Product Reviews

Most of the tales on this blog are about Lincoln and other Gates Family Events... that's why most of you come here. Thank you for stopping by as often as you do. Every now and then, however, Jenn and I have a conversation about one topic or another and we say to each other, "We ought to write about that on the blog sometime." Well, this is one of those times. We were out walking with Lincoln a while back, using his Combi stroller (similar to the one pictured here), and we came to the conclusion that this brand of stroller just isn't what it's cracked up to be. The folks at Babies "R" Us talk about it like it's one of the best, and it gets pretty good reviews, but our experience with it just doesn't match up. It's not a crappy stroller, it's just not luxury like we were led to believe.

So we got to thinking, "Why does it get such good reviews?" and we came up with a theory. We believe that most reviews are written on the internet shortly after the product is opened and used. Rarely will one come back months or years later and review a product. There are probably several reasons for this: lack of time, sometimes an original receipt or code is required to leave a review, forgetfulness, etc. So the theory is that folks open a product (a product that came highly recommended), and the buyers use the product and find it satisfying to one degree or another. The buyers don't often want to feel like an idiot who bought a lousy product, so they'll convince themselves, usually subconsciously, that the product is at least as good as advertised. It's a theory in progress, and it's the best we've been able to come up with.

How else can one explain how some of these baby products, electronics, pieces of furniture, kitchen-wares, etc. get fantastic reviews and reputations, only to be brought home by you to ask of yourself, "Is this the best I could have done?" So if we think about it, we'll talk about some of our experiences with regard to this phenomena in future posts. So far, off the tops of our heads, the Combi Stroller and the Chico Highchair fit into this category: nice, but not worth the money. You future mothers and fathers out there, before you make a purchase or fill out your registry, feel free to contact us to get some thoughts that you may not find on the other websites. We're lookin' out for you.