Buyer Blame
Deflecting a complaint about a product or service by blaming the buyer's diligence or expectations instead of engaging with whether the complaint is valid.
"You bought from a company with that reputation and now you're surprised? Do your research next time."
"If $100 feels expensive and you expected perfection, you're just not the target customer."
"You didn't read a single review before buying? That one's on you."
"Should've been running an ad blocker. Not their fault you clicked the wrong button."
Why It's Unproductive
The complaint might be pointing at a real design failure or a bad-faith practice, but recasting it as the buyer's carelessness quietly excuses the company and puts the person on the defensive about their own judgment. "Do your research" and "adjust your expectations" both sound like level-headed realism, which is exactly why the move slips by, and dispensing that advice can feel wiser than sharing someone's frustration. What gets lost is whether the thing being complained about is actually acceptable.
The Better Move
Separate the person's diligence from the merits of their complaint. Even if someone could have seen it coming, that doesn't settle whether the practice is fair or the product is broken. Engage with the thing being criticized first, and save the "here's how to avoid it next time" for after.
Why It's Better
Keeps the focus on whether something is actually acceptable instead of relitigating the complainer's choices. A complaint that gets taken seriously is more likely to surface a real problem that others can avoid too.
Examples
OP: "Bought a printer and it bricked itself the moment I used a third-party ink cartridge. Ridiculous."
Antipattern: "That brand's been doing this for a decade. Do your research before buying."
Better: "Yeah, they lock the firmware to first-party ink. Worth a chargeback complaint since they don't disclose it clearly at checkout. What model is it?"
OP: "Got charged again after I clearly cancelled, and support keeps stalling."
Antipattern: "You signed up for the cheap plan and expected good support? Not really their problem."
Better: "Screenshot the cancellation confirmation and dispute the charge with your card. A lot of people are reporting the same stall pattern, so it's not just you."
OP: "The official download page had a fake button that installed adware. Awful."
Antipattern: "Should've been using an ad blocker. Kind of on you for clicking it."
Better: "Those disguised ad buttons are a dark pattern and the site shouldn't run them. Reporting it to the host actually gets them pulled sometimes."