Online reviews aren’t instructions on who to choose. They’re information that helps you make a better decision. We should never take them as ‘what to buy’ or ‘who to choose’ – instead we should delve further, look for patterns, go beyond the star rating, and get an overall sense of a business based on the opinions and experiences of past customers. One common mistake is to write a business off out of hand for one or two negative reviews – indeed, learning how to evaluate those reviews and accept that not every business can be perfect all of the time, will allow you to evaluate a business differently.

Look at the bigger picture

A business may have great reviews but the odd bad one should not be taken as a red flag. There are important factors to consider. Firstly – not all customers are the same and they will have different expectations. Even a great business will occasionally fail to meet a customer’s expectations. That doesn’t mean that a tradie is unreliable, or to be avoided.

Secondly, if a business with generally great reviews receives negative ones, look to see how they were responded to. When a good tradie receives a negative review they will go out of their way to address the issues. So take the time to read their replies – they will tell you just as much about them as a string of glowing reviews.

Thirdly, when was the bad feedback posted? If they are old and issues raised in the review have been resolved and the recent reviews are solid, you can take that as a blip. If however, there are more recent negative reviews and those reviews bring up the same issues and concerns, then that is a different matter entirely.

Patterns are telling

When there is a string of bad reviews look for common ground. I do this whenever I read reviews for appliances and it’s soon obvious that products to be avoided raise similar concerns with consumers. It is the same with tradies/businesses. If reviews repeatedly point to poor work, terrible communication, unexpected or unexplained costs, for example, then it is time to move on.

Recent reviews are essential

As in every part of life, reputations can change and the same applies to tradies. I’ve seen businesses with amazing reviews experience a shift in direction and attitude that has been reflected in a string of negative reviews. On the other hand I’ve seen businesses that have struggled to impress that change focus and create a solid reputation. Recent reviews deserve more weight, but older reviews can still be useful when they reveal a pattern that continues today. What is vital is what is being said about a tradie/business now.

The aim isn’t to find a business with a flawless review history. It’s to understand what customers consistently say about the business, how recent those experiences are, and how the business responds when things don’t go perfectly.