Amazon.com reviewers

I shop through Amazon.com a lot.  I love that site.  And I often use the reviews of people on that site to determine what model of a particular product I'll choose when researching an item.

But some Amazon shoppers apparently don't understand the purpose of a review.  

"This product didn't work for me." That's not a review. It's just a statement. There's nothing specific about the experience whatsoever.  What didn't work? Did it not meet expectations?

That's another kind of review.  "This product did not fit in my cabinet space, blah, blah."  And yet, I could find exactly where the dimensions are detailed on the product page.  That's the reviewer's error in shopping, not a review.

"My product came in a box smashed by UPS and I can't send it back to Amazon."  What does that have to do with the product at all?  That's not a review.

There's also the review that doesn't even pertain the exact model they're reviewing.  For example, I was researching slow cookers and saw a review from someone who had used a particular brand of slow cookers for 30 years.  She went on detail the previous sizes of the slow cookers she had.  This one being "reviewed" was a 5qt slow cooker.  Her final line of the review was that they no longer come in six quart model like the one she currently has; the next best thing would be to get that 5qt. model.  Uhhh, so you don't actually have this particular model?  That's not a review!  That's a recommendation based on brand loyalty.  That doesn't mean the 5qt. model operates in the same way, or that some manufacturing change may have improved or reduced its usefulness.  Manufacturing changes all the time even on the simplest of products.  A review shouldn't be based on assumption, but what the shopper has actually experienced with the product.

Finally, I saw one today for a free Android app.  The app was basically a way to link a Starbucks "rewards" card, refill the dollar amount of the card and keep track of points, etc. so a person wouldn't have to carry the actual card in their wallet.  This one particular reviewer gave the app one star, the lowest rating. In the review they chastised Starbucks's business practices and encouraged everyone to buy their coffee from local coffee shops.  That was it.  It had nothing to do with the app whatsoever.  It was just a soapbox statement against Starbucks.  It wasn't even a Starbucks sponsored app! It was a third party app from an independent developer.

If you write a review of a product, try to include a critique of the actual product in the review.