Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Comment
Emma Beddington

Stop asking me for feedback. How am I supposed to review a tea towel?

A rating request on a mobile phone
How was my experience? Mind your own business. Photograph: Hispanolistic/Getty Images (Posed by a model)

Multi-grit sandpaper, a “water butt connector pipe link kit”, a five-pack of AAA batteries, “slow blow” fuses, vacuum cleaner bags, a tea towel and nail clippers. Tidying my inbox, I see these are some of the things I’ve been asked to give feedback on recently. The purveyors of these high-end lifestyle items – truly worthy of my aspiration to become an “aesthete” of the week in the Financial Times – would love my thoughts. So here goes: no idea; no idea; generated electricity adequately; no idea; yes, they are vaccum cleaner bags; what tea towel … Hang on, I actually do have an opinion on the nail clippers. The business end – the beak? – is deeper than normal, so I keep nicking my fingertips. No stars.

I see from searching for the dread phrase “Love to hear from you” that the dentist who hasn’t answered my plaintive queries about my broken tooth also wants feedback, as does the chain hotel where I left my favourite skirt, leading to multiple unanswered phone calls and them eventually denying all knowledge of it. It’s time to get my Oprah on – you get zero stars and you get zero stars, and you, and you!

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.