Arysyn
100+ Head-Fier
The way I perceived Fiio's offer wasn't so much based on the positive/negative review aspect, though you are right in your point. Obviously any company that would credit or gift a customer for a positive review is a really bad thing. The problem I see with this though is it is a temptation for less genuine members to make a good review for Fiio, regardless of what Fiio is stating/implying. Not that people here on Head-Fi are going to give a false review, as most here seem trustworthy, but being a public forum could be a temptation to bring in, say people who like Fiio, Fans of Fiio who are loyal customers to the company, but not necessarily rule-abiding Head-Fi'ers who actually have integrity in their reviews. It could cause those people to write less than honest reviews, meanwhile people here on Head-Fi who are use to this mostly honest website with genuine contributors may mistake these deceiving reviews as truth, when they are not necessarily so.
Its not even a matter where I'm suspecting outright crazy lies and falsehoods covering for fandom in the name of Fiio necessarily, but rather small falsehoods or not entire truths of certain aspects these type of deals have me a bit concerned about. I'm not even fond of nor completely trusting of reviews where the reviewer gets to keep a product they're reviewing for free. On a temporary loan, that is fine, but to get to keep the product for free because of a review, that isn't something I trust, nor even support. Many of these audio products are expensive, and for a company to give a customer a product for free in exchange for a review meanwhile other customers pay full price, isn't right in my opinion. I realize its a company's right to do this nonetheless, but still doesn't have me supportive of it. I'd rather the products used for reviews be loaned, with return to the company expected, without any compensation to the reviewer. Those are the most trustworthy of reviews, next to reviews from people who've paid full price for the products they're reviewing, of course.
I want to clarify though, I'm certainly not singling out Fiio here. Its not my intention to attack them as a company, but rather simply stating I disagree with this deal they're offering. I see similar offers from other companies too from time to time, and I'm just as vocal about what I believe is wrong about that as I believe is wrong about what Fiio is dong here. Also, I often see similar statements from them as what Fiio has posted here regarding disclaimers, particularly this one : "4. FiiO Electronics Technology Co., Ltd. reserves all rights to interpret and amend the rules of this activity as necessary." Again, I know companies reserve these rights, but it seems, at least to me, that its a potential loophole in the deal. For instance, lets say I hated the F5 or F9, and I posted an honest, legitimate, yet very negative review about the product. It doesn't mean I hate Fiio or think their other products suck, but perhaps I just don't like the F5 or F9. Granted, this is just an example, I've never tried either product. Yet, if indeed II had and written the review as I described, what is to stop Fiio from denying me a coupon toward a Fiio product I may actually like. Perhaps I might really like one of their dac/amp products they seem to get great reviews for, but happens in this example I just don't like their iems. Obviously I mean no hatred for Fiio as a company, both in reality and through this example. Yet, Fiio as a company certainly takes great pride in what they create, and while I'm sure they can deal well with some criticism, an outright negative review would naturally bother them to a greater degree, to which by these terms, they can deny coupons to anyone they deem doesn't deserve one, for whatever reason.
There lies the other issue to this matter, and admittedly I know its one that goes beyond Fiio. Its something eventually that needs addressed by individuals, businesses both big and small, organizations, governments, and even websites. That being the line between rights, responsibilities, and at what point do these cross over to discriminatory issues, where does the law state with this, and how can it be revised to best serve all in a decent compromise of benefits. I don't expect Fiio to necessarily be perfect at this, though I do have my opinion against these sorts of deals, and believe Fiio can offer something better and more fair in their marketing.
