What Do You Think of Businesses That Pressure You into Changing Negative Feedback Left on Review and Social Media Platforms?

dasher86 on 20/02/2018 - 14:43
Last edited 20/02/2018 - 14:52 by 1 other user

TL;DR

What do you think of businesses that pressure you into changing negative feedback left on review and social media platforms?

I just wanted to gather collective thoughts on what the community thinks about business review moderation - where a business personally contacts you to remove a bad review.

Typical review platforms Tripadvisor, Zomato, Product Review, Social media - Facebook etc.

On a numerous occasions I have businesses approach me to remove or edit a negative review.

I'm understanding that negative reviews can impact a business but also gives the business an opportunity to highlight they like customer feedback and engaging in the social media platforms they have chosen to take part in; and also an opportunity to show that they are willing to learn, stuffs ups do happen and showcase excellent post purchase customer service.

As a consumer i prefer to see both positive and negative reviews and the responses that go along with them.

Some businesses get on the defensive with negative reviews…

As an example spent an hour discussing on messenger why I would not remove or edit my negative review. The review was reflective of the service i had experienced at the time.
Rather than take this on board the business proceeded to tell me that x amount of customers were happy with their product - asked me if approached their staff to fix it before leaving a review on a social media platform (that's what social media is for) and continued to pressure me to change my review.
I also stated in the review that I am willing to give them another go and see how it goes..
This business had little feed back - better off spending time getting more positive reviews.

Another time i was offered $100 USD to remove a tripadvisor review…

• 

  Nugs on 20/02/2018 - 14:45

  +13

  stuff em

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  GG57 on 20/02/2018 - 14:49

  +3

  It always looks suspicious if there are no negative reviews.
  As you say, if there are negatives but the business responds accordingly, I would much prefer to see that. Having said that, I do raise any negs with the business directly and give them a chance to rectify - too late after I've left and just neg them online.
  I'm not sure how they can pressure you to change a review, just cut off the conversation.

  • 

    dasher86 on 20/02/2018 - 14:54

    Pressure as in emotional blackmail of sorts. We are struggling your review will hurt us more etc.

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  scrimshaw on 20/02/2018 - 15:03

  +2

  I suppose business do that because once a bad review is left on the website, it likely remains there for eternity for everyone to see. It's a permanent black mark on their reputation that will remain there regardless of whether or not your business takes steps to mitigate the problem in the future.

  For e.g you might leave a review that a staff member was rude or incompetent in a hotel months ago, but with high staff turnover in the hospitality sector for instance, you can't say for sure that other guests are likely to encounter the same person later on.

  It makes sense for a business to spend time and possibly even money trying to scrub bad reviews off the internet, however, as a customer I wouldn't remove a bad review unless they made an effort in good faith to address and remedy the situation.

  Emotional pleas are the most common and also, probably the least effective…

  Monetary bribes are quite rare — most businesses are not likely going to offer you $$$ just to delete a review.

  • 

    dasher86 on 20/02/2018 - 15:06

    it's good to see it in the perspective of business.
    Agree monetary bribes are quite rare.
    Meal comping is usually done there and then however - i never like to eat again at restaurant i left a bad review for and they know i'm coming in. call me cynical or paranoid.

    • 

      D C on 20/02/2018 - 16:51

      Gamiss will give you $20 for positive reviews…

      • 

        dasher86 on 20/02/2018 - 18:21

        Surprisingly enough I have a vendetta against gamiss after the whole mi band fiasco. Well not a vendetta but wouldn't order from them again.

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  KaTst3R on 20/02/2018 - 15:09

  Aliexpress seller tried to bribe me with "additional free stuff" if I changed my review to a more positive one. I told them not interested because the pictures used in the description was different from the actual product sent. Some businesses are just scummy.

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  idonotknowwhy on 20/02/2018 - 15:40

  I've been given 'credit' from some companies to remove or 'clarify' bad reviews.
  These range from $5 - $20. One time, I got US$50 from a Chinese company to write a good review.
  I used to accept it and do this sort of thing, but not any more.

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  Clear on 20/02/2018 - 15:47

  +6

  I will often amend my review or do another bad one if they rudely demand that I remove the review. If they take my constructive criticism well I also amend the review to say that they've taken my advice onboard positively and are worth giving another chance etc.

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  pernunz on 20/02/2018 - 15:53

  Everyone can have negative experiences with a business, eg. the wrong thing being posted out, a courier issue etc. If the business has been good to deal with in terms of rectifying the action, I can understand them wanting to change a negative review into a positive.

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  nedski on 20/02/2018 - 15:59

  Being offered an incentive by a trader to remove a negative review may contravene the Australian Consumer Law.

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  Youfah Mizzum on 20/02/2018 - 16:31

  +1

  I wrote a review on a shopping website several years ago, but it was rejected. So I reworded it to comply with their conditions. Rejected again. I reworded it a third time. Rejected again. So tried for a fourth version. Rejected.
  It was plainly clear that the tiniest bit of negativity was never accepted as worthy of an honest review.
  I've never shopped there again.

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  try2bhelpful on 20/02/2018 - 16:42

  +1

  The worse one is where people are being sued by businesses for their reviews.

  http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/news-life/woman-t…

  Personally I would give the company every chance to fix the problem before writing the review, but once it was written I wouldn't take it down. The important thing is to be factual and to not get emotional. Give yourself time to distance yourself from the initial annoyance, remove all the emotional language, let it percolate for a day then edit it to only include what is relevant and remove anything that makes you look like a vindictive, hysterical two year old.

  • 

    dasher86 on 20/02/2018 - 18:18

    Wow. I'm pretty sure most of the reviews I have given are fair.
    I may do review pretty harsh 10/10 or a 5/5 is not achieveable if even one thing goes wrong.
    I'll take your feedback on board about emotionally charged reviews.

    • 

      try2bhelpful on 20/02/2018 - 18:53

      Sorry, not an attack on you - just a general comment for all of us. Sorry if it came across as an attack on you. I probably should have said "me" rather than "you".

      • 

        dasher86 on 20/02/2018 - 20:52

        I didn't read it as an attack on me.
        Just thought to add more about my situation.
        All good.

      • 

        try2bhelpful on 21/02/2018 - 08:30

        +1

        @dasher86: Just wanted to make sure. :)

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  [Deactivated] on 20/02/2018 - 18:25

  +1

  I find ways to leave them more negative feedback.

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  BertieBrown on 20/02/2018 - 20:27

  Hmm. Well, it’s a tough one I guess (in certain circumstances) b/c some people are kinda jerks (on the whole I’ll be honest that the decent really I think far outweighs the bad) and will leave really negative complaints about just silly things that have easy fixes, if they’d just sensibly approached a business rather than waiting and making a complaint after the fact, so there’s that and in that sense I get it, it would be annoying to have this permanent complaint (which just kind of accrues as a negative mark against the business) that the business could have maybe changed or worked out if they’d been given the chance. I’m not saying that’s the norm for complaints, I don’t think it is, but I think that happens.

  If though, I mean it’s obviously a major cock-up, well yeah I mean I think people should have the opportunity to know about it.

  I mean like with a food place, say I order a meal and there’s a hair on it, I’ll just ask for a replacement meal (shit happens) if they give me a hard time I’d be inclined to leave them a crummy review but more often than not they’ll apologise over backwards and fix the issue. Some people would still leave a negative review even if they got a new meal just cause there was a hair. That IMO is silly I guess.

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  AusGP on 20/02/2018 - 20:56

  I've been refunded 300 euros for a below expectation 3 star review on Tripadvisor (had to remove the review). The owner seemed genuinely mortified we had a fairly uninspiring time and likely had a talking to to the tour guide involved. Wasn't going to pass up 300 euros!!

  • 

    dasher86 on 21/02/2018 - 08:48

    The $100 USD was from a tour company.
    It's amazing to see TripAdvisor as the lifeblood of many businesses in SEA and probably the world.

• 

  boccos on 21/02/2018 - 07:40

  I had that exact issue. I agreed to remove the review after 3 months airing.

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  dasher86 on 21/02/2018 - 08:34

  Wow. After sharing a negative review on a business page of Facebook they have banned me from further commenting on their page.
  Incredible.

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  Hithere on 21/02/2018 - 09:38

  If the review was justified I will not change it, however if at a later date I used the same service again I would either update my original review or post a positive one.

  I can't see the sense in writing a review at all if it's going to be removed when offered a bribe, or other incentive, or are begged to do so.

  If the service is bad they deserve a bad review, likewise if the service is good I leave a good review, otherwise it makes a mockery of the whole system.

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  ozbjunkie on 21/02/2018 - 10:20

  I've changed positive reviews to negative if my second experience was no good. And I make clear that this now reflects 2 interactions with the company.

  If they asked me to change a negative review, I'd double down and edit my review to reflect that dodgy practice - stating that this means many other positive reviews might not be trustworthy, and any absence of negative reviews might be the same.

  • 

    Member 0230 on 21/02/2018 - 18:33

    That sounds fair enough. A combo of your feedback, Hithere just above, and scrimshaw's up top is probably the fairest approach: good reviews when the experience is good, bad reviews when bad, and an update one way or another depending on how a business interacts with you post-review or in future dealings.