(Newswire.net — December 28, 2014) Calgary, AB — Frustrated consumers are fighting back against poor service and bad attitudes by posting bad reviews online. But is it always a fair criticism?
Consider the following examples from Yelp, a popular online review service:
- A Person calls to get an estimate and the vendor replies “we do not get involved in real estate transactions because I do not make any money off these.” The consumer gave this business a scathing one-star review. If someone does not want to do the work, is that enough cause to post a bad review online warning people not to go to that business?
- A Texas roofing company came to look at a situation and the consumer writes “they said they needed to come back the next day as they did not have the proper shoes to inspect the roof, which was odd given they walk roofs.” If a specialist in a field decides it is not safe to go up on a given roof without proper shoes, is that justification enough to post a bad review?
- An automotive dealer sold a car. At some point after the sale it needed some repairs so customer writes “they have given me loaner cars and I appreciate that, even though they had me in a mini-van that was messing up my dating life.” The dealership is providing a loaner vehicle and the consumer is not happy because it is not cool enough for him. Yes, having a vehicle break down is frustrating, but what more is a dealership supposed to do? Despite their efforts, this customer goes online and gives them a bad review.
In reality, each of these businesses has hundreds of satisfied clients every year. Their problem is they only have one or two reviews. If even one of these is a bad review they are in trouble.
Google likes to feature review websites high in their search results. When someone looks up a business on Google, the bad review shows up prominently.
When a potential customer sees a one-star review, it is a turn-off. They would rather go to a business that has no bad reviews or a whole bunch of good online reviews.
- A survey by CONE Communications in Seattle found that 80% of the respondents indicated that negative information they read online made them change their mind about purchasing a product/service that was recommended to them.
- A study by eVOC, a sports gear company and RelevantView, a market research company found 63% of shoppers are more likely to make a contact or purchase from a business that had positive reviews.
- A Superpages.com study found businesses with a rating or review receive 2 times the number of in clicks / contacts as compared to listings without ratings.
In the Internet-age, it is not enough to have hundreds of satisfied customers. A business must have many positive reviews online or a small number people can post bad reviews and cost them a fortune.
Business who have tried know it is not easy to get people to post good reviews. On the other hand, angry people are eager to post bad reviews.
There are a few tried and true methods that allow customers to post honest, good reviews about their experience.
About Reviews And Referrals
Bad reviews are hurting the online reputation of good businesses and causing them to lose customers. Reviews and Referrals helps build a good online reputation by getting honest, good reviews posted on review sites and getting good publicity on online news channels. Call 1-877-269-0950. http://reviewsandreferrals.com/easy-reputation-management