Out of curiosity I went back and read all of the reviews. I'm about 100% sure that those people got their grills for free based on the way most of the reviews were written. The part where it says "review collected as part of a promotion" is definitely a tip off to that. For example, Home Depot sends me emails all the time asking me to review all the stuff I buy there. The only thing they mark my reviews with is "verified purchaser". That being said, I would love to be sent big ticket items for free in exchange for a review.
Here is how it works. If the "seller" i.e. Charbroil solicits your review after you have purchased than the "dealer" i.e. Lowes MUST by law IIRC explain the review was "solicited". If however, the buyer simply reviews a product Lowes knows was purchased (or Amazon, Best Buy etc) through them as the authorized re-seller than the review is shown as "verified purchaser". I have had reviews published in the past that showed both types of titles. I have left (and had published) truly bad reviews totally knocking a product show up as "solicited" and or "verified purchaser" and I have had good reviews published that showed up both ways.
IDK why you people think I am "lying" about this. I have no skin in the game. It's all part of the way things are done. I wish I would have saved emails "soliciting" a review I have gotten, but I simply delete them after I have participated and or read them.
If you ever noticed when you fill out a warranty card they almost always ask "where did you purchase?" or ask to get a copy of receipt? This is how they know if you're a "verified" purchaser at the dealer web site. Otherwise there is no way for them to ascertain at say BestBuy.com if you actually bought the widget you decided to spout off about (good or bad) or not.
Anyway manufacturers constantly "solicit" feedback from their customers.
Having been in business I learned from much of my sales training that a dissatisfied customer will tell at least 10 people and those 10 will tell at least 10 more of your experience but a satisfied customer MIGHT tell one person who will likely tell no one. So WAY back in the day when I took the advanced sales training offered by ERA Real Estate it was drummed into us to ALWAYS solicit feedback (published feedback) from our customer(s) and clients. and believe me I ALWAYS did. Of course I was VERY VERY conscientious as a Realtor and in 14 plus years of practice and hundreds of clientele MAYBE got 4 or 5 people who weren't happy or would recommend my services. But, I had to work HARD to get those responses and to keep clientele happy.
As for preferring Weber over CharBroil again it's personal preference. Given the way Weber treated me I might decide otherwise. But, again it's a personal choice but for sure the people you see with those reviews were NOT given freebies.
