I'm confused about this too. I don't use a VPN, have been wanting to purchase a subscription to one for sometime but I haven't been sure which to get since I don't trust any of those rating sites.
It's wise of you not to trust the ratings. Practically all VPN provider rating websites give those score based purely of their affiliate fees [0].
I would recommend not to purchase any subscriptions. This whole "VPN for privacy" thing more and more looks like a meme created by the industry of useless entities that resell bandwidth. It's a very profitable industry because they do nothing but receive money, they don't protect you legally either; those who lie about their no-logs policy, without hesitation give your data away to the law enforcement agencies.
[0] http://vpnscam.com/is-purevpn-legit-proof-that-purevpn-bough...