Negative business reviews/ratings

[whatwhat]

I have a friend on Facebook whose wife recently wrote a negative business review as a post for a local blinds and window coverings company. Nothing super horrible happened (like discrimination, or verbal/physical assault) but just dealt with incorrect quote about date of installation, damage with installation and what they thought to be an negative solution to all the issues from the business owner.

Anyways, I get that they wrote a post to warn their family and friends about the experience they had with the business, and rated and posted the same experience on the business's Facebook page, which I can't argue with. But the thing that got to me was about 15 other people went to the Facebook page to rate the business a 1 star and to write a negative business review, based solely on this one person's story of what happened.

In this day and age, we seem to have a real group mentality when it comes to bad experiences. Just wondering what other people thought about this. Do you not use a business because you've heard a bad review? Would you rate/write a bad review based on someone else's experience?

[gman313]

Should have gone with Blinds Plus....

Anyways I would never write a negative review based on someone elses. I do take a quick look at what others have to say and take into consideration, but minimally. I tend to put more weight into family/friends/coworkers opinion then I would a stranger.

I think it is pretty weak to jump on your buddys band wagon to help them destroy a business.

[spooker]

A few years ago a friend of a friend wrote a negative public post on Facebook about a local business and then the reaction from the business drove the publicity about it to the point where the CBC picked it up ...

The business is still around ... they got bashed by others on Facebook and other stories came out ... but they survived

I can't say that I noticed any "group reviews" that went sour due to this experience ... personally I wouldn't add anything unless I had an experience to relate (good or bad) ... do people jump on these hoping to get exposure if the original goes viral?

And yes, at times I will check reviews for a business that I'm looking to patronize and will move forward based on those ...

[fvkasm2x]

I hate the mob mentality of social media.

So many lives can be damaged based on the opinion or experience of one person... an experience that might not even be true or conveyed accurately.

This kind of thing just happened here in Edmonton. Basically:

Woman worked for a dog grooming/sitting/walking company. She got fired, for whatever reason. She created a fake Facebook account and then slammed the company with false accusations and claims of animal abuse all over the internet, buy/sell groups, kijiji etc...

Someone eventually figured it out and tried to combat the negative press with warnings of their own, but probably too little too late. A ton of people probably bought the smear campaign.

[redwine]

I read a lot of reviews, mostly for places I am going to eat but any service that I need I will go thru them. I find the negative crowd is way more vocal than the happy folk. I tend to believe there is more truth in the positive reviews over the negative.

I would never give any stars or review a company unless I had direct dealings with them.

[Osoyoos_Familyof4]

I'm torn on thIs one. I like using the review sites, but that being said, I do suspect they are seeded sometimes with both good and bad reviews that aren't legit. When I read them I do try to look for patterns and trends and a comprehensive amount of reviews to base my opinion on.

On the other hand, social media is another thing altogether. In our small community we have a local very active site and sometimes quite a flap is stirred when local small business is endorsed or attacked. It never feels good to me when someone claims a negative experience with a small business and 20 people come back to attack the poster because in a small town just about someone knows personally the business owner and comes to their defence even if the negative experience is accurate. And the more personally popular the business owner is, the more vicious it can become.

I think the only real way to deal with this is to remember that people are entitled to their opinion and I would rather people have a voice (even if it's a dodgy complaint) than to censor them.

[jimmy4321]

I couldn't care less about online reviews. Like mentioned earlier many businesses get workers, families and their dog to give them 5 stars or whatever the case.
Just check out these Facebook Rant and Rave groups, they have the SAME PEOPLE griping about EVERYTHING.
So give some people a voice to b:cuss: , they will.

[johnny24]

I couldn't care less about online reviews. Like mentioned earlier many businesses get workers, families and their dog to give them 5 stars or whatever the case.
Just check out these Facebook Rant and Rave groups, they have the SAME PEOPLE griping about EVERYTHING.
So give some people a voice to b:cuss: , they will.

Same people griping about everything? I don't believe such a place exists.

[Bsuds]

Same people griping about everything? I don't believe such a place exists.

LOL your posting in it.

[jimmy4321]

Anyway , get a referral from someone you know if you can.