Generous 5 star ratings

[Sneakle]

It has to be near perfect for me to give a 5 star rating, and I consider a 4 star rating to be very good. Many reviews are heavily weighted toward 5 stars, even if the review lists a concern or suggested improvement. So it's maybe best to read the 3 and 4 star reviews to get a better evaluation of the gear.

On the same topic, I hired a tree service to cut a tree and I though they did a fair to great job. They contacted me later asking why I gave only a 4 1/2 star rating and would I change my rating so they could keep their score as high as possible. Sheeez

[combatentropy]

Agreed. I call it star inflation. Also, businesses asking for 5-star reviews is tacky.

On the other side, the 1-star reviews usually sound like they were written by unstable people. (That isn't to say that all 1-star reviews are overreactions.)

It is a good suggestion to take a look at the middling reviews.

---

That said, when I shop, what do I go for? Only the ones with at least 4 1/2 stars! Products or businesses with 3 stars freak me out. Even 4 stars give me serious pause. All I can see is that empty fifth star.

I still blame it on star inflation, though. If most things were 3 or 4 stars, then I wouldn't act like that. Even when I filter it down to show me only the things with 4-5 stars, I still have plenty to choose from.

[Peter C.]

It has to be near perfect for me to give a 5 star rating, and I consider a 4 star rating to be very good. Many reviews are heavily weighted toward 5 stars, even if the review lists a concern or suggested improvement. So it's maybe best to read the 3 and 4 star reviews to get a better evaluation of the gear.

On the same topic, I hired a tree service to cut a tree and I though they did a fair to great job. They contacted me later asking why I gave only a 4 1/2 star rating and would I change my rating so they could keep their score as high as possible. Sheeez

I had a similar situation on Amazon. There was some sort of issue and I deducted a star with an explanation. The seller sent me a new item or a refund but they pleaded/demanded that I change my review and give them 5 stars in return. I felt uncomfortable being pressured because I felt an obligation to other buyers to give well rounded review pointing out the good and the bad. On ebay a seller also wanted 5 stars instead of 4, there's some sort of analytic that ebay had developed that puts pressure on sellers that anything less than 5 stars they get penalized in some way.

[puredrifting]

Same with AirBnB, every one that I have stayed at, the owner BEGs for five stars, saying they get penalized for even a 4.5. Per usual with Lemming-like humans,
people have taken a merit-based system that was conceived with logic and made it into something utterly meaningless. Just like "Cinematic" and "Broadcast Quality".

[combatentropy]

It has to be near perfect for me to give a 5 star rating

For what it's worth, the key on Yelp agrees with you. Actually it has a slightly higher standard for 5 stars:

★★★★★	Woohoo! As good as it gets!
★★★★	Yay! I'm a fan.
★★★	A-OK.
★★	Meh. I've experienced better.
★	Eek! Methinks not.

Apparently we are unable to deal with this level of nuance.

[filmguy123]

Yes to the loss of nuance, combat. Funny - the prevalence of 5 star/1 star extreme ratings mirrors the way are culture is largely seeing through a binary lens.

I agree, it's turned star ratings into something increasingly useless.

[lambert]

With eBays positive, neutral, negative is a little wacky. Some Europeans left neutral because item arrived as it should, nothing outstanding just what one would expect. It’s probably a much healthier attitude but it does to most Americans look like the seller did something wrong.