Weedmaps marijuana dispensary guide is riddled with suspicious reviews

[Robrites]

Millions of consumers treat Weedmaps like the Yelp for pot, relying on the Irvine company as their definitive guide to marijuana dispensaries, varieties and doctors.
But a key feature — user reviews of pot businesses — may be tainted by thousands of potentially fraudulent comments, a flaw in the company’s software revealed.
Reviews on the site are pseudonymous, and visitors reasonably expect that each is written by a unique customer. But data that Weedmaps mistakenly leaked suggests a large proportion of a glowing remarks come from individual users leaving multiple reviews of a single business.
Of 598 businesses examined by the Los Angeles Times and a software developer, 70% had at least one batch of reviews originating from the same IP address.


<aside class="trb_ar_sponsoredmod trb_barker_mediaconductor" data-adloader-networktype="mediaconductor" data-role="delayload delayload_item" data-screen-size="desktop" data-withinviewport-options="bottomOffset=100" data-load-method="trb.vendor.mediaconductor.init" data-load-type="method" data-vendor-mc=""></aside>The repetition is suspicious because IP addresses are typically associated with a single device for up to years. One address contributing several reviews for the same dispensary raises questions about their validity.
Weedmaps Media Inc. President Chris Beals disputed that his company’s user-generated ratings lead consumers to improper conclusions. The firm also has virtual tours and menus, including sometimes lab-verified chemistry details of items, whose accuracy he says is more important to customers.
“The reviews are definitely part of the picture,” Beals said. “We don’t want to neglect anything, but to be honest, it’s critical to have accurate menu and lab information. That’s the number one complaint.”
A separate analysis looking at the text in reviews estimates that 62% of all dispensary comments on Weedmaps are fake.
Beals said that the percentage of problematic reviews is much lower and that the company will catch more questionable submissions as it develops automated tools to help its 15 moderators.
In some cases, multiple reviews from a single IP address may be explained by someone reviewing different menu items separately or several roommates critiquing the same business.


Read More

 

[pop_rocks]

"In some cases, multiple reviews from a single IP address may be explained by someone reviewing different menu items separately or several roommates critiquing the same business."

or they are from employees of that dispensary puffing up the location
i hvae heard form more than one person that they were told to write positive reviews for the place they worked for in their down time

/a couple things i look for reading any review are:
-is this their first and only review?
-how much detail do they go into?

 

[weedaholic721]

Definately employees here in Colorado, you see multple reviews being posted at 730 am before the stores are open. Their system also weighs too many other factors over quality, you can give a place 1 on quality and it still get 4.6 stars.

Completely unreliable and fraudulent. It limits competition and makes going to each place a complete shot in the dark.

Another big problem is cannabis quality is completely subjective. Most do not smoke frequently so the lowest quality can get them very stoned. Many have not experience high quality cannabis, as well.

 

[resinryder]

What do you expect when a black market dealer is replaced with a legal rich one?

 

[theJointedOne]

Weedmaps sucks

 

[weedaholic721]

@ResinRyder and theJointedone, Do you have any suggestions on how to improve on a review system?

Finding some kind of standard to measure quality cannabis is going to be very important in the legal market. As we all know, the testing facilities are not standardized and results are very inconsistant.

Not everybody can "know the right person," of which word of mouth advertising relies. Many seem to like the exclusivity of having cannabis that is better then others and currently try to keep it hidden from the public. This leads to it being very difficult for people who depend on Cannabis to find what they need.

High quality cannabis IS NOT A LUXURY. Prohibition has caused that mentality but people with greedy mindsets are the ones who want it to continue.

Without some kind of standard, low quality cannabis will continue to proliferate and It very may lead to the day when nobody can access good cannabis. There are many people who cannot access medicine that could change their lives, or are forced to only have it infrequently which leads to other issues.

Or is that the general public thinks the Black market is better?, with its complete lack of competetion, having to be a Type A person just to meet the right person who MIGHT have what you need, but who then tries to sell you coke, pills, or dope, or the general lack of quality cannabis available to a given area.

 

[_tessarecting]

Weedmaps blows. Its like yelp. Extortionistic. What else are you going to use though?

I've had to tell a few people they were liars selling garbage in the past. I have found some good stuff though too.

Its good to get in touch with dispensarys though.

 

[theJointedOne]

@ResinRyder and theJointedone, Do you have any suggestions on how to improve on a review system?

Finding some kind of standard to measure quality cannabis is going to be very important in the legal market. As we all know, the testing facilities are not standardized and results are very inconsistant.

Not everybody can "know the right person," of which word of mouth advertising relies. Many seem to like the exclusivity of having cannabis that is better then others and currently try to keep it hidden from the public. This leads to it being very difficult for people who depend on Cannabis to find what they need.

High quality cannabis IS NOT A LUXURY. Prohibition has caused that mentality but people with greedy mindsets are the ones who want it to continue.

Without some kind of standard, low quality cannabis will continue to proliferate and It very may lead to the day when nobody can access good cannabis. There are many people who cannot access medicine that could change their lives, or are forced to only have it infrequently which leads to other issues.

Or is that the general public thinks the Black market is better?, with its complete lack of competetion, having to be a Type A person just to meet the right person who MIGHT have what you need, but who then tries to sell you coke, pills, or dope, or the general lack of quality cannabis available to a given area.

I've been a part of weedmaps as a user since its inception, and even before that I was a user of Weedfinder or nugfinder or whatever it was (the front page of the old site had the seals of all the Calif counties on it)

I do appreciate accurate menus. However my beef is with the review process. As someone stated already, if you leave 1 star in a category it still rates them a 4.6 outta 5 lol.

My biggest gripe is the fact that they allow fake reviews by the clubs themselves, while not allowing negative reviews.

I've been to ALOT of clubs in norcal, and anytime I would be disappointed and rate a place on weedmaps in a not positive way, weedmaps takes down my review and sends me an email stating that my review went against their policy.

Even if I wrote the most eloquent review, if it was not praising the club, I always got it erased.

Once or twice I found mold in buds in Truckee, I left a review stating the fact. Well the owner of the club proceeded to write a reply, stated I was lying, and then told a bunch of lies about me which actually were pretty upsetting. All because I told the truth about their product. Well I threatened them with a lawyer, and they erased the comment and mailed me a check for 300 bucks to cover the moldy ounce. Haha fuckers

 

[HUGE]

Dispos are paying 5figures to weed maps to stay competitive. I'd say 70% of new business for a shop is driven by wee dampener leafly. Very sad but true. Yes a lot of the reviews are real but there are trolls and fluff era just like any other review place. When a place gets a bad review they will bury it with good ones. the most common reviews is the lowlife customer trolling for free stuff. They know if they complain enough they may get a discount or something free to make them go away.

 

[whadeezlrg]

bad reviews definitely get deleted from what I've seen personally. tisk tisk.

 

[JVonChron]

this is fact. friend of mine had the same issue. put an honest review up and the dispensary kept having it erased. so she kept re-posting it. and then they came at her like she was being malicious or something when simply posting the truth.

 

[cryptop]

Classic startup problem of "how do we get revenue??"

Oh just charge dispensaries to get listed on your site

"But dispensaries won't want to get listed if they get negative reviews"

Then allow dispensaries to delete negative reviews!

-------
I've noticed quite a few dispensaries/rec shops list on Leafly and not Weedmaps or the other way around... is there a big difference in price between them?

 

[Nichead]

It not what you say, it's how you say it.

Most dispensary's don't bother to read very much, only skimming through the supposed substance of the review. It is possible to get your point across while seeming to be putting it in a positive light at first glance. Don't stress the high star count (it helps really), and say what you got to, but so that it reads like you've got a smile in your voice. They'll just do a mental "happy customer...check!" before moving on. Anyone that takes the time to read it should see what you went through, even if you're not ranting about it. The employees won't care enough to do so and the owners have already, usually, profited enough not to care anymore either. Maybe even throw the real deal at the bottom.

Really, don't be a dick and your reviews should stay up. I've had maybe 2 taken down, and I was pissy in those reviews.

 

[Chimera]

If you google "Yelp scam" you'll find all sorts of complaints from business owners; if you pay Yelp for 'review management services' your good reviews go to the top and negative reviews are buried. If you don't pay the Yelp mafia, the negative reviews go the the top.

These review services are great for finding locations near you, hours of operation etc but I wouldn't put too much credence in their reviews.

[Youtube]s1lJuu44cJA[/Youtube]

 

[Lyfespan]

have had a leafly acct, they suck ass as far as service unless as you pay. and yes the reviews are totally biased and faked. you can even pay for better reviews and more

 

[theJointedOne]

have had a leafly acct, they suck ass as far as service unless as you pay. and yes the reviews are totally biased and faked. you can even pay for better reviews and more

Agreed

 

[j_hold420]

I've been in several despensaries that offered an incentive (a free gram or a discount) to customers who left a positive review on leafly. I took the bait and wrote an honest review on some mediocre bud I'd purchased. The review was swiftly deleted...I didn't bother trying to get my free gram. I've never bought any bud from a dispensary that justified driving out of my way.

 

[aridbud]

Learned long ago Weedmaps, Yelp is of no assistance. Better to get recommendations from elsewhere. Too, it's a matter of taste.

Netherlands, Portugal, Spain still have better selections in their shops/clubs than in CO. My opinion only after numerous trips abroad. Tried dispensaries twice in CO...disappointed....better to GYO with the best genetics possible.