# Bimodal customer product-review distributions **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 14, 2018, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bimodal-customer-product-review-distributions/824506 "2018-11-14T15:03:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2018, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bimodal-customer-product-review-distributions/824506/21 "2018-11-15T17:19:15Z")
In addition to the factors already mentioned, I think we can safely assume a few people misunderstand the rating system. They loved the product they bought, so they rated it number one. It’s the products that disappointed them that get the fifth place rating. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2018, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bimodal-customer-product-review-distributions/824506/22 "2018-11-15T18:21:04Z")
> [@Bayaker](#): > > I have never used Uber, so just out of curiosity, how is it that you _have_ to provide more information? Is that part of some agreement you sign up for to use Uber, so if you don’t comply they’ll say “No cab for you!”? It would be odd if they turned down a paying customer just because you didn’t want to fill out a stupid survey. And I would likely rate an average cab ride a 3 - less if the driver got lost or cursed me out or something, and more if they went above-and-beyond like carrying luggage inside the house. It’s not that severe of a “you must” – but, IIRC, if you want to give a rating that’s not “5”, you have to give details as to why you’re giving the rating in order to submit the rating; you can’t just hit “4” and “enter,” and be done with it. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2018, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bimodal-customer-product-review-distributions/824506/23 "2018-11-15T18:28:29Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > After talking to a customer rep I was asked to rate my experience 1 to 10. I gave him a 7, which seemed high. (I was actually somewhat disappointed in his service.) I thought 9 or 10 should imply real excellence; and 8 would be a good rating. “7” seemed as neutral as could be: _“Nothing to see here; move along folks.”_ > > I got a phone call from his supervisor, insisting I tell her what he’d done wrong. I kept saying, “7 isn’t so low, no?” but she wouldn’t have it, keeping me on the phone and demanding that I find fault with her rep. > > In future, I’ll just say “10” unless something is way wrong. Probably using [Net Promoter Score](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Net_Promoter) or some variation thereof. Basically it says that anything less than a 9 is bad, because it means you aren’t likely to recommend their service to anyone else. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2018, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bimodal-customer-product-review-distributions/824506/24 "2018-11-15T18:32:06Z")
This seems to be true across any star rating systems. You have your 5 stars, your 4 stars because nothing is perfect, and your 1 star dissatiscation. And four start has been programmed out of us due to many situation where anything less that 5 stars will cause problems. In Uber, I understand that a 4 star average can get you booted from the program. On eBay, anything less than 5 stars dings the seller. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2018, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bimodal-customer-product-review-distributions/824506/25 "2018-11-15T19:18:23Z")
I noticed the Google ratings for Sam’s Club are all either 5 star or 1 star. I figured the 5 star ratings were from the managers and the 1 star ratings were from the actual customers. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2018, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bimodal-customer-product-review-distributions/824506/26 "2018-11-15T19:35:13Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Stephen Colbert the other night commented that their new book _Whose Boat Is This Boat?_ was getting one-star reviews from people who were disappointed to learn that the book was actually what was described on the show! Never heard of it but I looked it up. 425 reviews and also bimodal. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2018, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bimodal-customer-product-review-distributions/824506/27 "2018-11-15T21:13:17Z")
People give one star because [sometimes, the app doesn’t actually warn you about tornadoes](https://xkcd.com/937/). ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2018, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bimodal-customer-product-review-distributions/824506/28 "2018-11-15T21:32:49Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > After I bought my car I was sent a sanctification survey. They wanted to know if you were happy with how the care was blessed? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bimodal-customer-product-review-distributions/824506.md?page=1)