. I started JNL and never looked back!
JNL DONE! 5/12/14
Buzzer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-25-11, 03:19 PM  
Gymmie
 
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Texas
What would having reviewers log in accomplish? It's all anonymous and people create fake profiles to troll forums what's to say they wouldn't do the same? If the software allows ISP bans then yes they can ban the ISP, unless they're using a program to overcome that. But if they don't care that bogus reviews are being posted I doubt they'd care about someone setting up fake profiles & not banning the ISPs.
__________________
“Think about Corey. Right at the finish line and his body gave up after one mile. You’re looking at yourself and if you have 100 plus pounds to lose, your body wants to be healthy.”--Bob Harper on Contestant Corey Pinkerton TBL10

DISCLOSURE: I had a professional relationship with a seller or producer of fitness videos or products. For details, please see my profile.

Beachbody Coach
Gymmie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-25-11, 05:51 PM  
Artist of Eyes
 
Join Date: May 2011
Location: The windy prairie
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gymmie View Post
What would having reviewers log in accomplish? It's all anonymous and people create fake profiles to troll forums what's to say they wouldn't do the same? If the software allows ISP bans then yes they can ban the ISP, unless they're using a program to overcome that. But if they don't care that bogus reviews are being posted I doubt they'd care about someone setting up fake profiles & not banning the ISPs.
I am so not tech savy. I can barely reboot my internet connection. Sigh...
__________________
"Ladies put some full-fat ranch on your salad. Have that slice of cheesecake. Then go for a walk and kiss your loved ones and dance around your house in your underwear. Life is good." Anonymous

" We have to embrace who we are today. We have to say, this is me, and I can live a wonderful life today." FitBoop

"Walking is Man's Best Medicine for Life" Hippocrates

"Of all exercises walking is the best." Thomas Jefferson

"Thoughts come clearly while one walks." Thomas Mann
Artist of Eyes is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-25-11, 06:10 PM  
RedPanda
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gymmie View Post
What would having reviewers log in accomplish? It's all anonymous and people create fake profiles to troll forums what's to say they wouldn't do the same? If the software allows ISP bans then yes they can ban the ISP, unless they're using a program to overcome that. But if they don't care that bogus reviews are being posted I doubt they'd care about someone setting up fake profiles & not banning the ISPs.
Perhaps it could be set up like VF - members can use only one user name, you need to be a member (in Collage's case, a forum member) to post reviews, and with a search function allowing users to search all the reviews written by a particular forum member.

But yeah, since they clearly don't care about the integrity of their review system, that's not going to happen any time soon.
__________________
Maintaining a 90-pound weight loss since 2003.
RedPanda is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-26-11, 07:45 AM  
jplain
 
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: New England
The problem with those 2 reviews on Collage is not that they're humorous. The problem is that there's reason to suspect that the writers never viewed the videos. If that isn't a violation of Collage's policy on reviews, then I think they need to revise their policy.
jplain is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-26-11, 10:27 AM  
Artist of Eyes
 
Join Date: May 2011
Location: The windy prairie
I read the forum and someone said we "...need to lighten up"! Normally I would agree. However if you have rules for reviews but then don't follow through, what's the point? It's obvious the person didn't do the workout and I suspect it's the same person that typed both reviews. When you have several instances of this, why should collage be valued for the reviews they offer? There are many instances when reading the reviews you can tell the person hasn't done the workout; heck some even state that. Then you get phony ones like this just for giggles, the violations of copying/pasting reviews, and instructor-directed reviews. I know collage is a paid sponsor of the site, but IMO, they lack dignity in this department. And worse, they seem to be ok with that. They pride themselves on customer service. To me, this is a part of CS.

Hmmmmm....
__________________
"Ladies put some full-fat ranch on your salad. Have that slice of cheesecake. Then go for a walk and kiss your loved ones and dance around your house in your underwear. Life is good." Anonymous

" We have to embrace who we are today. We have to say, this is me, and I can live a wonderful life today." FitBoop

"Walking is Man's Best Medicine for Life" Hippocrates

"Of all exercises walking is the best." Thomas Jefferson

"Thoughts come clearly while one walks." Thomas Mann
Artist of Eyes is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
amazon, amazon.com, collage, collage reviews, collage video, collagevideo.com, reviews

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 07:54 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.3
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
© 2009 Video Fitness