I have an issue with certain product reviews which do not rate the product itself but actually rate the company instead. I think this is very unfair to the product. If you have an issue with the company, don't tarnish the product's reputation. I went today to download DNN 7.3 from Codeplex and one current review made me go.. WHAT? The reviewer is unhappy because the release notes didn't mention the names of the people who contributed to the product. How is this DNN's, as a product, fault? Does DNN suck because of this? Will users have a bad experience of it? Don't blame DNN for this! You can pour your frustration with dnnsoftware in the proper channel. Email them. Tweet about this (which already happened) or post in the forum.
The DNN rating on CodePlex is 1.5! Is DNN that bad? So I got curious and read some reviews. People are so fast to write a bad review because something didn't work properly. Did they seek help first? Did they post in the forum? You should write a bad review only when you have exhausted support avenues. Not the first second you have a problem! If enough people post unfair reviews and ratings, the whole ecosystem can suffer. Fewer people will download and use DNN, it gets less popular and then we whine how the community is going downhill and shrinking. 1.5 rating? This software must suck and so a prospect user will move on.
Also users tend to write a bad review when they have problem but are too lazy to write a good review when they are happy with a product. That skews the rating system to a lower rating.
A product review is ABOUT THE PRODUCT. Not your emotional experience with the vendor. I don't know if CodePlex let's you update your rating but if it doesn't, then that's a black mark that's permanent. So.. first try to help yourself or seek help to fix the problem. DNN is a complex app. I think it's the largest ASP.NET open source app. So for sure it's not going to work right from the beginning for everyone. I have my own frustrations with DNN and I have posted a lot in the forums even about the the corp's site itself. Because I care. If I don't bring an issue up, no one might notice and it won't be taken care of. We have been complaining about DNN's performance for a long time and 7.3 is addressing these issues.
Some bad reviews can ruin a company so think twice because posting a bad one and if you do, it should be real, with facts and constructive. I have seen so many frivolous reviews on Amazon. Some are real idiotic and the blame is on the buyer. For example I remember one review where one lady ordered some food I guess and left the box outside the door and she gave the product 1 start because the box was ransacked by a racoon during the night! I gave her 5 stars for stupidity. It had nothing to do with the product or even Amazon.
Let's not be too negative