Consumer Report how much value do you put in it?

[larrymoencurly]

If you have anything to say to Consumer Reports, phone them toll-free at 1-866-208-9427.

This is not just their subscription service number, and they sometimes do listen, as evidenced by their evaluations now sometimes mentioning cheaper products that weren't considered good enough to be in the ratings tables (i.e., only the best 30 out of 181 dishwashers listed) or their auto reliability surveys separating major and minor engine and transmission problems.

[larrymoencurly]

Originally Posted by WyoNewk

I've been a professional photographer for the past 20 years and was a newspaper editor/publisher before that (and bought cameras for our news staff). Their reports on cameras are absolutely laughable! Really. Worthless.

Do you mean you can't assign a single rating to represent all the different aspects of a camera's quality?

The problem with Consumer Reports is that it's no longer a nerd-dominated publication but is now designed for idiots who want only the TL;DR version of their reports.

[larrymoencurly]

Originally Posted by CarnivalGal

I put absolutely zero stock in Consumer Reports. Back in college, we studied them extensively (I have a Mass Comm degree). They have a long history of skewing results to suit their own needs.

What are some examples of their skew?

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by larrymoencurly

What are some examples of their skew?

Here is one example which resulted in an out-of-court settlement:



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzuki..._the_U.S.,_Inc.


Suzuki hired Failure Analysis Associates (FaAA, now Exponent) to perform the initial investigation on the roll-over issue. FaAA was critical of Consumers Union's testing procedure and indicated to other factors such as the type of tires and driver behavior that may have contributed to roll-overs. Because of FaAA's report, Suzuki filed a libel suit against Consumers Union in 1996, eight years after the publication of the test results in Consumer Reports, on the grounds that the statements made by CU damaged their reputation and the reputation of their vehicles.[3] Suzuki sued for $60 million in damages and unspecified punitive damages for what Suzuki claimed was willfully fraudulent testing.[4] However, after an 8-year legal battle and several dismissals of Suzuki's claims against CU in Federal courts, CU and Suzuki settled out of court through mutual consent in 2004.[5]

[larrymoencurly]

Originally Posted by jlawrence01

Here is one example which resulted in an out-of-court settlement:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzuki..._the_U.S.,_Inc.

Suzuki hired Failure Analysis Associates (FaAA, now Exponent) to perform the initial investigation on the roll-over issue

But that's not an example of Consumer Reports being skewed. Do you have any examples that are?

I also don't know the reputation of FaAA/Exponent. Are they as honest as the leading arbitrators of financial contracts, i.e., are they paid roughly equally by corporate and non-corporate interests and don't make 95% of their money from one?