They Might Bring Hanging Back...

They Might Bring Hanging Back...

Posted by Roy MacNaughton on October 5, 2008 at 12:33pm in Marketing/Branding

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Recently I mentioned how some restaurant review sites, like Yelp in particular, have been used to bludgeon the unsuspecting restaurateur.

The way this allegedly works is if (and when) a restaurant gets a negative review there is very little s/he can do about it…unless they respond (positively) to a sales rep who coincidentally contacts the restaurateur, shortly after that negative review appears on the site. (I won’t even go into the idea of “who” is writing such reviews….and “why”…but you can figure that one out when you check the two sites I mention below…)

This is a quote from the forum I’ll tell you about in a few moments….

” Yelp's sales reps use negative postings as a "lead source" to call the owner and attempt to sell Business Owner Accounts. I received a phone call from a sales rep named ‘Summer’ who stated that negative reviews could be moved to the bottom of the page and possibly removed in the future if I purchased a Business Owner Account. The hypocrisy is legendary, and is further amplified by their removal of my negative "review" of Yelp on their own website. So much for, "The voice of the people" or "Real People. Real Reviews" Yelp hires paid "Yelpers" $15 / dollars an hour to write reviews because their business model is not succeeding. The ads for paid Yelpers can be found on Craigslist in every metro area in the U.S. You could call this, “Paid People . Fake Reviews". (End quote).

This post and many more like it from angry restaurant operators are to be found at a site called: www.Yelp-sucks.com .

There are so many irate food service owners vis-à-vis Yelp that now there is a class action suit being formed. You can learn more about this by going to: http://yelplawsuit.com/

Personally, I would rather see my restaurant posted for review on a site like www.we8there.com for example. I would rather be on a review site that is honest, upfront, straight forward, with a positive track record; one who has been telling it like it is for a few years in this business. I’d even pay for that.

The inability to face and answer your accuser is not a fair situation. With some of these sites, it is almost impossible to obtain a fair opportunity or forum to address or explain the complaint….assuming it is a legitimate one. Stories abound about disgruntled employees or spouses who have deliberately placed negative reviews on such sites to try and do the restaurant harm.

Then there’s the restaurateur who tries to fool the review site by having a friend or relative put a glowing review on the site to enhance the image of the outlet. This might work for a while; but the owners of the review sites are not stupid. They have their ‘ways’ of determining the authenticity of a review…and they will throw you off the site if they find you cheating.

Let’s face it: this is one damn tough business; we have to face the public every day with a smile…and at least look like we mean it. Our customers have huge problems, so folks hope to escape some of them when they come to your restaurant. It’s like going to a movie….to escape the reality of negativity….even just for an hour or two.

We have many problems too (food costs, labor shortages, battered economy and so on). But that is what we have to deal with in our business. It comes with our territory. We must separate what we face in our business from why our customers come to us. Our job is to make them feel much better….to head off any problems up front.

The best way to protect yourself from a negative review is to make sure you do all you can to please the guest and ask if s/he really did have a nice visit.

I know what you’re thinking. We know that most often a customer will not want to unload on you ‘publicly’, right there in the restaurant; but will tell you what s/he thinks you want to hear. That’s human nature.

But now they can go home, switch on the computer and dump all over you and your business. You can do everything possible to make sure they are happy; but you can’t please everyone. The unscrupulous or mismanaged review sites make your lives harder; but they can also really help you out too.

Take that negative comment…that lemon…and turn it into your own lemonade!

Try to get your guests’ email address so you can communicate with them via your blog or newsletters. This way, if you get a negative review on one of those nasty sites like you-know-who, use your blog and/or email lists to address the complaint right up front. Tell your readers ‘your side of the story’. Tell them what really happened, what you’re doing about it and how you hope it won’t happen again.

People know you are trying to do your best…especially when you apologize in public and explain what happened. It will make your guests want to give you another try in the future; they will really respect you for your honesty and ability to admit that you were not quite 100% that evening.

As for Yelp…don’t concern yourself with that outfit. You all know the old adage about giving an offender enough rope... In my judgment, it’s just a matter of time.

© Roy W. MacNaughton, 2008

Tags: blog, guests, hanging, lemonade, marketing, newsletter, restaurants, reviews, rope, yelp

Comment by Norbert Marrale on October 5, 2008 at 2:09pm: Roy,

There appears to be more room for abuse when there's no direct connection between operators of "ratings" websites and the restaurants that are listed. But, using negative postings as a "lead source" is plain nasty. Yelp's offering to push negative reviews to the bottom is deceitful to visitors and simply unethical.

Our dining guide platform includes two features that prevent or mitigate this kind of abuse by "random passers-by" - every review is manually moderated, and then automatically forwarded to the restaurateur once published. This gives our restaurants an opportunity for follow-up.

We actively invite guests who make a reservation through our service to review the restaurants they've visited, and specifically ask to provide both positive and negative feedback. Reviews are listed by visit date, and we're considering to limit the display of feedback for visits that took place more than 6 months ago.

Also, I'd be very interested to know how services like BooRah verify that their reviewers have actually been to a place they're rating... Credibility and reputation are essential for community driven websites.

Comment by Roy MacNaughton on October 5, 2008 at 5:00pm: Yes, Norbert, you are correct in your comments.

The problem is similar to that causing the major financial melt-down in the U.S. this past few months...greed. Most major -- and minor -- problems are caused by stupidity and/or greed.

Unfortunately too many folks took Michael Douglas' character in the movie Wall Street for the truth. He is famous for saying: "greed is good!"

Today I read an Internet marketer say in his subject line...."this should really get your greed glands happy again!" That marketer doesn't even see -- or care -- that this is a very short-sighted way of looking at things. Sooner or later, the chickens all come home to roost.

Ironically, this same marketer has spent the last two months extolling the great virtues of playing the stock market online from home and naturally becoming a millionaire in the speedy process. 'Funny that today's message is about selling something else, not stocks. It was how he got started in the publishing business. Huh?

Some people figured they could make a fast buck on the number of disgruntled, misinformed or just downright dishonest folks who feel it's OK to dump their personal angst and garbage all over the unsuspecting restaurateur. These guys figured that with so many people now relying on "restaurant review sites" before choosing where to dine out, there was money to be made...no matter who got hurt in the process.

This is the same sort of individual who was lending out almost 'free mortgage money'; and those who were either too stupid or greedy; knew they did not really qualify for such a mortgage, but still they took the lenders up on it.

Now both sides have lost.

The end result is a lot of dishonest behavior that is hurting restaurants, families, employment and the industry in general.

Fortunately, restaurateurs are joining together and standing up to these greedy types....and like the movie Network....they're yelling: "we're mad as hell...and we're not gonna take it anymore!"

Comment by susan holaday on October 6, 2008 at 11:13am: You'd hope so- that's really deplorable to use a "bad" review to get someone to buy space or an account and seems to me to be deceptive and deceitful. We need to get back to an era of honesty and straightforwardness! I wonder about some of the remarks I see on Chowhound in New England. Some operators say they see comments that are clearly from former disgruntled employees. That's not good either. The web has given people a whole new way to strike out in a variety of negative ways, unfortunately. With the incredible surge of interest in food, restaurants, chefs, etc. I suppose this was inevitable that you'd get this as well as the positive benefits.

Comment by Eric on October 6, 2008 at 10:29pm: The major differences between a community review site like Yelp, and BooRah's model are two-fold -- first, BooRah aggregates restaurant reviews from across the web, from lots of different sources - review sites, restaurant critics, blogs -- so consumers and restaurateurs alike are able to see a complete cross-section of reviews on the restaurant, not just the views from members of a single community.

Second, BooRah seeks to build better online engagement between restaurant owners and their customers, with both free programs (ie, we allow the restaurant's own message to be displayed - for free - with the reviews) and paid programs, including a purpose-built loyalty program that ties a customer's visit history, customer emails, and customer feedback/reviews all together for the restaurant owner. With these programs, we're not pitching a "pay to play" story to the owners -- we're building programs that help restaurant owners to better engage their customers online, outside of the restaurant's four walls.

Comment by Roy MacNaughton on October 7, 2008 at 4:15pm: Hey Eric:

Thanks for joining in!

Please contact me off site at: roymacnaughton@gmail.com

I would like to discuss something with you.....

Cheers,

Roy

Comment by Stanley E. Roberts on October 9, 2008 at 10:21pm: We8there.com is unique in that not only do we allow users to post reviews, we feed or supply that same data to many of the major sites like Yahoo Travel,Google. TripAdvisor, Best Place to Eat.com and Boorah, just to name a few. We read every review and will delete a review if it is determined that the review was written by someone who works or is closely associated with the business. Reviews that include personal attacks are also removed. We8there.com is not a vessel to slam businesses; we are here so users can make an informed decision when it comes to dining or lodging. For the record. we8there.com is a small company that offers very personalized service, we will respond to all emails usually via a phone call. We often unite business owners with reviewers when a restaurant gets a negative or sometimes, even a positive review. We don't have a sales force and we do not force business owners to join our service but if an establishment chooses to advertise with us, we do our best to provide a valuable service. Again, thank you for the positive press.

Did I mention when a review is posted on we8there.com it is usually posted on Google in about 4 hours. How many other websites can say that?

Stanley Roberts

Comment by Norbert Marrale on October 20, 2008 at 11:32am: Thanks Stanley and Eric!

Yes, Google does indeed kick a$$ - new restaurant profiles and reviews that are posted on DineSXM get indexed almost immediately by the big G. I just posted an update on restaurants that were affected by hurricane Omar as it brushed St. Maarten / St. Martin in the night of Oct 15-16.

DineSXM - St. Martin and St. Maarten restaurants: profiles, reviews and online reservations