Earlier this month, a friend of mine booked a vacation at a resort that we won’t name here, but when she told her friends on Facebook, she got a slew of recommendations against the resort – and she canceled her reservation.

The reason I’m telling you about my friend is not to get you thinking about vacation – it’s to prove the power of recommendations based on real experiences. People not only trust people more than companies (shocking, I know), but they’re basing their purchase decisions on those opinions.

This is why ratings and reviews are so useful. Before now, I thought they were mostly used for hotel Web sites and online book retailers. Not anymore.

Qwest has brought it to the service area with online ratings and reviews of our high-speed Internet services posted on its Qwest High-Speed Internet® Web site. For the first time, customers can go to qwest.com and rate their service. It’s all real feedback from real customers – good or not-so-good – they’re all authentic.

The idea behind this is three-fold: at Qwest, we have a lot of confidence in our service, so we’re putting our money where our mouth is by creating a forum where customers can be honest about their experience; we’re making it easier for customers to make their high-speed Internet purchase decision; finally, honest customer feedback helps us improve.

So, if you’re a Qwest High-Speed Internet customer, check out the reviews in the “Learn More” section of each service, and feel free to write your own (you can do so from your MyAccount page on qwest.com). If there’s something you like, let us know so we can make sure we make that a priority. If there’s something you don’t like, tell us (nicely, please).

Let’s see, between this, our customer service Twitter program, Talk to Qwest and the Qwest Internet Online Community forums, you’ve really got your choice when it comes to interacting with us.

We really hope you do!

~TechnoMonica