Yelp Reviews -- When the Owner Responds

[House Cat]

If I am surfing a company on Yelp and I see that an owner responds to any negative Yelp review, I will NOT give that company my business. Why don't owners understand that arguing with negative reviews make them look very, very bad...worse than the negative review itself?

How do you feel about this practice?

 

[Asscherhalo_lover]

I think it depends, sometimes if I've posted about a less than stellar experience, an owner has responded asking me to please come back and try them out again. I don't mind that. But if they respond just arguing with you, that's their own problem.

 

[House Cat]

I think it depends, sometimes if I've posted about a less than stellar experience, an owner has responded asking me to please come back and try them out again. I don't mind that. But if they respond just arguing with you, that's their own problem.

Yes, if an owner wants to rectify the situation, that is a very different situation.

 

[iluvshinythings]

I think it makes the owner look defensive and guilty.

I've actually had an owner respond to my negative review and then call and ask me to remove it. The guy had some nerve. He took my money (several thousand dollars), didn't send the promised product (custom furniture) for nine months and then claimed he was having financial problems and didn't have the money to cover shipping. He was abusive in his phone calls and emails the whole time I was trying to get him to send my order or refund my money too. I finally got the attorney general and better business bureau involved and that's when he magically shipped my order which arrived damaged. So I wrote a very negative and honest review on yelp and the BBB site which he responded to by calling me a liar. He also went off on several other people who wrote negative reviews on Etsy. There were a few glowing reviews during the same time period that I really think he wrote himself. I think his response to the negative reviews of his business showed his true character to the world. Now that I've been through the whole experience, I read all ratings and pay close attention - especially when the owner responds with anything other than an offer to make things right.

 

[madelise]

I had an owner threaten me via private messages on Yelp. LONG LONG messages yelling at me.

 

[chemgirl]

I hate this. I was recently going to book a couples resort for my anniversary and the owner's responses on TripAdvisor were so rude I decided to book elsewhere.

Actually if you want a laugh, look up Couples Resort Muskoka and read anything 3 stars or less. The owner needs to hire a marketing person to handle his social media.

I also had a restaurant owner contact me privately asking me to remove a negative review. I didn't want to be contacted by him so I agreed to remove it. Funny enough under the "reason for removal" drop down there is an option for "harassment by owner". Selected that one, but he went out of business before anything could really happen. Obviously my negative review had some merit.

 

[CJ2008]

It depends on the response - if the response is professional, and sounds neutral/factual - I think it's OK and doesn't bother me, even if it's countering the negative review in some way (e.g., we did offer you and your wife a free dessert on us for the inconvenience, and we regret that you didn't feel this was enough or appropriate based on what you experienced).

I think that sometimes people leave inaccurate negative reviews as a way to get "back" at the business for whatever reason, and I think it's fair that the business owner have the opportunity to defend themselves.

But if the response sounds angry, or accusatory, or in any way unprofessional it makes me think less of the Manager/business.

 

[telephone89]

I think RESPONDING to a negative review (as a reply, not as a 5* review right after to up their score) is fine. For example, on trip advisor, there are many times that a guest has a negative experience, the owner responds and will apologize, ask for more info, perhaps leave an email for the guest to contact them.

HOWEVER if the owner does argue, or as I said above, tries to up their score by responding with a 'like' or 5*, then I feel exactly the same. There was one restaurant that I'd gone to, and it was an indian restaurant. Where I'd lived before, a very ethnically diverse area, we had a TON of great indian restaurants. Well priced, great portions, etc. Anyways, this place sucked. So I went to give them an honest, but negative review. After I'd done that, I was reading, and the owner would respond to each negative review with a 5* review, saying "juliebaby31x (or whomever) is just one of our competitors trying to ruin us! We have wonderful food! This person lies!". There were tons of these. And, the reviewers were pretty well travelled, they weren't the 1 off reviewer that COULD be a competitor. Anyways, I went back and updated my review with something like 'edit - just noticed the owner calling all the bad reviews fake and trying to up his score. Totally inappropriate. Will not be back." and then he proceeded to call me a rival restaurant out to ruin him

 

[decisively_unsure]

If I am surfing a company on Yelp and I see that an owner responds to any negative Yelp review, I will NOT give that company my business. Why don't owners understand that arguing with negative reviews make them look very, very bad...worse than the negative review itself?

How do you feel about this practice?

Customer service 101 is to respond to complaints in a constructive manner. Arguing is an entirely different matter though and violates the number one rule of "the customer is always right" however infuriating this can be at times.

 

[House Cat]

If I am surfing a company on Yelp and I see that an owner responds to any negative Yelp review, I will NOT give that company my business. Why don't owners understand that arguing with negative reviews make them look very, very bad...worse than the negative review itself?

How do you feel about this practice?

Customer service 101 is to respond to complaints in a constructive manner. Arguing is an entirely different matter though and violates the number one rule of "the customer is always right" however infuriating this can be at times.

I am going to change my stance:

There is private messaging on Yelp. This would be the appropriate way to respond to any customer complaint as far as I am concerned. To do so publicly feels confrontational.

 

[TooPatient]

I actually like to see a response if it is polite and on point. How they handle a situation says a lot about them. If they don't reply, my assumption (barring large quantities of reviews after) is that the issue was not addressed and the problem is still there.

Now the rude ones.... I don't think they should do that, but I would rather know so I can give my business to someone else.

 

[telephone89]

That's a good point Toopatient. It shows initiave to be checking your social media/review sites and addressing any concerns. Constructive criticism will make a business better, so owners who take that into account are probably better off in the long run

 

[distracts]

If I am surfing a company on Yelp and I see that an owner responds to any negative Yelp review, I will NOT give that company my business. Why don't owners understand that arguing with negative reviews make them look very, very bad...worse than the negative review itself?

How do you feel about this practice?

I've had owners respond to negative Yelp reviews I've left before. I never reply or change my review in any way. I've had several replies say "what can we do to make you take down your review" but, like, your comment is public, sir, I think I'll leave it there! It's one thing if they're just explaining their side and quite another if they want me to take my comment down!

 

[ame]

I think it depends, sometimes if I've posted about a less than stellar experience, an owner has responded asking me to please come back and try them out again. I don't mind that. But if they respond just arguing with you, that's their own problem.

This.

I quit yelp after I reviewed a place locally that did nothing but bash me and had regulars attack me after a regular came in with his dog--not some tiny little dog either, a giant mastiff--and wandered around the damn restaurant with it. ONE employee said "you can't have the dog in here" to him, and he said "I know" and walked right on by her. NO ONE said a word to him after that, but instead pet the dog, played with the dog, and then would go and get food without washing hands. I lost it, and the table behind us was filming it and reported it to the health dept. I found out when I reported to the health dept too. When I posted about it I got nothing but crap. The owner of the dog harassed me for weeks. I refused to take it down. Suddenly my review was gone. All of the regulars reported it and Yelp deleted it. I decided to quit after that because yes the DO remove reviews with enough pressure. I just enjoyed giggling to myself when they got health dept violations.

 

[CJ2008]

I think it depends, sometimes if I've posted about a less than stellar experience, an owner has responded asking me to please come back and try them out again. I don't mind that. But if they respond just arguing with you, that's their own problem.

This.

I quit yelp after I reviewed a place locally that did nothing but bash me and had regulars attack me after a regular came in with his dog--not some tiny little dog either, a giant mastiff--and wandered around the damn restaurant with it. ONE employee said "you can't have the dog in here" to him, and he said "I know" and walked right on by her. NO ONE said a word to him after that, but instead pet the dog, played with the dog, and then would go and get food without washing hands. I lost it, and the table behind us was filming it and reported it to the health dept. I found out when I reported to the health dept too. When I posted about it I got nothing but crap. The owner of the dog harassed me for weeks. I refused to take it down. Suddenly my review was gone. All of the regulars reported it and Yelp deleted it. I decided to quit after that because yes the DO remove reviews with enough pressure. I just enjoyed giggling to myself when they got health dept violations.

That's actually scary especially if you use your real name/picture...

 

[iluvshinythings]

I think it depends, sometimes if I've posted about a less than stellar experience, an owner has responded asking me to please come back and try them out again. I don't mind that. But if they respond just arguing with you, that's their own problem.

This.

I quit yelp after I reviewed a place locally that did nothing but bash me and had regulars attack me after a regular came in with his dog--not some tiny little dog either, a giant mastiff--and wandered around the damn restaurant with it. ONE employee said "you can't have the dog in here" to him, and he said "I know" and walked right on by her. NO ONE said a word to him after that, but instead pet the dog, played with the dog, and then would go and get food without washing hands. I lost it, and the table behind us was filming it and reported it to the health dept. I found out when I reported to the health dept too. When I posted about it I got nothing but crap. The owner of the dog harassed me for weeks. I refused to take it down. Suddenly my review was gone. All of the regulars reported it and Yelp deleted it. I decided to quit after that because yes the DO remove reviews with enough pressure. I just enjoyed giggling to myself when they got health dept violations.

I'd have complained about the dog too. I really like dogs but I put mine outside when we eat and that's in my own home.

After this thread I looked at the negative review I left on yelp and YP and both have been removed. Theres still a string of others that the owner replied to in a snide manner.

 

[distracts]

Weird - I actually checked and all my negative reviews have been removed as well. That's not cool. I'm going to set a day where I sit down and re-review all those places with a note that my previous review was removed at the top. It takes A LOT for me to leave a negative review, so anywhere that gets one really, really deserves it. Now that I've seen that my negative reviews have been removed, I really don't trust Yelp anymore.

 

[MollyMalone]

For those of you whose negative reviews are no longer appearing, is it possible that the restaurant or whatever has had a change of ownership? On TripAdvisor, hotels under new owners-managers can start off with a clean slate, so the place isn't penalized for the sins of the predecessor.

But that couldn't possibly explain why Leon Mege's Yelp reviews have been "sanitized" -- and go back only 9 months, to November 2014

 

[Tacori E-ring]

I just checked. My negative reviews are still on Yelp. Though my mom tried to write one and they would not let her submit it. Something about only posting some of the reviews but I have never had one not post. I have had owners respond via the review and PMs several times. They always were trying to make my experience better. I appreciate that. I have never felt bullied but could see that happening.

 

[AdaBeta27]

I'm not a business owner, but I've dealt with the general public, lol. First, let me say that many people can be total jerks to a business's employees and management. There is a great sense of entitlement out there in the customer base, and many people get themselves in a huff over WHAT THEY THINK is poor service, but the fact is they went in with unrealistic expectations and unreasonable demands. Examples: They go to a box box hardware store, and they a) had to WAIT to talk to a clerk or get their paint mixed, and b) the store's clerk didn't follow them around and be a personal lackey to push the flatbed cart for them while they strolled all around the store for over an hour, and c) some item they wanted was out of stock and they were miffed because they made a special trip to buy that thing and it wasn't there.

Store's reality: a) Staffing is ordinarily very lean, staff are sometimes covering multiple departments. So, expect to wait, because it's not all about you. There ARE other customers in the place, and you are in line behind them. b) It's a big box store = self-service + a working warehouse, and if you are able bodied, you push your own carts and you'd also be wise to not teeter in wearing your 4" spike heels and Sunday best, LOL. c) Mdse availability: You could use your smart phone, or your computer, or just call the store (or all the district stores) before you drive there, to verify that the item is in actually stock. Store has provided you at least 3 good off-site tools to use, right? Poor planning on your part? You only have yourself to blame.

Second, More people will write a negative review than a positive one. There are happy customers who don't sit at computers or cling to smart phones all day. Scores of satisfied customers may exist, but the dissatisfied customers are mainly who bothers to post reviews. I look at reviews and only look for trends and major infractions. I'd not necessarily be put off by nasty retorts from the owner. I'd look for trends there, too. As well as a few laughs.

I actually quit R.N. school because after 1 year I'd realized that there are a lot of unbelievably stupid and/or entitled people out there. And I certainly don't want to have to kiss up to them all day.

 

[distracts]

I'm not a business owner, but I've dealt with the general public, lol. First, let me say that many people can be total jerks to a business's employees and management. There is a great sense of entitlement out there in the customer base, and many people get themselves in a huff over WHAT THEY THINK is poor service, but the fact is they went in with unrealistic expectations and unreasonable demands.

Yeah, we frequent a small, family-owned-and-run restaurant where 99% of the complaints we see are like this. Like, people come in to a restaurant that seats around 40 at dinnertime on Friday and get angry that they have to wait to get seated, then get angry that their food takes half an hour from ordering to come out. Waiters will sometimes politely try to dissuade them from complaining to the owner, which makes them REALLY angry because they think the waiter doesn't want their complaint to be heard, but the reason is because the moment they complain about the slowness, the owner says "Oh, well, if you want your food more quickly, I'll just go back to the kitchen and tell them to cancel your order and you can go to McDonalds!" Cracks me up every time. Even better, there's usually a police officer wandering the block, so people who get really agitated are quickly escorted out. (If there is a legit complaint, they will bend over backwards to fix it, but if it's nonsense... which it usually is... the owner has precisely zero qualms about telling them to gtfo.)

 

[CJ2008]

I actually like to see a response if it is polite and on point. How they handle a situation says a lot about them. If they don't reply, my assumption (barring large quantities of reviews after) is that the issue was not addressed and the problem is still there.

Now the rude ones.... I don't think they should do that, but I would rather know so I can give my business to someone else.

I agree 100% with this - I *like* to see the owners/business response, for the same reasons.

If they don't respond I also think that maybe the customer is RIGHT in whatever they are complaining about - and I know this is not always the case. There are a lot of rude demanding people out there. I see it often while waiting in line for my bagel / coffee - the girls that work there couldn't be more efficient or polite - and so often I hear people speaking in a demeaning way to them, or get really angry over mistakes.

I also agree with this:

Second, More people will write a negative review than a positive one

That's why I always make sure to also take the time to compliment/report good service or an employee going out of their way for me - I always ask "what can I do for you?" Sometimes that's writing to HQ, sometimes that's talking to their immediate supervisor, or leaving a review, etc. - they usually know what makes the most impact in their file.

 

[Lisa Loves Shiny]

IMHO it's all in how you say it. If the owner sinks low than he/she has proven their critic's point. If they respond with class than the critique is subject to doubt.