Unscrupulous ratings: Sleepy Leaf
Has anyone else noticed something odd on the main teas page? More specifically, that the two highest-rated teas on the entire site weren’t anywhere near there a week ago, and have a grand total of FIVE tasting notes between them? Here’s a screenshot in case things have changed around from the time of posting: http://i58.tinypic.com/2exr0up.png
All of the Sleepy Leaf teas in the database seem to have unusually high scores, considering how few people have rated them: http://steepster.com/teas/sleepy-leaf
Screenshots: http://i58.tinypic.com/2gtom4k.png & http://i60.tinypic.com/2w39r9w.png
There’s also a number of apparently fake accounts that have a) only rated Sleepy Leaf teas, and b) given them all very high ratings.
http://steepster.com/William0062/teas
http://steepster.com/GemmaS/teas
http://steepster.com/James757/teas
http://steepster.com/wikholm23/teas
http://steepster.com/Vicky93/teas – This account even lowballed Mandala’s Wild Monk sheng, which was the #1 tea for weeks! (screenshot: http://i58.tinypic.com/14kxttg.png) That strikes me as the mark of terrible business ethics.
I emailed the Steepster admins about this over the weekend when the Keemun was only at #9. I haven’t heard back from them, and clearly nothing’s been done about it yet, so I feel compelled to bring it to public attention here. I can’t stand when people so shamelessly play the system for personal gain.
Also interesting that few of their ratings are accompanied by written notes.
Some of the teas do have written reviews, but the majority of the ratings are unaccompanied.
This sucks, and thanks for bringing it to attention here. It’s often one of the best ways to deal with people like this since it sparks some public outcry.
An interesting effect of Steepster’s site redesign is that now tea ratings without tasting notes show up in your tea log. In the past, you could never find out who had rated a tea without a tasting note, it was more anonymous. This system is good for smoking out fake users more easily. For instance, Vicky93 has rated a bunch of teas but not logged any of them; in the past this profile would show up as blank.
The written reviews really read like ads too, which is kind of funny.
“After drinking this for a few days I felt so much healthier and full of energy – it really is a healthy option.”
“It feels so fresh and healthy – probably because it is!!”
“So relaxed after this and it tastes so much more “crisper” than others I’ve tried.”
And these two strike me as written by the same person, because they follow the exact sample format:
“A tasty treat! Not exactly popcorn – but there are some popped corns in this rice/green tea and I really enjoyed it. Very more-ish!”
“Snap, crackle and pop! Well it’s not quite Rice Krispies, but it is certainly a unique taste and one I’m loving! I’ve tasted a few different popcorn teas and this one is the best I’ve had by far!”
Lemme try now:
EXCLAMATION! WHAT THIS TEA ISN’T, BUT/AND IT WAS DELICIOUS ANYWAY. ANOTHER EXCLAMATION!
snarksnarksnark
A lot of those reviews sound the ‘so excited about this product!’ people on the infomercials. I’ve never even heard of that company.
They have made an introduction of sorts on the forums, but this was all I could find in a brief search: http://steepster.com/discuss/80-calling-all-uk-tea-drinkers-dot-dot-dot-i-need-a-good-shop?post_id=123644#forum_post_123644
What does this even mean: "Very more-ish!”
It means it makes you want more of it. Perhaps it’s a Britishism. My mother in law uses the expression.
That’s interesting, here we would use the “ish” to sort of add a “meh” to whatever it was, not really amplify it (at least that’s my connotation).
Yeah, it’s definitely a Britishism, and it does mean that it makes you want more of whatever you’re eating or drinking. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/moreish?r=75&src=ref&ch=dic
It’s crept into my vocabulary and I’ve used it in a few of my own reviews.
I don’t get why companies do this. It’s like saying you don’t believe in your product. If you believed in your product, then you would offer some free samples for reviews and let the teas speak for themselves. They could be building a reputation, engaging with the community, and receiving some valuable feedback but instead they hurt their reputation.
Thanks for bringing the concern to our attention! We’re looking into the situation and will update things accordingly.
Thank you for your response. All the teas in question now have ratings of 89 or lower, and none are on the Best Teas page anymore, but I don’t know if that’s because one of the Steepster admins took action, or if Sleepy Leaf/the account holders removed some of the ratings themselves.
Login or sign up to leave a comment.