Hey Alex,
Some of your statements about the Vendor Rating System are incorrect. There are very clear rules that are enforced and disclosed making it a level playing field and a good resource of information.
Rules & Safeguards:
1. Only dealership employees are allowed to leave ratings. The reviews are validated (technologically and with human verification) to insure the reviewer is a dealership employee.
2. All reviewers are published as anonymous (except for their job title). By never disclosing a dealer’s identity we insure the vendors cannot force the dealers to leave positive reviews or be harmed for negative reviews. If a dealer leaves a review it is because he/she ultimately wants to.
3. Ratings, Reviews and awards are in NO way tied to sponsorships or advertising. Furthermore we do NOT block or modify reviews at a vendor’s request. We only block reviews if the reviewer is found to be a fraud.
4. The Vendor Rating directory Wiki (for company & product descriptions) any logged in member can add or edit company page or product info. The community determines which companies and products are rated, many well rated companies are not even aware of the system at this point.
As you see, the rating system is not stacked. The rules are clear, enforced and everyone must play by them.
Disclosure:
Also your comment about our system not being fully disclosed is inaccurate. We publish the rules and other information on the website at: About Vendor Ratings | DrivingSales and published it in our Dealership Innovation Guide that was sent to approx 27,000 dealerships last month. We are very open about the system's rules so anyone interested can learn about them.
Ed is using the system exactly as it was meant to be used, to narrow choices. I suggest one read the comments and take in what is helpful for them, then, engage the companies they are interested in. After gathering as much information from multiple sources make the best decision. Certainly the Vendor Ratings system is valuable in that process.
Let me know if you have more questions about the Vendor Ratings, you know how to reach me. Im sure the more you learn about it the more you will see its actually a great resource.
Take care
jared