I left a 2-star review on a shop vac in April, and the seller's reply changed my whole take on reading reviews
I bought a 6 gallon vac off a site back in April, wrote it up as 2 stars because the hose cracked at the cuff after 5 uses. Seller replied within a day on the review page itself, no email, just public, and offered a replacement hose plus asked what I was vacuuming. Turns out drywall dust was eating the plastic and they sent the upgraded hose for free. Now I sort by newest and actually read the seller replies before I trust any rating. Do you all weigh seller responses more than the star count itself?
Reading replies tells you how a seller acts when something goes wrong, which the star count never shows. A five star product with a seller who ignores you is worse than a three star one who fixes stuff fast. Maybe it's just me but I scroll straight to the worst reviews now to see if the company even bothered to respond.