Do Negative Reviews Hurt Detector Sales?

[Michigan Badger]

I have been having a hard time getting the F75 out of my mind even though it probably gets even more negative rap than the Minelab Explorers.

Yet the multitude of criticisms just seem to cause me to want one more!

Anybody know what I mean?

My next test machine is the Minelab XS but I almost bought a mint F75 even after reading all the negatives.

So what do you think--do these negative comments discourage, or in a reversed psychology way, encourage purchases?

Badger

 

[SC_hunter]

MB, I like most folks take reviews with a grain of salt. See, I have an aversion to Tesoros. I have used 2, the Silver Umax and the Tejon. I was not impressed with either. So, my review would truly not be worth a hill of beans to someone wanting to get one. So, to answer you question....Probably not..but still good to see others impressions of a certain machine.

 

[Keppy]

Badger...After all i read about the new Fishers and the poor service i will not buy one.Like i stated before i am in the market for a older Fisher. To put the money out for any...F.model detector..or any fisher after they sold out after all i read about them. And the service i saw were someone here paid $400.00 for a repair on a Fisher water detector. If i find the older Fisher to buy any repairs on it if needed will be done by East Texas Metal Detectors...............................................I don't have the money to put out for a new detector that is put together with poor quality control & inferior workmanship................Now i have a Sovereign never get rid of it.....................But like Easy said my thoughts on the Explorer is people brainwash each other and themselves on how good they are............To me the Sovereign is better than the Explorer but the Sovereign is way over priced.....so what does that say about the Explorer and the F 75..........==Jim==

 

[Michigan Badger]

MB, I like most folks take reviews with a grain of salt. See, I have an aversion to Tesoros. I have used 2, the Silver Umax and the Tejon. I was not impressed with either. So, my review would truly not be worth a hill of beans to someone wanting to get one. So, to answer you question....Probably not..but still good to see others impressions of a certain machine.

Man, I've got to save this post--I didn't know anyone disliked the Silver and Animal.

Just kidding and your post is good.

But like we're saying, there's something in human nature that when the majority says "no," something inside says "yes." You probably have observed this once or twice in your line of work

 

[Michigan Badger]

Badger...After all i read about the new Fishers and the poor service i will not buy one.Like i stated before i am in the market for a older Fisher. To put the money out for any...F.model detector..or any fisher after they sold out after all i read about them. And the service i saw were someone here paid $400.00 for a repair on a Fisher water detector. If i find the older Fisher to buy any repairs on it if needed will be done by East Texas Metal Detectors...............................................I don't have the money to put out for a new detector that is put together with poor quality control & inferior workmanship................==Jim==

Yup, good point Jim.

The quality and warranty issues were an influence to keep me from buying the 75 this last time around.

 

[cosmic]

I did try one even after reading the bad press.. Learned my lesson!!! To tell the truth I had a XS and the SE and did like the XS better... But to slow for me... I really starting to like my XT70 and they seem to get good reviews.. So yes, I do value the reviews of the people here.. But what it comes down to is pay your money in hopes of finding one that you perfer in your area!!

 

[SC_hunter]

Hey MB.....I think you must be right..negative reviews equals trying it out anyway...I just bought a Cobra Beach Magnet..lol

 

[TerryC]

Badger,
It would seem to me that I've been reading more posts lately that people were "turned on" to a certain detector and so went out to buy one because of positive posts. Ever hear where anyone went out to buy a machine because of many negative posts? No. But if I did, do you think I would tell the world I did? No. It is also my opinion that most neg posts come from people that really expected the machine to do what some hotshot salesperson said it could do. Get where I'm going with that? TTC

 

[mastereagle22]

Hey MB if I had believed the Reviews of the Explorer when deciding on buying it or the DFX I wouldn't have one today and I love the machine.

It has flaws but heck I don't think that the machine can be beat! And that is what is important for me. Not saying that there isn't a better detector out there just that I am consistently happy with the machine I am using and the stuff I am finding with it.

 

[Ricardo_NY1]

"Do Negative Reviews Hurt Detector Sales"

I'm sure to some point they do. Many people will analyze reviews in their own way..........I look at negative reviews of detectors and know a few key points as to why I do not take most seriously.....

1) A good portion of these negative reviews seem to originate from people who a) Did not have the time or patience to learn the machine, or b) Are relatively new to the hobby.

2) Negative reviews seem to dwell on comparing the machine in question to another machine. (My X brand detector did not weigh as much, was built better, was deeper, was easier to learn, etc, etc).

What I do, and did is, observed the satisfaction written about in member posts in regards to their machines like the pieces that Bryce and Dan write about when they talk about how happy they are that they're hearing coins down to those deeper depths, and simply looking at the posts of people who own a particular model, here and in the other forum. Where I see success, the term where there's smoke there's fire rings off in my mind. Forget about the negative reviews. One person's impatience or easy fustration is not a final verdict for me.

 

[jeff of pa]

Reviews do Help.

but are Not 100% Trustworty

especially when they are from Dealers of other Brands.

Or Somone who is on a list to do reviews on detectors.

Read Between the Lines.

I'v heard comments like this on the Sovereign.

"Too heavy"

"Too hard to Learn".

"Dosn't get depth"

"Owners bring them in here, & Try to Trade for My Brand,
& I won't even accept them as Trades"

"People can't get used to the Tonal Changes"

"they are not American Made"

All reasons I Bought One.
and Never Regretted it.

You need to pay Close attention to who Is doing the review.

is it Sour Grapes or Knowledge that is Speaking.
or lack of Knowledge

 

[Michigan Badger]

Reviews do Help.

but are Not 100% Trustworty

especially when they are from Dealers of other Brands.

Or Somone who is on a list to do reviews on detectors.

Read Between the Lines.

I'v heard comments like this on the Sovereign.

"Too heavy"

"Too hard to Learn".

"Dosn't get depth"

"Owners bring them in here, & Try to Trade for My Brand,
& I won't even accept them as Trades"

"People can't get used to the Tonal Changes"

"they are not American Made"

All reasons I Bought One.
and Never Regretted it.

You need to pay Close attention to who Is doing the review.

is it Sour Grapes or Knowledge that is Speaking.
or lack of Knowledge

My favorite above is "Too hard to learn" If someone can't learn the GT they'd better have adult supervision before going outside everyday. That's about the easiest detector going today except for maybe the Silver uMax.

I still favor the GT above all but since the detecting in my area stinks I can afford to play with different machines.

All this learning curve stuff has always been a mystery to me. Even the Explorer II. I can see why someone would dislike the lack of balance, weight, and all the computer programing---but actually it's a simple machine to setup and run. True, all detectors take time to master but that's another story.

I recall how worried I was that I wouldn't even be able to get the thing to work on shallow clad. Right out of the box in about 30 minutes I was digging pennies in the driveway. After getting settings from experienced users here I had no problems at all digging our normal trash copper and tin.

I laughed out loud after using it for a few hours---big learning curve? Even the SE is a simple machine once someone just gives you a little help on basic settings and sounds to listen for.

What turned me off on my first Explorer was how it preformed in maximum settings in the coin garden. My other machines kicked butt on it so I sold the Ex.II. But. I think the poor Ex.II had issues. I bought it used and possibly in shipping something went on it.

But in pinpointing, basic target signaling (down to about 7 inches on coins), the Explorer II was simple.

Reviews can be strange things.

 

[thompy]

dont do it MB, you might like it, its just fun to check out new machines

 

[Eu_citzen]

I think it depends on WHO is doing the review, often there if there is one who is more respected in the detecting community the effect on sales might be greater then when a newbie does write a review.

I often look at a few things when I can find the info:
Who has done it
Where is this person located and where are his/her tests performed
Is the test written in a neutral way (i.e. the writer is NOT brand loyal, or is he/she brand loyal)
New to the machine or not

I have noticed that many often write about their finds in "hunted out areas" etc, this does though not tell anything about the machine in it's self.

MB for me the learning curve is first completed when you know that machine more or less inside out.


Reviews are important for me though I am often skeptic aobut reviews.
Often I prefer to PM members who own one and ask them for Pro's and con's and combine this with review reading.

Good Hunting!
Eu

 

[Michigan Badger]

MB for me the learning curve is first completed when you know that machine more or less inside out.

Good post and I can see where you're coming from here. There are 2 ways of looking at the learning curve thing.

But when it comes down to it, I think very few people ever master their machines (or even come close).

I have met some who did master their machines and it was a real treat to watch them in action. The 1st one I ever saw was back in 83. He was using the same brand I was but a cheaper model. He hunted right behind me and dug a Standing quarter, a Rosie, and Buff (as I recall). I asked him how in the heck he did it. He said the finds were masked by iron and that's why I missed them.

After that I studied the masking thing and now I hunt behind others and get them frustrated.

 

[Michigan Badger]

dont do it MB, you might like it, its just fun to check out new machines

Good to see you post on one of my humble threads again.

I was worried you gave up writing and went ta digging Copper Complex

Ya, the bottom line is I do have to try the F75 and the T2 for that matter. I know I wrote the F75 off a few days ago but the curiosity has got the better of me.

I'm in no hurry but maybe next spring before thawing time I'll relieve some poor THer of his F75 burden

I figure what the heck--I've lost money before. And too, in the case of the F75, I'm dang good at repairing cold solder joints

 

[Sandman]

It seems the learning curve is getting steeper everyday for me. I love to learn a new detector and try to compare them in my mind. I don't do it so I can dig up more targets as that only proves to me that I am doing something right.

When I first started using a Sov, I was at first put off by the threshold changing pitch, but caught on quickly that it meant the machine wasn't broken after all. It was when it first got low on battery power I didn't recognize it as such.

I receive emails asking me to compare two detectors all the time, but they wanna know, "What's the best for coins?" I wonder if they are putting me on as one detector may be a Excal and the other a Fisher 1235. Both fine detectors, but for different jobs.

When reading detector reviews in magazines, remember they don't get return jobs to review if they totally lie. The review does best describing the controls and operation. Depths you can take with a grain of salt, not that they lie, but results could be different in different locals. Sometimes results vary too because of coil quality control. Not all detectors are made equal.

 

[Eu_citzen]

MB for me the learning curve is first completed when you know that machine more or less inside out.

Good post and I can see where you're coming from here. There are 2 ways of looking at the learning curve thing.

But when it comes down to it, I think very few people ever master their machines (or even come close).

I have met some who did master their machines and it was a real treat to watch them in action. The 1st one I ever saw was back in 83. He was using the same brand I was but a cheaper model. He hunted right behind me and dug a Standing quarter, a Rosie, and Buff (as I recall). I asked him how in the heck he did it. He said the finds were masked by iron and that's why I missed them.

After that I studied the masking thing and now I hunt behind others and get them frustrated.

I wanted to get my point across and make it clear where I stand.

Sadly few do master their machines indeed, I have never seen anyone yet.
(I don't bring a mirror while hunting, lol only kidding )

The masking effect is a cool thing for sure, and very interesting.
Now here it comes into understanding the info from the machine correctly.

There are often to many variables in conditions to learn it 100% thats why I said:

MB for me the learning curve is first completed when you know that machine more or less inside out.

 

[Michigan Badger]

It seems the learning curve is getting steeper everyday for me. I love to learn a new detector and try to compare them in my mind. I don't do it so I can dig up more targets as that only proves to me that I am doing something right.

When I first started using a Sov, I was at first put off by the threshold changing pitch, but caught on quickly that it meant the machine wasn't broken after all. It was when it first got low on battery power I didn't recognize it as such.

I receive emails asking me to compare two detectors all the time, but they wanna know, "What's the best for coins?" I wonder if they are putting me on as one detector may be a Excal and the other a Fisher 1235. Both fine detectors, but for different jobs.

When reading detector reviews in magazines, remember they don't get return jobs to review if they totally lie. The review does best describing the controls and operation. Depths you can take with a grain of salt, not that they lie, but results could be different in different locals. Sometimes results vary too because of coil quality control. Not all detectors are made equal.

So true. I think when it comes to depth all of us are fisherman as Merf used to write.

When I say "all of us" I mean everybody except you and me of course

But it's true that sometimes under the right conditions we can get depth that's beyond belief. The trouble is it's not that way all the time.

A while back I got a super faint signal when I was trying my new Excalibur on land. I mean it was so weak I almost didn't bother. I dug a silver Washington quarter that was only about 3 inches deep (max) in mild soil. Maybe it was on edge? Then I dug a wheat penny at better than 8 inches deep and it gave a loud signal.

We had some landscaping done here a couple years ago and I really worked the spot with several top machines before the guys moved the dirt there to the other side of the property. I couldn't get a beep.

They removed the top 3-4 inches of soil and piled it up near a low spot. I checked the dirt and found 2 Indian cents, a large brass padlock, and a brass advertising key. How in the heck I could ever miss such big targets is beyond me.

These VLF's aren't nearly as consistently deep as we think they are.

 

[Mirage]

You are sick if you read a well written "bad" review and it makes you want the machine more. I think what you mean to say is that you want to prove to people that they are jumping to hasty conclusions or writing an "expert" review based on little time with the machine or others.

Reviews are all relative. The best reviews I have read come from people who have really used only a few machines but have used them a lot and know them well. They review each strengths and weaknesses.

As for the F75. I have only heard reports from one person who bought one this spring - and the verdict from him is a big thumbs up. I have hunted with him two or three times and his machine and his limited experience with it did better than me with my experience and Explorer.

Bob