Watchdog request

Could you possibly please add a column to show the total number of Watchdog Comments people have made on the Watchdog page? I know you can see it if you click on their name, but I'd be interested in seeing it alongside the newest comments people have made. Thanks for your consideration.

I think we already do this. It is shown right under their name when you are reading a review they've written.

I was talking about on this section Dave, can you please check it out?

http://davesgarden.com/gwd/

See how you could add a column to show it there too?

Thanks.

megan

Playing devil's advocate for a moment - would it make a difference to you whether each of those new comments came from someone who posted one comment or a dozen?

Would you skip over the ones from a one-time poster and read only the feedback from those who have left more (two? three? ten?) reviews?

Shrug...at the summary level (which is what that page is), I don't think it would matter much to me - I'm more interested in seeing who's been recently rated, than I am in seeing how many other ratings the member has published.

Once I click on the vendor's feedback, then I do "dig a little deeper" and look at how many reviews the person has published up to that point. If their experience was really bad, I might click on their name to see who else they've bought from/rated and whether they are generally satisfied with most purchases, or if they are typically dissatisfied. (Putting their feedback in that context can help me decide how much credence I place in their feedback.) But I wouldn't go through that mental process until I've actually read their feedback for a company.

Terry,

I just like to see that particular piece of information and it would save a step from clicking on their name, or on the company's name.

It's an interesting piece of information when placed in proper context, but there were concerns raised when we added it that it might become over-relied upon, and skepticism heaped on anyone who hadn't left multiple feedbacks. That would be unfortunate.

We have always encouraged vendors to - in turn - encourage their customers to leave feedback. If we make a big deal out of how many reviews someone has published, we may be discouraging the very behavior we're trying to prompt ;o)

Interesting discussion.I use TripAdvisor to help me plan trips, get reviews on hotels etc. I am skeptical of those reviews of a hotel that are made by people who only have posted one review. Granted maybe that was the one experience they wanted to rave about, or complain about, but maybe it is also someone from that hotel or a competitor trying to skew results. I place a lot more emphasis on those that post multiple reviews of lots of different places. Maybe not applicable to this site since people may use mail order when they start to specialize in something.

Okay, thanks Terry.

Megan