anybody find yelpers to be somewhat more full of poop than others

[lori042499]

I have recently joined yelp...and in troling around my local town have found many unflattering even down right awful reviews of some very decent places in town..When looking at their profile pics, I am reminded of the young good looking crowd that often gets recruited for nightclub promotion...

I just realized that on 10/3 I got a pretty bad review and normally I wouldn't mind but it is my only review on yelp..This guy says he bought two items here one for his girlfirend and one for a funeral home...I did a search and have had one Jeff order in the last year and noone as a customer detail in Wakefield with the last name jeff and only 3 women with a last name beginning in R...I sent yelp a message questioning the content of the review...

I have been attacked like this by fake reviews in the past. I think I know who might be behind it, but have no proof and I don't have any clue why, I really am no threat except that until I came along there really was no "competition" in this town...

Anyone else have similar experiences or thoughts on yelp...

 

[Sarah Jane]

I think it's awful that people can write whatever they want about you on the internet. It's so scary. I wish there was at least some sort of way where people had to use their real name or show that they actually did make a purchase. I know it doesn't work that way but it's so scary that anyone can just write anything. People really use those reviews to decide on a business. I know how arbitrary they are but they still even sway me when I'm making a purchasing decision. If you are sure it was not a customer who wrote that review, then that is awful that someone would be so malicious.

 

[CHR]

Claim your business on Yelp and then you can reply directly to the reviewer.

Be sure to choose your words carefully. Ask that the customer contact you regarding their experience with your store since you would like to handle their issues personally.

DO NOT imply the review was written by a competitor.

Post your reply here first if you want some feedback.

And yes, I do find many Yelpers stretching to make their reviews entertaining. They can be really annoying to read....

Added: Lori - Yelp has supressed the negative review for the moment so there's nothing for you to answer. Do have a response ready if they lift the filter.

The guy does have a dozen reviews and has 14 friends on Yelp so this may well be a former customer. The purchase for his girlfriend sounds like he walked into your store - so he may have carried it out. Also, just because he lists a town as his location, he may have his credit card sent to a different address. Can you sort through orders by searching his first name and the occasion?

 

[theRKF]

(I say this a lot, but...) Ditto on what CHR said

In addition, I suggest you check out the webinar recording on online reviews. There's advice on Yelp specifically, and on dealing with negatives.

 

[lori042499]

I had searched for his first name and nothing....I search all my funeral orders back to July and nothing that he would have sent...I would remember that guy, he is a huge muscle head, coming into my store, I am the only one here ever...and a delivery I would have to have some info on..It is completely possible that he did get something from my store and Jeff is not his name at all...and depending on what kind of info he gave me, i do use fillers, I happen to like them, so if he or I got our wires crossed he may very well have gotten something fillery...but I doubt it, I am usually really good about talking to customers and finding out what they want and don't want, especially if they are as talkative and descriptive as this guy was/is, but again anything is possible...

I did update my listing with pictures of my own work and shots of the store inside, just to debunk the notion that my designs are horrible, I did even put a picture of a traditional funeral basket up , just to show the difference in what you can get from my shop...I still do get lots of requests for very traditional funeral pieces, although it is not my default when I don't know...

I did also send this man a reply...I apologized first, then asked if I could get some information on his orders so that I could review them and understand where my company went wrong on these orders and see if there was any kind of compensation that could be worked out on his behalf for his dissatisfaction...I will post if I hear anything...I did let him know that I searched my data base with his limited information and came up with nothing but did explain that it is possible with such limited info...

I sent a request to yelp for them to remove it, and explained the reasoning and gave them the research I did have for my reasoning...I did read his other reviews and some of them seem fine and others seemed suspect..I am wondering if this is the guy that called me to sell me yelp advertising that I listened to and decided not to go with it...I just wonder...

 

[lori042499]

my actual reply....

Hey Jeff,
I saw your review of my store and I have to say I am very surprised...I did a search in my POS system and don't have any orders from a Jeff in the last year. I was wondering if you could provide me with the order info so I could look up what you have ordered and try to understand better where my company went wrong. I do appreciate the feedback and would like to qualify your order and see what I could do to make it up to you. I am truly sorry for any shortcomings you have experienced with my shop...

Lori
Affairs to Remember
781-665-7477


I think this was very diplomatic...non-threatening...I hope anyway...sometimes I react way to fast..well it is sent...tell me what you think and what you think should have been said or what you might have changed..I am always good to learn if the mistake has already been made...Thanks, Cathy, for the offer to review, I do appreciate it..

 

[lori042499]

(I say this a lot, but...) Ditto on what CHR said

In addition, I suggest you check out the webinar recording on online reviews. There's advice on Yelp specifically, and on dealing with negatives.

i will check that out Ryan, Thanks..

 

[lori042499]

Just an update...just what I thought, this guy is a customer of my biggest competitor..I have always suspected that this shop and his friends were behind many of the bad reviews to my site...until I came along there really was no "competition" for him...no one in this town really knows how to design or bases their strengths on it anyway...hardlt anyone even carries much more than roses, filler poms, sunflowers and lilies even stargazers escape them....I have not recieved a message from the gentleman back and have gone over every funeral order going to a man in the last 6 months...every one was either a current customer that I know or someone way out of town ordering on the web...I looked at women and men ordering and there is nothing that fits the discription of flowers sent from a couple for a friends father...it is complete hogwash and it burns my bum simply because there is no need of it...we are both good designers and he has longevity over me, but he does have a superiority complex with customers and sends the cheap ones up here to me to deal with, he doesn't wants anyone cheap in his store...whatever, if he can lay his head on the pillow at night with using these tactics more power to him....jerk!!

 

[concord]

Lori, If he needs to be pulling this type of stupid stuff on you than he must feel threatened by you. Obviously you have had some affect on his biz or he wouldn't be bothered with that type of fake review. I'm always surprised at how low some so-called professionals will stoop. Frankly, I would never base a buying decision on anything I read on line because there is no way to know if it's bogus.

 

[lori042499]

Well Helen, the 100,000 dollars in business that I have gained in the last 4 years definately had to come from somewhere, so yeah he should be a bit threatened, but this kind of tactic just stinks...especially when he treats customers like crap and like they are bothering him if they want something under 40 bucks...Oh well, at least I know that I am not really dissapointing people and it is just bullsh!t