Dear LPG,

I read the article you posted on your news page which had the title ‘Rate and check ratings when buying online’ (►►►) and agree that this is the way to go when working out which is the best item or service to buy to an extent, but I think that there is something else that also needs to be considered when one finds oneself about to make a choice.

I think that MH forgot to mention one point, and that is regardless of if you are buying something off or online, one of those age-old sayings has to kick in. 

I remember my mother telling me that I had to make my own choices when it came to fashion when I was a young girl just starting work in the mid-1960s, but whenever I turned up wearing something I thought really ‘cool’, but that she thought a little unorthodox, she would throw me a faint look of disapproval as she mumbled, ‘Beauty is in the eye of the beholder’.

So my thinking is that, just because your friend or neighbour really recommends a product or service does not mean that you will be equally impressed with it.  Perhaps it is worth checking those reviews to make sure that the product is not likely to fall apart within a few weeks, but then you need to rely on your own judgement.   I also have learnt not to recommend things to others and can say that friendships have been put under strain because of the results that can grow out of that pastime.

Perhaps it is safer to tell someone that you liked it, or it worked for you, but they need to make up their own minds and, while I agree that the online reviews do help, we do need to take them with a pinch of salt as they say. 

  VT, Crystal Palace

LPG found this interesting bet of online advice…

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