Tomoson Review from a Blogger's Perspective: Why I Do Not Recommend Tomoson

I'm finally done with Tomoson. They finally closed my account per my request. More on that later.

Tomoson, for those who aren't familiar, is a brand/blog platform which allows bloggers to receive free products in exchanged for an unbiased opinion—which in turn provides businesses with a chance to gain exposure and increase product sales.

It sounds pretty great, right?

Well, at first it seemed that way to me, too. Probably because it just made sense. Connect businesses and bloggers, send products to test and keep, and provide exposure for the business. Simple enough.

Unfortunately, it really isn't that simple. In fact, it's actually quite a mess.

After three years of experience with Tomoson, I have come to the conclusion that the platform needs a huge overhaul. The amount of work that Tomoson needs is so great that it would ultimately be an entirely different website once all of the kinks are worked out.

Update 2018: I've been back to Tomoson over the years and have applied for a few campaigns, but haven't been accepted to many. I noticed that most are Amazon sellers looking for Amazon reviews which is absolutely against Amazon's Terms of Use.

The most recent campaign that I was accepted for was an electric pencil sharpener. I did NOT agree to an Amazon review, despite the item being on Amazon. I agreed to review it on my blog — I was going to do a back-to-school post since I homeschool my children — and a few social media accounts. I received the code and went to order the item but lo and behold, it was unavailable.

Being the first campaign I was accepted to after all the bullshit I've been through with Tomoson and their customer service, I was finished at this point. Just done. I contacted the campaign owner, asked to be removed from the campaign and then asked Tomoson the same. Tomoson responded by telling me that I needed to wait for the campaign owner to respond so he or she could "guide" me on the next steps. The campaign told me specifically to order the item within 24 hours. So, you tell me what's going on there...

I then asked how to delete my account. She sent me the directions. Apparently I could not delete my Tomoson account until I finished the damn campaign — the one they wouldn't remove me from, the one I did not have a product for and did not intend to order.

After sending another email requesting that they delete my account for me, my request was granted and I am finally free from Tomoson.

So, there's the bottom line. Tomoson is pretty terrible and I do not recommend it at all. They always side with the business and not only that, but it seems that they're willing to allow Amazon users to risk their accounts for reviews. It would appear that as long as Tomoson gets paid, it's all good, right? I'm happy to no longer have my blog associated with them.

The Good, The Bad, and The Very Ugly

I want everyone to be aware that Tomoson wasn't all bad. When I first signed up, I believed it to be a wonderful platform—well, at least the idea was wonderful. Anyway, I really enjoyed it at first. I don't want readers to assume that I'm writing Tomoson off as a total failure. It's not a total failure, but it has failed to reach my expectations. However, there was some good at Tomoson, which is what I will touch on first.

The Good

My very first experience with Tomoson was a pleasant one. I applied to review a Spanish speaking program for kids and the program was rather enjoyable, for both my son and me. It was colorful and interactive—a great program overall, as reflected in my review.

The company was so impressed with my review that they send me a personal thank you. That, to me, was incredibly satisfying and gave me the feeling that Tomoson had promise. I continued to explore Tomoson after this pleasant experience.

Over the next several months, I had the chance to try even more fantastic products. I had the chance to build relationships with brands outside of the platform, many of whom I still work with today.

Obviously, there was some good that came out of Tomoson and for that, I am grateful.

The Bad

Unfortunately, the negative experiences that I would have in the future would far surpass the positive ones. Below, you'll find a rather long list featuring the negative aspects of the Tomoson platform.

1. No Screening Process

On Tomoson, there is absolutely no screening process for bloggers. Because of this, almost anyone can get in. While this may seem like a godsend to bloggers who are just starting out, it can also cause a lot of problems.

The lack of screening is a nightmare for bloggers who actually do what is required of them on Tomoson. Allowing anyone in means that bloggers who actually care about their reviews are placed with low-quality bloggers and con-artists just looking to get something for free. This reflects poorly on those of us who are trying to actually make a difference for the companies.

To get an idea of what businesses thought of Tomoson bloggers, I did a little research. What I found was a little embarrassing.

2. Businesses Seem to Think Negatively of Bloggers on Tomoson

Some businesses have taken the time out to write about their experience with Tomoson. While some companies have had positive experiences, others have discussed the not-so-pretty side of Tomoson. Check out some of the excerpts below from websites and forum discussions.

From Go In Flow:

Tomoson lets anyone with a blog join their service, so the quality of the blogs are what you’d expect. There are a lot of low-quality product reviewer and mommy blogs – the kinds of sites created for the sole purpose of getting free products instead of benefiting the readers.There are also a ton of blogspot.com throwaway blogs. I’m not saying all Blogspot blogs are throwaway blogs. There are many great blogs on Blogspot. I’m just saying that people create low-quality websites on Blogspot (or WordPress, Weebly, etc.) and use them to get free products through Tomoson. Google has actually targeted these free open platforms for penalizations in their algorithm updates due to the amount of low-quality blogs living in these systems, even their own Blogspot platform.Since anyone can apply to Tomoson, it’s really up to you to choose who gets to review your products. You aren’t forced to give your product away to crappy websites.

Most of the reviews were pretty short, which I think was due to the short 3-week time limit. They were all also very approving of the product. I should be happy with that, but I really wanted honest reviews with at least some criticism or suggestions of how the product could be better. I would have felt like it was more truthful that way. I’m sure our client doesn’t mind all the praise though.

After reading reviews from a business perspective, I understand why they feel this way. I have personally seen Tomoson bloggers write three-sentence reviews with repulsive spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Check out the following review from yet another business.

From an AMZ Tracker Discussion:

Awful experiences with Tomoson reviews. Many Tomoson reviewers left junk reviews, could hardly spell, some returned the free product for a full refund (somehow). This is on top of perhaps the worst interface I've seen on any of these sites. Its a mess.

Unfortunately, the good bloggers suffer because of the bad bloggers. Without a screening process, all bloggers (no matter what their reach or quality) is simply considered a "bad bunch."

Some businesses also seem to think that Tomoson is flat out useless and spammy. 

From a Reddit Forum Discussion:

We used Tomoson and had a horrible experience with it and will never use it again. They will spam the crap out of your email now and refuse to remove you from email lists. You have a 50/50 shot or worse of actually getting a review to show up and someone not just getting free product. Whatever review you do get will most likely not yield anything for you. Tomoson is a terrible company that you should stay away from.

I feel that there should be some kind of application process or quality assessment. Perhaps bloggers could link to previous reviews and someone from Tomoson would decide whether or not their reviews are up to par. Bloggers should be providing original, quality reviews, not just regurgitated information from a company's product page.

The fact that businesses seem to think that the majority of Tomoson bloggers are greedy, poor-quality reviewers leads me to believe that Tomoson just doesn't really care. In my opinion, they seem to be about their bottom line and nothing more. These businesses pay them—and the more bloggers they have, the more money they're inclined to make—so maybe they really don't care that there are hundreds of low-quality bloggers in their midst?

3. System is Glitchy

This seems to be the "hot" issue among Tomoson bloggers.

Not only is the design of the platform generic and cheesy, it just doesn't work. Well, it works sometimes—but sometimes is not enough, especially when you expect bloggers to meet deadlines!

Linking social media accounts is a royal pain. The stats do not update automatically, so if you receive a wave of new followers, you must go into the platform, disconnect your social media, then reconnect it to reflect the newest stats. Sometimes, your social media will disconnect on its own accord!

Another major issue is that there is no option to delete old messages, applications, or reviews that have been completed. That means that bloggers are left with hundreds of messages, review applications, and old reviews just sitting on their dashboard. It is ridiculously unorganized.

Tomoson has stated that they will eventually fix it, but also mentioned that it is "not broken" like some other things on the site.

Finally, Tomoson recently rolled out an update in 2015 and it has led to dozens of complaints.

While Tomoson didn't respond to these concerns, they had no problem arguing and spouting rude, condescending words several days before. Read the next section to see what I mean.

The Very Ugly

While you may think that the above tidbits are bad enough, trust me: It gets worse.

When it comes to Tomoson's interaction with bloggers, their favoritism for businesses, and their lack of support, it gets pretty darn ugly.

1. Tomoson Treats Their Bloggers Poorly

Most of the complaints that I have heard from other bloggers is that Tomoson treats businesses better than bloggers—even when businesses engage in unethical practices or violates Tomoson's terms.

Tomoson also seems to shun "small-time" bloggers (bloggers without a significant reach) instead of providing support and tools to help them grow their audience.

In one instance, a blogger complained about the platform and specifically mentioned that businesses very rarely respond to her messages. So, how did Tomoson respond?

Disgusting, isn't it?

This condescending tone is seen throughout Tomoson's replies on Facebook. At one point, the person behind Tomoson's Facebook page stated that he/she "likes to argue." If that's not poor quality customer service, then I'm not sure what is.

In another incident, Tomoson posts an article regarding how to disclose sponsored ads on your blog. One of the bloggers disagreed with the article (which stated you could use an image to disclose sponsored ads) and said that disclosures must be written.

While I believe that she was incorrect, the way Tomoson responded was completely uncalled for. Again, the tone was condescending.

Tomoson still failed to see what they were doing wrong, and continued to argue as opposed to provide gentle guidance.

At this point, I am no longer surprised when I see Tomoson's response on their Facebook page. It seems to be "their thing" to show patronizing superiority over the bloggers—it seems that Tomoson has forgotten that the bloggers make the platform what it is and without us, Tomoson would fall.

Shame on Tomoson for allowing this.

2. Tomoson Support Sucks 

There seem to be mixed reviews regarding Tomoson's support. Obviously, the majority seems to agree that whoever is behind the Facebook page needs to go, but when it comes to their messaging service, the opinions are divided.

Some people feel that the team answers their questions and resolves issues in a timely manner.

Me, on the other hand, well, I feel that Tomoson's support leaves much to be desired.

Tomoson needs a Customer Support 101 class.

Tomoson's lack of support is one of the worst parts of the platform.

Now, I typically contact the business directly if I have an issue and leave Tomoson out of it. Sometimes, however, businesses refuse to acknowledge that a message was even sent. In one instance, I had contacted a business several times regarding the whereabouts of a product that was supposed to be sent to my giveaway winner. Because they failed to respond, I contacted Tomoson, hoping that they would back me up.

Sadly, I was wrong.

I received the following response:

In other words, Tomoson says, "Take it up with the business." This approach shows that Tomoson has absolutely no control over what businesses do or don't do on their platform.

After attempting to contact the business again to no avail, I contacted Tomoson a final time and received this response:

The part that ticked me off the most was this:

But it is already in the business discretion when they send prizes to the blogger's contest winners since it is their responsibility to send the product. The reason why running a contest is optional for bloggers.

I'm not sure exactly what she is trying to say, but to me it sounds like this, "If you expect products to be shipped to winners within a specified time period, then don't agree to host a giveaway."

I put far too much time, effort, and heart into my reviews written for Tomoson to be told that no one has my back; that I'm "on my own." This is what bothers me the most. There is absolutely no support and no safety net to catch you if a company screws you over.

And that brings me to my next point...

3. Companies Don't Always Hold Up Their End of The Bargain

This is what led me to write this post.

I participated in a campaign, wrote a review, and hosted a giveaway for the product. A month after the giveaway ended, I followed up with my winner to make sure that she had received her prize. To my dismay, she had not.

After apologizing, I attempted to contact the company who later sent me a claim code to give to her so that she could purchase the product on Amazon for free. Now, this is not the way I typically do things. Products should always be sent directly to the winner.

Since I hadn't disclosed this beforehand and since my winner was getting impatient, I decided that I'd better just go ahead, send the code, and let her order her prize before any other issues came up.

Unfortunately, more issues arose.

The code was invalid. The company sent a new one. By the time my winner was able to redeem it, the company's stock had been depleted.

Well, as it turns out, the code was invalid. The company then sent a new one, but by the time the winner was able to redeem it, the company's stock was depleted.

I contacted the business several times after this and didn't receive a response until three weeks later. By this time, I had already resolved the issue on my own. I sent my winner a similar product and refunded the difference in price of the product she was supposed to receive. I spent money out of my own pocket to fix a mistake that Tomoson seems to allow, based on their response to my email (as you read in the "Tomoson Support Sucks" section).

4. Companies sometimes ask you to pay to review their product.

First of all, this makes absolutely no sense. Bloggers should not be required to pay a company to promote a product. I don't care if I'm receiving the product at a "deep discount" or "only for a penny." I do not pay to review products because the product is my compensation.

Now, I'm not sure if companies are just blissfully unaware or just ignorant to the fact that the IRS requires bloggers to claim all products that they receive for free in exchange for reviews. That means that for every item we receive to review, we PAY TAXES on it at the end of the year. These products are considered compensation for the review. It is insulting to ask a blogger to pay you to promote your product.

After numerous blogger complaints about this, you'd think that Tomoson would crack down on companies who participate in these practices, right?

Wrong. Instead, Tomoson responded by allowing companies to charge for shipping on products without reimbursement, as long as it is disclosed prior to bloggers applying.

5. Oblivious Businesses

From time to time, I will come across a company that seems dead set on taking advantage of bloggers instead of working with them to gain exposure. You see, Tomoson has a system set in place which allows bloggers to request a specific amount of compensation for their reviews.

Some businesses don't like this practice. They think that it is "ridiculous" that a blogger would ask for payment for a review. What they don't understand is that reviews require work. As a matter of fact, here on Freelance Lady, I charge $25 for a sponsored post—and quality companies are almost always willing to pay this amount (and that's without a product to review). For product reviews, I do not charge as long as the product is worth $25 or more because the product is my compensation.

On Tomoson, I will come across an item worth $5 and the company expects you to write a review on your blog, write a review on Amazon, post a YouTube video, share an image on Instagram, post a Facebook status update, Tweet about the product, and give up your right arm—all for a product worth $5! A product worth only $5 is not even close to being worth the time and effort that goes into facilitating these reviews—and companies wonder why their reviews are often short and low-quality.

Sometimes, companies will even ask you to share their Amazon Affiliate links so that when one of your readers clicks on the link, the company earns a commission. I'm not sure whether or not this is against Tomoson's terms, but if it's not, it should be.

The Last Straw

Tomoson has caused me to get into situations with businesses that reflect poorly on my blog, and I cannot have that. If Tomoson offered better support for bloggers and held businesses accountable when they "got over" on bloggers, then I would be more inclined to recommend them.

However, it seems that they have only gotten worse over the past several months, which is why I felt compelled to write this article.

The Laughing Stock of The Blog World

Sadly, Tomoson has become somewhat of the "laughing stock" of brand/blog platforms. I have, on numerous occasions, heard bloggers say things like, "Well, if you know a blogger who is terrible at product reviews, then send her over to Tomoson!" and "Her blog sucks. Send her to Tomoson."

It is sad, but that in itself says a great deal about the business.

I'm debating on whether or not I'm going to stick around to see where Tomoson is headed. As much as I want to give the company the benefit of the doubt, I feel that I have given them far too many chances to get it right—and they always fall short.

It's only a matter of time before another company comes along and blows Tomoson right out of the water.

What are your experiences with Tomoson? Let me know what you think!