Consumer Reports

[angus]

I too am getting tired of the print issues of CR looking like a "cliff notes" ratings summary. The old format where there were fewer topics but were covered in depth were much more informative. Probably that is so you will get an "on-line" subscription. Also, their ratings are no longer as reliable. Seems like once they latch on to a particular brand, they will take that to their graves, regardless of the actual reliability or performance. Finally, I noticed in the recent issue where they rated TVs, some of the models they recommended no longer exist as they have already been replaced by 2025 models. Not helpful.

 

[combo52]

Consumer reports

There are many pros and cons, and Heather have been many changes over the history of this organization, but they still are unbiased by commercial interest and they’ve done a great deal of good for American consumers. Because of consumer reports automobiles are much safer today many of the features that are popular on nice cars. Today are only being sold because consumer reports his recommended them. They’re not required, but they’ve become very popular.

Like many I do like the older consumer reports testing of Appliance is better they used to test just on the performance of the machine, but now they’re factoring in things like the brands reliability history, which I don’t think they should do because you can’t predict the reliability of new appliances entirely.

For example, every Bosch dishwasher is rated higher than just about anything else and yet when you read the ratings they don’t actually perform better in many categories than some other cheaper dishwashers or some other brands. I think the consumer should be able to choose between top performance and top reliability

Consumer reports does seem more responsive. If you write them a letter than they used to be, Jason my business partner, wrote them sometime in the last year and complained that they didn’t test powder detergent for example and guess what we got a nice letter and they tested powder detergent. I’m sure we weren’t the only one that said this, but it really does pay to write them a letter or send them an email. If you have a problem with the ratings I think they’re more responsive than they used to be.

John L

 

[pstehle]

I too am getting tired of the print issues of CR looking like a "cliff notes" ratings summary. The old format where there were fewer topics but were covered in depth were much more informative. Probably that is so you will get an "on-line" subscription. Also, their ratings are no longer as reliable. Seems like once they latch on to a particular brand, they will take that to their graves, regardless of the actual reliability or performance. Finally, I noticed in the recent issue where they rated TVs, some of the models they recommended no longer exist as they have already been replaced by 2025 models. Not helpful.

I got tired 25 years ago, of CR loving garbage because it seemed to work very well when they unboxed it, never mind it would fly apart within a year or so. I also grew weary of JD Powers' "Initial Quality" stuff, yes, it's nice if all the buttons work on my new car when I first get it, but I'm way more interested in how it'll hold up over time and use.