http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2007/11/negative-reviews-advice.html
From the page: “It might seem counter-intuitive, but if you want to build a stellar reputation for your business, you should embrace negative reviews. Sure, the more positive reviews you have for your business, the better it looks, but there are some benefits to having some negative ones too.”
I was having exactly this discussion with a friend and client yesterday as we debated putting comments on a e-commerce application I wrote.