Update: I counted 47 people at my local Target leaving reviews for things they never bought
I scan receipt survey codes for fun, and about half of the reviews on my store's page come from folks who never even visited. One lady gave a 1 star review to a blender she clearly returned, then wrote a whole paragraph about the parking lot instead. The store can't fix a parking lot through the review system, so those complaints just sit there forever. I know this since I matched 12 review dates to our actual return log over two weekends. Has anyone else noticed reviews mixing up the product with the store itself?
Honestly this happens at my old job too but with restaurant reviews. People would leave a one star for the food but then spend three paragraphs talking about how the waiter's ex girlfriend used to work there or some drama that had nothing to do with anything. We had a guy once write a whole essay about a sandwich he didn't even order, just went off about his cousin's wedding that got catered by us five years ago. The kicker is he never mentioned the actual sandwich. So yeah people mix up the business with whatever is bugging them that day and the review just becomes a diary entry nobody asked for. Your parking lot thing tracks perfectly, that lady just wanted to yell into the void and the blender star rating was her target.