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05-18-2012, 04:37 PM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: SF bay area
Posts: 248
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How do you respond to fake negative online reviews?
Some one gave us a one star yesterday on Google review. That person also gave one star to three other laundromats in our neighborhood on the same day. In addition to that the same person has given a five star rating to one laundromat in the area. All the reviews have no comments.
Eventhough I am not much worried about this one review, I was wondering what would you do, if something similar happened to you?
Cheers
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05-18-2012, 06:06 PM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: NJ
Posts: 5,067
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Well I would do a couple of things. First I assume it is the owner of the one rated highly. How many real customers rate several laundromats at once? I would try to refute the rating, if possible - some let owners make counter claims.
Next, I don't believe in getting mad, I get even. I would go to the local library or other free Internet hot spot and make up several different accounts (hotmail, gmail, yahoo, etc...) and give yourself a few really good write-ups and trash his store as well. What goes around come around.
Why not ask people here to give you some good ratings, I just did for the heck of it 
Last edited by Howard; 05-18-2012 at 06:15 PM.
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05-18-2012, 06:48 PM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: NYC
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If there's a way to contact this owner who gave the fake rating, tell him you will send a few bad rating to his store each day if he does not remove his promptly.  If there's no way to contact or there's no response, then proceed to take the action and leave your email for him to respond in the future. Meanwhile, try to inform Google of the fake rating to your store.
We have a couple of good reviews on Yelp.com but never received any comment on Google Review. A lot of suspicious reviews seem to get filtered on Yelp.com. I do not encourage customers to leave feedback on the net. One or two good reviews are good enough. I have had customers emailing us to say that they appreciated our place/service. I never asked them to leave a feedback on the net. I do not want people to think that our customers visit our Google Place page or Yelp page. More people tend to use this tool when they want to "do some damage".
__________________
- John
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-I wish that all I do is to collect coins, just like the other laundromat owner down the street.
--Whoa, is that all he does? What an easy job!
-No. It is his wish, too.
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05-20-2012, 07:10 PM
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Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Badger State
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Really Howard?
__________________
LAXLaundryExpress.com
ECLaundryExpress.com
Over the years, I've found that the harder I work, the luckier I get.
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05-20-2012, 08:00 PM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: NJ
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rjwarner
Really Howard?
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Yes, I really did.
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05-21-2012, 06:19 PM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: SF bay area
Posts: 248
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rjwarner
Really Howard?
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Yes he really did and did a nice one. Thanks Howard.
Cheers
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05-22-2012, 12:30 PM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: So California
Posts: 1,261
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Quote:
Originally Posted by subati
Yes he really did and did a nice one. Thanks Howard.
Cheers
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Howard, I was about to do the same thing. I was trying to figure out who wrote the bad reviews so I can put negative reviews on his. But then a customer had a problem with a machine so I had to take care of that first.
__________________
Kenny
Got Dirty Laundry? Come Clean With Us.
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07-27-2012, 07:33 PM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Tulsa, OK
Posts: 239
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Howard
Next, I don't believe in getting mad, I get even. I would go to the local library or other free Internet hot spot and make up several different accounts (hotmail, gmail, yahoo, etc...) and give yourself a few really good write-ups and trash his store as well. What goes around come around.
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Please don't do this. Please don't ever do this.
The best policy is to respond to the review. People who are reading reviews will read your response. State your suspicions of the review you are responding to, stay upbeat, and mention some reasons why customers should consider coming to your store. If you're responding to a legitimate review then express concern about how your store wasn't able to meet their needs and suggest an alternative or some way you can help them in the future and encourage them to try your store again.
And then the hard part: Really encourage customers to leave reviews for you online. You can put up a sign or two, but the most effective thing is when you have a good, friendly conversation with someone who is using a laptop in your store (using your free WiFi, of course) ask them to leave you a review in one of two or three places you suggest (I get most luck with Google). It takes time. It takes effort. But it after a few months of really pushing and you get four or five very positive reviews those make you look great online and the reviews last for a long time. The only truly effective way to combat bad reviews, whether they're legitimate or not, is with half a dozen or more great reviews.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chslaundry
with the new "improvements" to the Google Places review system, you don't have to worry about negative reviews, since no one can figure out how to leave any reviews.
seriously, Google+?
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I know! They stole all my yellow stars! Those stood out so good on Google searches, too. Now there are just scores on a 0 to 3 scale, which is lame. Oh well, it is what it is.
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08-18-2012, 02:58 AM
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Junior Member
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Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 10
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You could probably create your own website and create other Web 2.0 properties with your business name such as Squidoo, blogger and you can probably drown out the negative reviews in the search.
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08-20-2012, 07:27 PM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: SF bay area
Posts: 248
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To our surprise, Google took down that review. They also took down other reviews that this person had left with other laundromats in our area.
Cheers
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