The “Break it Down” Blog

When I am in the market to buy something, reviews are a critical thing for me… the more the merrier. This is true to the extent that I won’t even shop at an e-tailer that doesn’t provide reviews or represents them poorly; and I find myself more inclinded to shop at stores that do make the reviews of products more predominant and easy-to-find (like Newegg). It just makes it easier to browse and find other products you might like.

Got an email dropped in our inbox today that introduces us to reevoo: “an independent company that collect and publish genuine reviews, to help you decide what to buy (and what not to buy)”.

While this might not be cutting edge in review compilation sites, what caught my eye was the Hall-of-Shame-esque lists that reevoo has come up with by reviewing the reviews (brain-twister) coming in on products. You can read more about these retarded products on thier “Decide What to Buy” blog, here’s an example:

An egg tray that only holds five eggs and a dishwasher that doesn’t wash standard size plates are among a list of badly-designed household appliances currently on sale in the high street.

The hall of shame also featured a television which won’t turn off unless the plug is pulled out of the wall socket, a children’s outdoor slide - in bright yellow - which attracts thousands of bugs in summertime making it impossible for kids to play on and a washing machine that won’t wash cotton or synthetics at less than 60 degrees.

And just to further shame those products into the hall of face, here’s a list of some retard-products:

1. Bosch KGU30605 Fridge - the egg tray which only holds five eggs instead of the standard six.
2. Zanussi ZWF14581 Washing Machine - The default temperature when you choose cotton or synthetics is always 60 degrees. But almost all synthetics are labelled 40 degrees or less.
3. LG 37LF66 Television - that doesn’t turn off.  You have to pull the plug out of the wall to turn the TV off.
4. Easy Store Large Slide - the bright yellow colour attracts thousands of bugs in summertime.
5. Kenwood DW12CFE Dishwasher - Normal sized plates stacked as design suggests in the bottom tray stop the spray arm spinning, and thus the top layer does not get washed. Trays are non removable so the dishwasher won’t run without the top tray in. Hard to fit standard sized dinner plates.

For more information on how reevoo works or how you can know to trust their reviews, check out their FAQ. They do pride themselves on only providing reviews from shoppers who have purchased the item based on the information from their partner sites… so that’s pretty slick (sorta like Consumer Reports, but you get to see the actual repsonses).

Overall, looks like another handy research-tool to keep in your belt when you are in the market for a new expensive item.