In the past, you could buy things without having to trawl through previous customers' reviews. Now, it seems, just about everything is reviewed and sellers kind of expect it. In fact many businesses send out customer surveys straight after a sale has been made.
For at least twenty five years I had no idea how much I weighed - quite simply because I never weighed myself. We had an old mechanical set of scales in our bathroom but I never stood on them until very recently when I began having weight loss reduction injections. Some might say that previously I was "in denial". Maybe I was.
The old scales were a wedding present forty four years ago and it had become hard to read the little plastic dial behind a now clouded, slightly yellowing plastic window. Wanting to track my gradual weight loss pretty accurately, I decided to treat ourselves to a new set of scales.
In 1981 there were no digital scales on the market but now in 2025 most available scales are digital and some have extra features to do with body mass index calculation etc.. There are even scales that talk to you or give you printed read-offs.
I did not want any of that. I just wanted a reliable set of scales and in Great Britain the brand that people immediately think of is Salter. That company has been around since the eighteenth century.
So I go online to look at what is available and that is when I enter a reviews minefield. Eventually, I decided to purchase a Salter Max electronic scale but as for pretty much all other scales, some customer reviews suggest that they do not weigh accurately or consistently. I needed to remind myself that 89% of buyers were very happy with their purchase. It was only a measly 6% who gave the product a one star rating.
Here's a typical five star review followed by one of the one star reviews:-
I am delighted with my purchase of the Salter bathroom scales for several reasons, firstly the weight is displayed in large figures which are easy to read, secondly the scales are digital giving a more accurate reading and thirdly the figures remain on screen for a few seconds when the scales are dismounted.Brilliant.
Very disappointed with this purchase that we have returned for a refund. The scales were showing about 6lbs more than a known weight. Salter should hang their heads in shame for producing such an inaccurate item. Now looking for an alternative make.
Anyway, fingers-crossed our new scales will be just fine. I just wish that I had bought them before my weight loss journey started.
Finally, the old scales are here, captured in a photograph before they are binned. In forty three years they witnessed a hell of a lot of bathroom activity. Goodbye old but oft-neglected friend...
That's one wedding present that lasted. Surely you could have posted a farewell Pudding-eyed view.
ReplyDeleteFarewell the Salter scales
DeleteIf all fails
You can go to Wales.
I never bother reading customer's reviews. Who's got time to read all that BS?
ReplyDeleteI have got time between my transatlantic business meetings, my golf trips and polo matches.
DeleteI don't read customer's reviews for products, only VERY rarely for a hotel O.K. and I want to book and have not stayed at previously, or have no personal recommendation from a friend or family member.
ReplyDeleteIf I needed a new set of scales, I would go into town center and look for it at the shops where I could easily compare prices, look, make and functions of various models, and could take my purchase home with me right away.
I still have my grandparents' mechanical set of scales from the 1950s, but it was moved to the cellar when my Mum gave me a digital one she had received as part of a product tester program. For about two or three years now, I have not bothered to put in a new battery and only weighed myself occasionally at O.K.'s.
Sheffield's best department store closed for good during COVID. I would probably have gone there in past times.
DeleteFor the person whose scales consistently read six pounds heavier perhaps she should try not eating too many snacks while watching TV after dinner? I remember being shocked when I discovered I was 83kg some time ago, but didn't blame the new scales. Iknew it was several years worth of ice cream and doughnuts etc.
ReplyDeleteI never read the reviews either and when sent an email requesting a survey or "how did we do?" I just delete them. I'm not paying them good money AND stroking their egos.
You are a hard woman Elsie! But maybe you have a soft yolk.
DeleteA few years ago I did the opposite... I ditched my digital scales for an analogue version when the digital readout started to become erratic and unreliable.
ReplyDeleteWell we will see how we do with our new scales. I doubt that they will last another 44 years but in any case I will be history by then.
Delete"The scales were showing 6lbs more than a known rate" How did she know the 'known' weight was right. I will always quibble ;)
ReplyDeleteThat's why your nickname in the staffroom of the school you attended was "Little Miss Quibble".
DeleteCan't say I've ever bothered to buy bathroom scales. My mother had a set which must have been around about the time of the Ark! You could stand on them, jump off, and then stand on them again and the difference could be as much as a stone! I don't think she actually ever used them!
ReplyDeleteIt can depend on where you place them. Just quarter inch can give slightly different readings.
ReplyDeleteI've had my electronical scale for many years by now (don't remember when I bought it). It's not really reliable when it comes to just minor weight changes, as the figure it shows may vary a bit depending on exactly where on it I happen to put my feet. Close enough when it comes to informing me of more long-term tendencies, though... ;)
ReplyDeleteI have been on a bit of a "weight loss journey" since my birthday in August. I got on the scales on my birthday, and I was shocked! I had noticed that my pants seemed a bit tighter, and the number on the scale verified my fears, I had gained weight! Each morning (mostly) I weigh myself and keep a record of it. I know that sounds quite anal, but it helps me to focus on not snacking during the day. I have lost 10 pounds since August, and am hoping for five more. With the holidays approaching that may be unrealistic! I am always amazed at how many surveys I get from businesses and doctors, etc. asking me how I liked the product or the doctor. It has gotten worse over the last five years or so.
ReplyDeleteI read reviews every so often, but make up my own mind because I've seen many reviews that say the product is the best followed by reviews to say it's the worst.
ReplyDeleteIt's always a gamble, so I say, "Keep the receipt."
The review thing is ridiculous. I read an article that said that many companies who ask for these things don't even read them. I rarely follow through with them unless someone did a fantastic job and I want to give them credit or conversely, if something was horribly awry.
ReplyDeleteAn interesting word question. 150 years ago, a sale was a set, with a balance and weights, and logically referred to as a set of scales. Today a scale is a self contained, all in one box device. Should it be set of scales, scales, or scale? Should the words evolve with the technology?
ReplyDeleteI'm not surprised you didn't buy a talking scale. It would be awful to be told, only one at a time please:)
ReplyDeleteMy husband and his co-workers have to check all of the scales at the hospital every month to ensure they are accurate, because body weight is used to administer chemo. One of the nurses keeps complaining that the scales are inaccurate because they show she weighs more than her scale at home, much like the dissatisfied reviewer.
My brother still has the bathroom scale we grew up with, which my parents bought some time in the 1960s. Amazing! And last time I tried it, it worked fine. I didn't know there was a dominant brand of bathroom scale in the UK. I couldn't have named one if you'd asked in a pub quiz!
ReplyDeleteI do check my weight at least once a week if not more often, so that if a few pounds start to creep on, I can correct it quickly. I do occasionally read reviews of items to get an all-over idea of how good the product is, but also appreciate there will be some people who are never satisfied and leave a bad one.
ReplyDeleteA scale is an odd wedding present! But it sure lasted for you. Hope your weight loss journey is going well and you feel better.
ReplyDeleteThe set of old scales you have is exactly like the one I have. I don't know where they . The only time I get weighed is at my yearly check up. Good luck with your new scales.
ReplyDeleteAlways weigh yourself on scales in the SAME POSITION ,
ReplyDeleteWe had digital scales but now I have the old type. I am not sure what happened with the digital scales. If using scales to comparatively measure weight gain or loss, the actual figure doesn't matter so much as the gain or loss difference.
ReplyDelete