Brian X. Chen, regarding the current state of product reviews:

The product evaluations neglect to mention the quality of a company’s customer service, which becomes the most important factor of all when problems or questions related to the product come up.

I learned this lesson from a bizarre experience with a Samsung oven that I bought last year. This was no impulse purchase — I researched brands and appliances for days. But even that didn’t help.

It took seven visits for a technician to determine that Chen’s Samsung oven was defective. And after all that, Samsung’s support center dragged the process out for five months before issuing a partial refund and reimbursement for the damages to his kitchen.

He goes on to suggest that product reviews should take into consideration the company’s support services, and I tend to agree. My fiancée and I purchased a Samsung television late last year upon the recommendation of The Wirecutter, but if I had read stories like this about their customer service I probably would have considered other options.

I might never need to contact Samsung’s customer service for my television and, even if I do, I might not have a bad experience like Chen has. But, companies that treat their customers poorly don’t deserve my business. In the future, I’m far more likely to read what I can about a company’s customer service before making a purchase.