Magic Tricks

C'mon....experiment! Write that '1 star' review! Not necessarily for this lecture/show that we've not seen, but there must be something from your past purchases that would fall within this category.
I don't work for PM, but I'm certainly a huge fan and customer.
Yes, reviews are supposed to be approved...they go somewhere for a few days anyway.
Generally, PM is very fair with the posting of reviews, both positive and negative.
I rarely post any reviews anymore. Simply, there are just too many of them...especially the glowing 5 star variety.
However, if there is a product that I really like (rare),e.g "Little Door", I MAY post a review. I mean, how many "over the top, 5 star, this is the best trick since sliced bread" sweet accolades can one person digest at one sitting. Heck, I'm getting a cavity just typing this.
Hmmmm...sorry for all the food metaphors...Maybe I should go get breakfast.
Anyway, I digress
I've written some negative reviews for a couple of dogs that I've purchased. At least, I thought that they were dogs! Candidly, the negative reviews are of more value to me.
PM posted them promptly.
Now, a friend, who didn't purchase the trick(s) posted negative reviews for the same products and, to no one's surprise, they were not posted.
Yea, I get why mine posted and his did not...
Alright..@barts185...good chatting with you! Let me know when you post that single star review about one of your not so great purchases ;-)

Candidly, I'm with you @barts...the review isn't helpful in re: the upcoming presentation.
However, I'd bet that they guy from the Ukraine was just trying to let us know that this guy is pretty funny.
Again, is it helpful...?
Of course not.
But, I don't think that anything nefarious is going on either.
Now, try posting that '1 star' review...I'll support you for whatever that's worth ;-)
You get a "+1" karma vote from me just for 'pay'n attn'!!!

There are always reviews from individuals whom are not verified buyers.
Simply, most are from other 'magicians' rating a trick for marketing purposes that they received gratis from the tricks author in exchange for a positive review.
That's not surprising...anyone that doesn't realize this just hasn't been around this, or any other site long enough.
@girs...per your suggestion, you state that "you may not want to trust it" when reading a review posted by someone who is not a verified buyer. That's fair.
BUT, how about Penguin being pro-active by just not posting reviews unless you can verify the purchase from PM? It's not like you don't have enough reviews anyway.
Yes, the question is more rhetorical because we know why PM posts those UN-verified purchaser reviews.
To be fair, lately, most 'magi' are disclosing, at the beginning of the review, that they rec'd a free copy in exchange for the opinion.
Anyway, "...C'est la vie..."

I just reported it.

So I should trust that the review system correctly identifies buyers even though it doesn't know the date and allows reviews for things which haven't happened yet?

For anyone that's following along, I actually did do the 1 star review several days ago.

Not a surprise that it hasn't been posted, but the 5 star one remains.

Thanks for the support, Magic Yoda. +1 right back at you!

The system allowing reviews for things which haven't happened yet is likely just a quirk of the system, but reviews have to be approved, don't they?

If yes, then at the very least, the person who approved it was not paying attention or allowed it because it's a good review.

If no, then all the messages I've seen from people that claim they've posted negative reviews that take a long time to show up (or never show up) seem very strange.

I'm not going to post a 1 star review - while it might be a nice experiment, it would be hypocritical.

I have not seen Tom live, but I own a bunch of his products and have seen some of his videos. I agree he is a funny guy and I think the lecture will very likely be good / great, but to borrow a saying - they still have to play the game.

Thanks again for the support!

Hey 'barts185'...
Tom Burgoon later today in a few hours eh?
You'll 'be there', right ;-)
I've been hearing for weeks that its pretty good...lol!
Sarcastically, you're gonna post a review, right???

O.K. what did I miss???
Wait one - gotta read the posts!
Aha - @bart185 - write the neg review, for scientific purposes only.

Worrying about things like this is why people have heart attacks and die at an early age. I mean seriously? There are more important things to worry about. You obviously seem smart enough to know when a review isn't worth your time. So why don't you use that intuition.
Reviews are there as opinions. That's all a review is. Most of them are biased anyway.

It must just be me. Because honestly, I just don't see the point in wasting the energy when I have my art to spend my energy on.

Thank you for the support, for future reference please rate and report any reviews like this one. If a review does not indicate that it is written by a "verified buyer" you may not want to trust it. For your convenience, these are the best reviews to trust.