EIGHT Edinburgh Festival Fringe producing venues – Assembly, Dance Base, Gilded Balloon, Just the Tonic, Pleasance, Summerhall, Underbelly and ZOO – are coming together for the first time to launch an updated show ticketing and reviews platform, edfest.com – providing audiences with a central hub for easy booking, information and reviews of ‘the best curated shows on the Edinburgh Festival Fringe’.
With tickets now on sale, edfest.com provides a centralised booking and reviews hub providing access to 1,159 shows across comedy, dance, theatre, and music at 140 venues, featuring performers from 32 different countries.
Some notable performers and shows in the 2022 edfest.com line up are:
Assembly: Choir of Man, Beats on Point, Friendsical, Love Loss & Chianti and Queenz
DanceBase: Ballet Ireland, Scottish Dance Theatre, Dan Daw Creative Projects
Gilded Balloon: Late’n Live, Maisie Adam, Leith Social, Henry Naylor, Jack Docherty
Just The Tonic: Jimeoin, Tom Stade, Aliya Kanani, Jack Gleadow, Anthony Deveto
Pleasance: Freedom Ballet of Ukraine, Sophie Duker, Ben Hart, Tim Vine, SK Shlomo
Summerhall: Learning to Fly, Life is Soft, Mama Love, Talisk, Efterkland
Underbelly: La Clique, Rhys Nicholson, Dragons & Mythical Beasts, Circa: Humans 2.0, Unfortunate: The Untold Story of Ursula the Sea Witch
ZOO: Night Dances, Runners, Rocky, Sad Book, Far Gone, Every word was once an animal
The new edfest.com website has been designed to give audiences a more bespoke experience, allowing them to search and find shows they will love.
Companies and venues will update information on a regular basis and the public will be encouraged to review shows and share with their friends. The new experience gives ticket buyers a more rounded view of what’s on offer, replacing what word of mouth and poster clippings have done in the past.
Speaking on behalf of the eight edfest.com venues, Jim Hollington, CEO of Dance Base, comments: “The last two years have been incredibly hard for everyone in the arts and entertainment sector. It’s therefore critical that this year’s Edinburgh Fringe is a success, to protect the future of our own organisations, of the performing artists who make the Fringe, and of our contribution to the city of Edinburgh overall.
“As producing venues, we invest a huge amount of time, energy and money curating and producing some of the best entertainment in the world and bringing that to Edinburgh. Whilst the pandemic created numerous challenges, it did allow us to stop and think about how we could collaborate and do things better.
“Across the eight edfest.com venues we share a similar vision and so it made sense for us to pool our sales and marketing resources to drive efficiencies across our own operations and ultimately make things easier for customers. Our box offices will also all be linked and audiences will be able to buy for multiple venues.
“Crucially this year we are going on sale earlier than usual to increase the sales window for bookings and generate much needed revenue.
“Putting the last two years behind us we would like to encourage everyone from Fringe loyalists who turn up every year, to Edinburgh locals and first timers to visit edfest.com, book some spectacular shows and once again enjoy the best possible Edinburgh Fringe experience this August. We can’t wait to get going!”
Best-selling Amazon products display evidence of fake and incentivised review practices, Which? finds
Best-selling products and brands on Amazon Marketplace display reviews from buyers saying they have been offered vouchers, freebies and money in exchange for posting five-star reviews and removing negative ones as the tech giant fails to adequately protect shoppers from fake and incentivised review practices, a Which? investigation has revealed.
The consumer champion looked at dozens of popular products and brands on Amazon Marketplace and by using search terms such as ‘bribe’ and ‘incentive’ found repeated evidence of customers reporting that sellers had approached them with a view to manipulating the rating they left for the product.
Ahead of Amazon Prime Day 2021 (21 and 22 June), when many subscribers will be looking to grab themselves a bargain in the sales, Which? looked at Amazon ‘Best Sellers’ – lists of the most popular products based on sales – on the online marketplace’s website.
Five of the nine Amazon Best Sellers product categories that Which? analysed showed repeated evidence of incentivisation – smartwatches, dash cams, Bluetooth speakers, in-ear headphones and surveillance video equipment.
Twelve products (24%) across the top 10 best sellers in those five categories had reviews from customers stating they were being asked to post five-star reviews or alter or remove their negative feedback.
Several reported being chased via email to do so, while others said they were sent cards alongside their products requesting positive reviews in exchange for vouchers or free gifts. Seven (58%) of those items were Amazon’s Choice listings – the platform’s coveted recommendation label that is influenced by high ratings.
One customer told Which? he could not believe the persistence of one seller in trying to get his negative product review on Amazon changed or deleted – suggesting it is highly lucrative for sellers to do so.
Tim Winkle, 64, purchased a Teaisiy USB webcam last year and gave it a two-star review due to its poor quality. The third-party seller behind the product then emailed him asking him to alter or delete his negative review in return for a £10 gift voucher. After he refused, he then received a series of other offers by email over three months, reaching a peak of £50.
Which? also dug deeper into the brands whose listings included accusations of incentivised reviews and found 12 ‘repeat offenders’ where sellers were called out for using similar manipulative tactics across other products in their ranges.
It was not clear in some cases whether these sellers were acting independently or on behalf of the brand.
The problem was reported most prominently on Victure products, with 11 of its 29 (38%) product listings containing accusations of incentivisation tactics. These items included a baby monitor, wi-fi booster and wireless security cameras.
Victure, alongside Enacfire, are two brands that have also featured in previous Which? investigations as a result of suspicious review activity, and it is concerning that the brands are appearing repeatedly, despite Which? reporting its findings to Amazon.
This latest investigation comes after reports in May 2021 that Amazon had taken action to suspend the selling privileges of major tech suppliers Aukey and Mpow.
Which? found numerous examples of people writing negative reviews on Amazon to shine a light on unscrupulous behaviour from sellers. Three Peztio webcam buyers stated that the seller had offered them £40 to delete their negative reports of the product, which had an overall rating of 4.2 out of five stars.
One Peztio customer said they thought the seller was “clearly more interested in editing the public record than … improving their product.”
Many other customers gave five-star reviews alongside confessions about their motivation for doing so. One ASWEE listing for a smartwatch had two reviews from people stating they had been sent a prompt to write a great review in exchange for a £15 voucher. One went as far as to say: “the only reason I have posted five stars is because I want my £15 voucher as compensation.”
A number of Victure customers said that they had been offered complimentary gifts in exchange for five-star reviews, including an SD card.
Misleading reviews are a big problem on many of the world’s biggest platforms and Which? has also previously uncovered evidence of fake and suspicious review activity on eBay, Facebook and Google. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced its investigation into major websites that host reviews in May 2020. Yet more than a year on it appears Amazon is still falling at the first hurdle by failing to stop review manipulation on some of its best-selling products.
Amazon has a specific Anti-Manipulation policy for customer reviews stating that any attempts to manipulate reviews, including by directly or indirectly contributing false, misleading or inauthentic content, is “strictly prohibited.” The platform said that if it determines a seller or brand has attempted to manipulate reviews, it may immediately “suspend or terminate your Amazon privileges, remove reviews, and delist related products.”
Which? believes that stronger action is needed to address the ongoing problems caused by misleading reviews on online marketplaces and other platforms.
The consumer champion is calling for the CMA’s investigation to quickly get to the bottom of the problem of fake and misleading reviews. If it finds that sites that host reviews are not doing enough to detect and prevent misleading reviews, then strong action must be taken to prevent increasing numbers of consumers from being misled.
Rocio Concha, Director of Policy and Advocacy at Which?, said:“It’s really concerning that consumers are raising the alarm on misleading tactics by sellers being used on best-selling Amazon products – particularly at a time when more people are shopping online than ever before because of the pandemic.
“Amazon must, as an absolute minimum, do more to enforce its own policies – especially when evidence of manipulation is hidden in plain sight in its Best Sellers lists.
“The CMA needs to urgently get to the bottom of the problem of misleading and fake reviews and be prepared to take strong action to ensure consumers can trust the reviews that influence billions of pounds of spending every year.”
The 12 brands Which? found with more than one product impacted by incentivised reviews:
Anker
Apeman
ASWEE
Enacfire
Littlelf
Peztio
Popglory
Tozo
Wansview
Willful
Victure
Zhuolang
Tim Winkle, 64, bought a Teaisiy USB webcamin June 2020 so he could attend video conference meetings via Zoom.
He spotted the reviews on Amazon looked ‘very good’ but also noticed there ‘were some lower reviews’ as well but opted to purchase the webcam anyway.
When the product arrived, Tim found the quality was ‘very poor’ and therefore returned the webcam directly to Amazon. Tim ‘promptly’ received his money back and left a two-star review outlining his experience with the product.
In February 2021, Tim began receiving emails from the seller requesting that he delete his negative review in exchange for an Amazon gift card worth £10. When he refused this, the seller then offered Tim a £15 voucher, followed by £20, £30, £40 and £50 all of which he rejected.
The seller assured Tim it had ‘changed to another manufacturer’ to ensure the item’s quality improved and told him it was a ‘very small business that depends on reviews’ and would ‘not survive without [his] help.’
Tim said he had ‘no idea’ reviews could be manipulated in this manner.
His review of the Teaisiy webcam, as well as the listing for the item itself has since been removed from Amazon.
Advice to consumers:
Be more sceptical of brands you haven’t heard of. While some of the companies may well be honest start-ups, others attempt to take shortcuts to the top of the listings. Overwhelmingly, our research into fake reviews has found little-known or unknown brands being the main culprits. If you don’t recognise the brand, check online to see if it has a legitimate looking website, with clear contact details so you can get in touch if anything goes wrong.
Don’t just trust the overall star rating. Inspecting the comments can save you time (and money) in the long run. Although an item could have high overall reviews, there may be signs of incentivisation or other suspicious activity when you dig a little deeper. These can include: overly positive language that reads like an infomercial, and a wide selection of pictures – Which?’s investigations have found this is a common request from sellers who incentivise positive reviews.
Check the less positive reviews. Those who attempt to incentivise reviews commonly ask for five-stars, so it’s far more useful to look at four star reviews and below. Keep your eyes peeled for complaints about the item failing over time, problems specific to a particular feature that many reviewers are reporting, and signs of incentivisation – such as an offer of a reward for posting a good review. You can use the search bar to check for specific keywords if you want to dig deeper.
A spokesperson for Amazon told Which?: “Our objective is to ensure customers see authentic and relevant reviews so they can make better informed purchasing decisions. To do this, we use powerful machine learning tools and skilled investigators to analyse over 10m review submissions weekly, aiming to stop abusive reviews before they are ever published.
“In addition, we continue to monitor all existing reviews for signs of abuse and quickly take action if we find an issue. We are relentless in our efforts to protect the integrity of customer reviews. We remove fake reviews and take action against anyone involved in abuse. We have won dozens of injunctions against providers of fake reviews across Europe and we won’t shy away from taking legal action.
They added, however, that Amazon and other online retailers ‘cannot do this alone. Customers need to be able to trust the reviews they see online and the systematic manipulation of reviews needs consistent enforcement and global coordination with stronger enforcement powers given to regulators against bad actors.
‘We continue to work to protect the authenticity of customer reviews. We advise customers who doubt the credibility of a review on a product to click the Report Abuse link available below each review. We will then investigate and take necessary measures.’
An Enacfire spokesperson said:‘I saw the reviews and [am] feeling very upset. It is absolutely damaging to our brand image. We will perform an internal investigation towards our distributors and external to those who [are] selling Enacfire products but not in our distributors list. The punishment [will] be stopping supplies to them.
‘By becoming one of our distributors and selling Enacfire products [on] Amazon, we require all of our distributors to obey all the policies from Amazon. The behavior was conducted by Amazon sellers who sell Enacfire products and our brand does not support the behavior of review manipulation, which seems to be a common problem with Amazon.’
A spokesperson for Wansview said: ‘We appreciate it that you informed us about the reviews that violate Amazon’s review policy. It is of great help to us to enhance our brand image.
‘We’ve known about the reviews you mentioned since January 2021 and have already discussed [them] with the retailer. We got to know they offered their products to improve customer satisfaction [and] to help increase the listing ratings. Due to [their] lack of policy learning, the retailer’s behaviour has violated Amazon’s policy and may mislead consumers’ brand recognition. After checking the review content, we have requested them to carefully study the Amazon policy and learn the latest Amazon rules. We urged them [to] stop such kind of review maintenance behaviour.’
‘As the brand owner, we have the responsibility to request our retailers [to] obey each platform’s selling rules and maintain consumers’ brand recognition. We will strictly request all the retailers who sell Wansview’s products to carefully study the Amazon rules immediately, and if they do not obey the policy, we will cancel their distributorship of Wansview branded items.
‘On the other hand, as the brand owner, we could improve our products’ quality to help the retailer gain customer satisfaction, offering good products and good customer support earns consumers brand stickiness. Thanks again for your email to help us regulate our retail rules and Wansview’s brand image.’
Ebay’s product review system has flaws that are allowing unscrupulous sellers to mislead shoppers and boost sub-standard, counterfeit and even dangerous products, Which? research has revealed.
The consumer champion found sellers are easily able to exploit gaps in the system to unfairly share positive reviews for potentially legitimate products from brands like Apple and Samsung.
By using the same product ID they can attach the glowing reviews to listings for inferior, or completely different, goods – making it difficult for shoppers to tell which items are the real thing.
Which? experts looked at hundreds of listings for several categories of products on eBay, including chargers, charging cables, headphones, smoke alarms and travel adaptors.
They found products that shared the same reviews despite clearly looking different from each other in images posted by the seller. In other cases some customers had posted warnings about the quality of the items amid the suspicious positive reviews.
There were hundreds of listings for counterfeit Samsung chargers that had been subject to a Europe-wide recall alert – but customers would be unaware because the sellers had been able to adopt four and five star reviews, shared across multiple listings, to falsely lend credibility to their listing.
To establish whether these products matched up to the positive reviews, Which? ordered 20 supposedly “official” Apple and Samsung accessories, including chargers and USB cables. Despite these multiple products being listed by different sellers, they all shared the same reviews.
For the 20 products ordered, eBay showed that more than 33,300 had been sold. Yet all fell short of what a buyer would have expected based on the listing, while some were out-and-out fakes.
During the investigation, Which? identified several underlying problems suggesting the eBay product review system is flawed.
Sellers appeared to be exploiting the eBay Product ID (ePID) – a code that can be chosen by any seller listing the same item. It is designed to make it easier for sellers to list products, by pulling relevant information from a central database.
But the system means reviews from all listings claiming to be the same item can be shared, regardless of the seller or the condition of the product.
When researchers looked further into eBay’s product review guidance, they also found concerning gaps such as sellers being able to leave reviews for their own products – a practice banned by other online marketplaces including Amazon.
When Which? shared its findings with eBay, the company said it would investigate the listings and remove any that breached its policies. While some of the products have now been removed, as of Wednesday 11 March the recalled counterfeit Samsung charger listings were still live.
Which? believes the findings demonstrate fundamental flaws with eBay’s review system – leading to a lack of transparency and a risk of consumers being duped by fake and misleading reviews. It is also clear that eBay’s enforcement of current policies around product safety, counterfeit goods and action against unscrupulous sellers are proving ineffective.
Ebay must take urgent action to make its review system more robust and transparent, so that consumers can trust the customer feedback on products they are buying.
The company must also demonstrate that it can put in place an effective system to remove misleading listings, unsafe products and counterfeit goods – and take strong action to shut down sellers who try to break the rules.
The CMA estimates £23 billion a year of consumer transactions are influenced by online reviews and it has already intervened on the trading of fake reviews on eBay.
Which? is now calling for the regulator to extend its scrutiny of online platforms to include an investigation of the seriously flawed online review systems that put consumers at risk of being misled.
Natalie Hitchins, Head of Home Products and Services, Which?, said: “Our investigation has uncovered yet another example of online reviews being manipulated to mislead people.
“Ebay’s product review system is confusing for consumers and could even direct them towards counterfeit or dangerous products sold by unscrupulous sellers.
“Online reviews influence billions of pounds of consumer spending each year. The CMA must now investigate how fake and misleading reviews are duping online shoppers, taking the strongest possible action against sites that fail to tackle the problem.”
An eBay spokesperson said: “We have investigated the listings shared by Which? and will remove any that breach our policies.
“However the research does not fully consider that there are distinctions between product reviews (which provide buyers with a holistic review of the same product), and seller feedback (which can be used to see specific reviews of a seller’s performance and may reflect the item’s condition).
“In addition, all listings have a ‘report’ feature. Any user can use this to report a concern with a listing, its seller, or its reviews.
“eBay enforces its Product Safety Policy at a global level using block filter algorithms that prevent unsafe products being listed, and our international security teams also work around the clock to help safeguard our marketplace.
“We take enforcement action against any seller found to be in breach of our policies, which can be in the form of a warning, suspension or ban.
“eBay runs several anti-counterfeit initiatives including the Verified Rights Owner Program (VeRO) and is continually introducing new proactive measures to combat the global trade in counterfeits. We are investigating Which’s claims on these items.
“Further information on seller feedback can be found here on eBay UK’s Help Hub.”
Everybody’s favourite war criminal Frank Sanazi’s back in town, and the Fuhrer’s thankfully learnt nothing since his defeat in 1945. A blitzkrieg attack on taste and decency, Das Vegas Night 3 was a delight.
The Rat Pack’s songs are given the Sanazi makeover – That’s Life becomes Das Reich, Gestapo Gestapo is the new Chicago Chicago; you get the picture. The material’s as subtle as an attack by a Panzer division, but predictable or not, it’s very funny.
Pol Pot, Chairman Mao, Tony Blair, Saddam Hussein, the Twin Tower bombers and Harold Shipman – all received an honourable mention in despatches during the performance, and Sanazi didn’t hold back. But there’s something strangely endearing about Sanazi, and material that makes you wince is delivered with a cheeky smile.
As he said: ‘A bit close to the mark? But hey, today we have no mark! We have the Euro – Germany wins again!’
While Sanazi himself was hilarious, the cabaret’s supporting cast and material was not so strong – a bit like Mussolini’s Italian army during World War Two, I suppose. But an hour of world domination, war crimes and some gratuitous nudity thrown in too – wunderbar!
Zis time we win? Yes, Frank, I rather think you did. Tonight, the Voodoo Rooms, tomorrow the world.
Das Vegas Night 3 – Zis Time We Win! The Voodoo Rooms, West Register Street Until 10 August
Have you seen any Fringe shows (good AND bad!) you’d like to share with our readers?
We’re spoilt for choice when it comes to eating out in Edinburgh – even locally there a dozens of restaurants and cafes catering for all tastes and all pockets. Maybe there’s too much choice – and that’s where our friends at Lunchquest can help!
The Lunchquest blog, which has been established for over a year now, provides reviews of Edinburgh dining scene and it’s worth checking out before booking a meal – be it breakfast, lunch or an important celebratory dinner.
Lunchquest’s founders attended a recent NENgage social media session at Stockbridge library, and have kindly provided a review of a local cafe. To find out what Lunchquest reviewers made of Canonmills’ Circle Cafe, go to:
This year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe guide runs to 376 pages, packed with a cornucopia of comedians, dance troupes, musicians, actors and novelty acts – good, bad and downright dire – all vying for your attention at 378 official venues.
Choosing just what to go and see – and, more importantly, what to avoid! – is tough, so perhaps you can help. Let us know what’s worth seeing – we’ll publish your reviews on the blog. And if a performance is truly awful, it’s best that we know that too!
This year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe guide runs to 376 pages, packed with a cornucopia of comedians, dance troupes, musicians, actors and novelty acts – good, bad and downright dire – all vying for your attention at 378 official venues.
Choosing just what to go and see – and, more importantly, what to avoid! – is tough, so perhaps you can help. Let us know what’s worth seeing – we’ll publish your reviews on the blog. And if a performance is truly awful, it’s best that we know that too!
‘It’s All Good’ as award winning Jazz singer Niki King is revealing her soulful, funky side during a summer tour of Scotland. Niki and her band The Elements have got the chemistry just right in time to hot things up at the Edinburgh Jazz Festival.
Local girl Niki has been getting great reviews and feedback during her tour where, supported by some of the best musicians in the industry, she is performing songs from her self penned ‘It’s all Good’ album. The Jazz Festival performance marks the mid point of her tour and Niki is looking forward to bringing her own sound to Teatro Spiegeltent on Friday 20th July
The outstanding Scottish female vocalist of our times” (The List) gets down and funky with her pounding eight-piece funk and soul band featuring a super tight horn section, some real dirty grooves and King’s punchy vocals.
‘It’s All Good’ as award winning Jazz singer Niki King is revealing her soulful, funky side during a summer tour of Scotland. Niki and her band The Elements have got the chemistry just right in time to hot things up at the Edinburgh Jazz Festival.
Local girl Niki has been getting great reviews and feedback during her tour where, supported by some of the best musicians in the industry, she is performing songs from her self penned ‘It’s all Good’ album. The Jazz Festival performance marks the mid point of her tour and Niki is looking forward to bringing her own sound to Teatro Spiegeltent on Friday 20th July
The outstanding Scottish female vocalist of our times” (The List) gets down and funky with her pounding eight-piece funk and soul band featuring a super tight horn section, some real dirty grooves and King’s punchy vocals.
On Saturday 21 April at North Edinburgh Arts Centre the audience was treated to a brilliant performance by two magnificent actors playing all the characters in Robert Tressell’s classic story ‘The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists’.
The subject, of grinding exploitation of workers employed by a building and decorating firm, was played with emotion, seriousness and a good deal of humour. The confusion and self-interest of some of the characters has its modern counterparts, but so does the message of what must still be done.
The actors, Rodney Matthew and Neil Gore, will be giving performances of the play at the Edinburgh Fringe at Venue 2 this August. It deserves to – and should – play to packed houses.
