MORE KLIPSCH PLEASE Posted June 19, 2016 Share Posted June 19, 2016 So today my shop got SLAMMED with two bad reviews on Yelp. Not only did the customer give me a bad review he got his two adult kids to slam me also. The story is too long to tell.....but in the nutshell he wanted me to fix things on his car that I (my shop) was not reasonable for. There was no reasoning with man. For the life of me I could not make him understand that my workmanship and parts that I installed are not at fault..... and if they were I would be more than happy to take care of the problem. Anyway..... the review..... He (the customer) slams me on Google review and his two kids take to the Yelp. Now his kids have nothing to do with this they were not in the picture at all. So this has really upset my wife and I. We only had a few reviews on Yelp three "good ones" and one bad one from this drunk that my wife through out the shop years ago. After we read the two bad reviews on yelp this morning my wife and I decided to contact a bunch of our regular customers through e-mail to give us reviews on Yelp. We told them we got slammed and we asked them to give us there Honest review of our shop on Yelp. In our 18 years of running the shop we have never asked any of our customers to give us a review. With in twenty minutes we were getting e-mails from our customers saying they will be more than happy to help us. Later the "good" reviews started hitting the Yelp site for our business...... customers that have been coming to the shop for the last 15 years. It made us feel alot better that so many were so quick to stand with us. Within two hours there were 10 new "good" reviews. Then later in the day "Yelp" takes down 6 of our new "good" reviews but still has the two "bad" reviews from the customers kids that has never done business with us. This is not the fist time this has happened to us. Over the years we have seen "good" reviews from customers only to be taken down. We contacted Yelp about this and there response was "the reviews were too good"...... Yea really..... Over the years we have been contacted by Yelp to advertise with them.... we tell them no thanks....We have read a couple things about this were other business seem to think Yelp is a scam.... If you don't advertise with them they hold back your good reviews. I'm starting to think this might hold some merit. Six of our new reviews taken down within hours of posting them????? Whats the deal???? We now have a call into Yelp about this. In the last 18 years of running our shop we do very little advertising.... it's mostly word of mouth.... But we live in a society were people are so so quick to blame...... It has to be someone fault!!! we need to blame someone!!!......... It couldn't be the fact that my car is 13 years old and has 220k miles on..... It's gotta be that damn mechanics fault..... let me take to the keyboard and give him a bad review............People are all so power full behind that keyboard....... What do you guys think about Yelp? Do you use it? I'll update this Monday once we have heard back from Yelp. Later.... MKP :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mungkiman Posted June 19, 2016 Share Posted June 19, 2016 Do you have enough business at your shop? If so, Yelp is unnecessary, especially with only a handful of reviews. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mustang guy Posted June 19, 2016 Share Posted June 19, 2016 Keep after Yelp. You might want to tell your customers that Yelp took their reviews down. That should piss them off at Yelp and they may help you get those reviews re-posted. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZEUS121996 Posted June 19, 2016 Share Posted June 19, 2016 Or everyone here could do like I did and post positive reviews for Mark's shop. Just use his zip code in Maryland and let's not all post positive reviews in the same day LOL Mark 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricktate Posted June 19, 2016 Share Posted June 19, 2016 I have often wondered about those review sites. It kinda same way on amazon I bought this great rice cooker. But it had some bad reviews which were people not following the directions. I figured this out but the bad ones are still there even after I posted what I was sure they were doing wrong. Not sure what you could do about your situation but word of mouth of good service is the best I think. Maybe one of the lawyers here could chime in on this. I use to work part time for this bike shop.While the owner did have a bit of an attitude. I have seen some customers just come in with a chip on their shoulder expecting king treatment. Even though we knew they had never been in their before. The regular customers that had bought bikes their were treated very good as they should be. I remember one day this French guy came in wanting Wal-Mart bikes worked on the owner told him they weren't messing with for us. He went off on a rant with his wife in French. Little did he know the owner spoke like 6 languages..lol...you should have seen the look on customers face. The owner told me to deal with him and walked off. The guy ended up buying a brand new bike I do not know what the owner said to him but is was great to see. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ceptorman Posted June 19, 2016 Share Posted June 19, 2016 I'm sorry to hear this Mark. I know it bothers you to get bad reviews, but try not to dwell on it too much. Like mungkiman said, you get most of your work by word of mouth, your business won't feel a thing from this bad review. I would follow through with your investigation with yelp though, they need to make this right. Let us know if you need a bunch of positive reviews through yelp…Bill 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvu80 Posted June 19, 2016 Share Posted June 19, 2016 Totally agree with Mr. Cepterman ^^^. As a former business owner I can sympathize with your frustrations, trying to run a business the right way by taking care of customer's needs, then being held hostage by "social media" reviews over which you have no control. That has got to be frustrating and maddening. I hope Yelp or whatever "review site" allows you respond to the critical reviews. I would NOT have people who have not done business with you post fake positive reviews. As a consumer that is the reputation you don't want your business to have. +++ To answer your question, I have NEVER read a site like Yelp or Google whatever. I really could care less about what people say on those sites because satisfied people rarely post stuff, it's only for unhappy customers with a complaint, real or not. Word-of-mouth is my preferred way of finding people with whom to do business. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJkizak Posted June 19, 2016 Share Posted June 19, 2016 The "Review" thing phenomena is increasing faster than the Internet itself. While I have posted my honest reviews on items that I purchased I would assume there are other professionals who would want to embellish a product or bad mouth it for economic reasons. I can see a new business entitled "Positive Professional Reviews" or "Negative Professional Reviews" or "Combat Reviews" with the current morality syndrome that exists on the Internet. JJK 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MookieStl Posted June 19, 2016 Share Posted June 19, 2016 I don't get the whole "review" thing either. How the heck do you trust either the good reviews or the bad ones? Good review from your grandma, bad review from your competition. I don't pay much attention to them. Mark, just keep doing the "the right thing" which is sounds like you're good at. Word of mouth is what counts along with repeat customers. I have always been lucky enough to have a mechanic or two that I like and trust. If I lived near you, I am sure I would take my cars to you. As aggravating as it is, don't waste too much time over it, I don't think that many people put much stock in reviews or YELP. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthews Posted June 19, 2016 Share Posted June 19, 2016 How about we review "Yelp" ??? 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Travis In Austin Posted June 19, 2016 Moderators Share Posted June 19, 2016 I think that is why Angie's list has been such a successful model. I couldn't see it at first, a pay site for reviews when there were so many "free" review sites? The pay model weeds out the nuts. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zen Traveler Posted June 19, 2016 Share Posted June 19, 2016 The "Review" thing phenomena is increasing faster than the Internet itself. I agree with others who say blow it off and get on with life--That said, the internet sure has changed how people buy speakers! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimjimbo Posted June 19, 2016 Share Posted June 19, 2016 I don't get the whole "review" thing either. How the heck do you trust either the good reviews or the bad ones? Good review from your grandma, bad review from your competition. I don't pay much attention to them. Mark, just keep doing the "the right thing" which is sounds like you're good at. Word of mouth is what counts along with repeat customers. I have always been lucky enough to have a mechanic or two that I like and trust. If I lived near you, I am sure I would take my cars to you. As aggravating as it is, don't waste too much time over it, I don't think that many people put much stock in reviews or YELP. Wrong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eth2 Posted June 19, 2016 Share Posted June 19, 2016 I also think that you should keep after Yelp. Many people rely on social media when making decisions. This is the case especially if they are new in an area or are looking for a business for which none of their friends can make a recommendation. Don't underestimate the damage these aholes can do to your reputation. That is why internet business such as Reputation.Com have been so successful. They specialize in pushing down sites like Yelp and other sites that contain damaging comments about individual businesses. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eth2 Posted June 19, 2016 Share Posted June 19, 2016 Mark What is your business name and where are you located? I think I need some work done. ;-) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mungkiman Posted June 19, 2016 Share Posted June 19, 2016 Mark What is your business name and where are you located? I think I need some work done. ;-) Mill Creek Motor Works - Westminster MD 21157 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiet_Hollow Posted June 19, 2016 Share Posted June 19, 2016 I don't get the whole "review" thing either. How the heck do you trust either the good reviews or the bad ones? Good review from your grandma, bad review from your competition. I don't pay much attention to them. Mark, just keep doing the "the right thing" which is sounds like you're good at. Word of mouth is what counts along with repeat customers. I have always been lucky enough to have a mechanic or two that I like and trust. If I lived near you, I am sure I would take my cars to you. As aggravating as it is, don't waste too much time over it, I don't think that many people put much stock in reviews or YELP. Wrong "Word of mouth," which predated the internet by centuries. OTOH - The savvy customer will be the type that can identify noise, hype, or shilling in those reviews when they see it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MORE KLIPSCH PLEASE Posted June 19, 2016 Author Share Posted June 19, 2016 I don't get the whole "review" thing either. How the heck do you trust either the good reviews or the bad ones? Good review from your grandma, bad review from your competition. I don't pay much attention to them. Mark, just keep doing the "the right thing" which is sounds like you're good at. Word of mouth is what counts along with repeat customers. I have always been lucky enough to have a mechanic or two that I like and trust. If I lived near you, I am sure I would take my cars to you. As aggravating as it is, don't waste too much time over it, I don't think that many people put much stock in reviews or YELP. Wrong Elaborate jimjimbo..... what ya thinking?? MKP :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mungkiman Posted June 19, 2016 Share Posted June 19, 2016 Interesting that ALL the local reviews are 5 stars, and the 2 @ 1 star reviews are from LA and LV with near identical language. That in itself should be a red flag for Yelp. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eth2 Posted June 19, 2016 Share Posted June 19, 2016 Interesting that ALL the local reviews are 5 stars, and the 2 @ 1 star reviews are from LA and LV with near identical language. That in itself should be a red flag for Yelp. Of course mine is from Rochester, NY. Nonetheless, every word is true. Mark is great at identifying "mysterious sounds." 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.