Vendors creating profiles just to give themselves good reviews?

I definitely believe they DO that! I've not looked at review's that close on WW, though one of the venues I'm deciding on all say that they had the same person. They also say they have had a different person so they ask for someone else... and they loved this one person. I'm wondering if that person is giving herself/venue good reviews. Sounds like she is making her coworker look bad. Ironically the same person that all the reviews refer to is the SAME person that e--mailed us and it was a copy-paste type e-mail! We said we only need the venue for ceremony and the e-mail goes on and on at what they provide for a reception! This is a large resort, not a small time hotel with ONE person coordinating!

It's just so shady! It's tough enough trying to plan a wedding without people doing things like that! I think that if companies are doing that and are caught then WW needs to ban them from the website. It's not a very good look for WW to be showcasing companies like this. I know it's nearly impossible to prove it's happened, but it would be nice if they would be banned from the site.

Wedding wire reviews have to come from a unique email address and a verified account. I would say it would be a hard thing to do to create fake selfie reviews here. Every one of mine I've had to reach out to clients to provide. You can report anything suspicious. It's as good as any review system online....Yelp is crooked as f*** with filtering reviews unless you pay them, they're the biggest game in town, for now.

It's not that hard to create a bunch of yahoo or gmail accounts from different places and write a fake review, Verified is a joke.

I am pretty sure that a band I was looking to hire created fake reviews on WW, Knot and Gigsalad. They just seemed really fishy, all written within a week of each other and all edited a week later. No other reviews since (over 2 years later).

One of the issues is that reviews are accepted only if you a) have a signed contract, and b) actually used the vendor for your wedding. So for example, suppose you were planning to use a particular photographer for your wedding. But you decide not to because a) the photographer stops answering your e-mails, b) you use the photographer for engagement photos, and are displeased with the quality, or c) the photographer handles another wedding you attend, and loses the disk so no photos are ever produced. You will not be allowed to review that photographer on Wedding Wire, because you did not use him for your wedding. So many of those with negative experiences can't write reviews, and the reviews come only for those people who were at least satisfied with the vendor's conduct right up to the wedding day.

WW is pretty vigilant about fake reviews. I even had a great review from one of my couples that got taken down because they couldn't prove they'd used me.....

I mean, anyone can write a fake review on any website period. It's up to you, to dig deeper research wise.

I had a glowing review on my storefront for "Michael" and reported it to WW letting them know I'm Nancy, no Michael works here. WW took the review off.

On a sidebar, anyone else notice that a vendor have to pay to get the WW award (granted they still need good reviews) and for the vendor to show up in a vendor search?

I met a photographer at a bridal show but wonder how come I never came across him in a vendor search. My guess is he didn't pay any or enough money to WW for his company to show up in a WW search. I found his profile and had all these great reviews but I had to type his EXACT company name to get the profile. He didn't pop up in any of my general photographer search no matter what the parameters.

Same deal with the WW award. I found this great vendor who had close to 100 reviews (all positive might I add) but not a single WW award.

No, we don't pay for the WW award. It goes by a matrix of reviews and stars, but just having reviews doesn't get you one.

Maybe Lauren can address this.

If he doesn't pay to be listed, you won't find him as easily. That's why we pay......

^^ This. I don't qualify for that award now that I didn't renew my paid ad spot....it was about reviews and stars of reviews that I got 3 years in a row as a paid advertiser but not the 4th.

From now on, to verify....send me gummy bears, and all will be right with the world.

Any company can have people write possitive reviews. I know of a shady photographer who whould go and mark all 5 stars for herself and then have the clients write about there positive experience and sit with them while they wrote their review. When the clients were picking up their pictures. It's awful I know but At that point you don't have much choice you want your wedding pictures so you do that. You need to dig deep when looking at reviews call references get referrals. All my vendors were refered to me.

I am new to WW, and as a vendor it's disheartening to read this thread. I have seven reviews so far, all by past clients who I sent requests to when I openend my account. One of the reasons I chose WW for advertisement was the review componenet of services they offer vendors.

Every person that sent in a review for me is also on my list of references, so any potential client is welcome to contact me for information to verify their legitimacy.

It's a shame that a vendor would generate false reviews, but in life deception happens everywhere. When it comes to planning a wedding, you have many steps to take to ensure a well run event, and it starts with choosing the right vendors for your needs.

I agree with Amy, if a vendor looks appealing to you, take the next step and call for references.

If you select an event planner first, one of the many perks of his or her services is first hand knowlege of local vendors. They can advise you personally on which ones are best to work with !

Really logic should prevail most of the time...if a vendor has plenty of work to show, and has the quality of work to back up their reviews and the communication to accompany them....that should be a good indicator. If someone is loaded with top reviews but information or adequate work is limited, or lacking legitimate website and social media links, something's probably not right.

If any bad reviews, and they all pinpoint certain areas, that should be a call to action for that vendor, or get out of the biz....a couple random bad reviews, could be isolated or an unreasonable customer that most other potential customers can sort out. I've seen Wedding Wire remove accounts for abuse. They don't last long. Paying vendors don't want to see that happen either, I was paying for 3 years and I never did worry about the integrity of their system....just the quality of traffic I got for the price.

There is a lot of misinformation here and that's okay. Let's see if we can help clear some of it up.

1. One of the issues is that reviews are accepted only if you a) have a signed contract, and b) actually used the vendor for your wedding. So for example, suppose you were planning to use a particular photographer for your wedding. But you decide not to because a) the photographer stops answering your e-mails, b) you use the photographer for engagement photos, and are displeased with the quality, or ...

-This is only partially correct. WW takes reviews from all clients. If a vendor disputes the review, the client's review stands (no matter WHAT documentation the vendor can show to the contrary which actually hurts us vendors a lot of the time) as long as the client:

1. Can provide a signed and countersigned contract from the vendor

2. Actually had the vendor perform their wedding OR

3. Was "fired" by the vendor, for whatever reason. If the client decided NOT to use the vendor and fires the vendor prior to the ceremony, they can't review the vendor, since they did not complete the contracted actions. (This hurts us a lot, too. If I work with a couple for 3 months on their wedding, and then at the last minute, they feel they should have used a church instead, they get to take my ceremony, and everything I've prepared and take it with them, and they can't review the work I've actually done, because I didn't get to perform the last 45 minutes of my job - the actual ceremony).

c) the photographer handles another wedding you attend, and loses the disk so no photos are ever produced. You will not be allowed to review that photographer on Wedding Wire, because you did not use him for your wedding.

- Correct. If you attended another wedding or hear a bad story and wanted to leave a bad review for a vendor, that's what Yelp! is for. WW reviews are from the actual clients only, not their friends, family or guests (or our friends or family, for that matter).

2. I know of a shady photographer who whould go and mark all 5 stars for herself and then have the clients write about there positive experience and sit with them while they wrote their review. When the clients were picking up their pictures...

- Can't happen with WeddingWire. No review can be left for any vendor using the same IP address that is associated with their professional profile (like the computers in their office or their laptops, tablets or cell phones). This actually really hurts a lot of vendors with physical storefronts. Many clients would like to leave their reviews when they're onsite, but are not allowed to. Once they leave, they're off to the next of a million tasks associated with a wedding and forget all about leaving a review.

3. On a sidebar, anyone else notice that a vendor have to pay to get the WW award (granted they still need good reviews) and for the vendor to show up in a vendor search? / I don't qualify for that award now that I didn't renew my paid ad spot....it was about reviews and stars of reviews that I got 3 years in a row as a paid advertiser but not the 4th.

- That's not actually the case, either. The award has nothing to do with if you're a paid vendor or not, just how many *5-star reviews you received during a 12-month period.* I won that award for two years straight before I ever became a paid vendor.

Most of us vendors are married ourselves and know how tough it is to plan a wedding. We understand how important reviews are, and that's the main reason that some of us choose to stay with Weddingwire, even though to be completely honest, the WW rules are FAR more geared toward trusting the client when it comes to disputes, and not us. Most of us have had fake negative reviews that we're not allowed to have removed, because someone presents a fake contract with a faked signature. We're not allowed to present any evidence on our own behalf (like emails, voice mails or our own WW records) and if *we* fire a client for not paying us, not responding to emails, being abusive etc., they can still review us.

As always, anyone who leave us a review (negative OR poritive) has an active link back to their profile, and you can always contact them to ask questions. I hope this information helps.

There's other sites that have reviews for vendors. (Yelp for example). My friend got burnt by a vendor that has great reviews on WW & The Knot. We ended looking up reviews on other sites & were shocked at some of the reviews that people wrote.

I also received my 2 awards before I became a paid advertiser here.

Ironically, I have not received an award since becoming a paid advertiser.

Yelp is about the worst place to look for reviews. They manipulate the reviews and literally anyone can leave one. If you're concerned about credibility, that is not the site to study.

A vendor can create a fake contract as well. LOL this security system is not all that fake review proof. They can have friends and family write them reviews from their own homes as well. I'm not saying ALL vendors do this, these are some counter moves to WW "fraud detector".