A few weeks ago, I got a phone call from a contractor because of a review Id left.
What ensued was a weirdly emotional conversation that ventured between harassment and a plea for empathy.
Ive only written a couple of Yelp reviews in my life.
Dont get me wrong, I dont take this stuff lightly.
The review itself was what youd expect from a negative review of a contractor.
Its the same contractor-gone-wrong story youve heard before.
The review wasnt even vitriolic, it was mostly a play-by-play because the events spoke for themselves.
Things got interesting when, three months later, the owner called.
It started with subtle threats, then moved into potential bribes.
It was as weird as it sounds.
After one bad review, the bullying started…
In retrospect, I know this was a simple bullying tactic meant to scare me into deleting the review.
Of course, I dont have a personal lawyer.
I called his bluff, so the business owner took a different tactic.
Because Im not a terrible person, this almost worked.
This is a family business, he said, I have children.
He moved on to an appeal to my empathy, how long must I suffer?
Ill admit I contemplated this for a while.
Was there some universal time period a contractor must suffer before retribution?
Is that even a quantifiable thing?
How much business do you think Ive lost because of your negative review?
He thought the ball was in my court now.
When he did, he moved onto another tactic.
…and finally the bribes
Next up was the bribe.
Then, in a truly left field approach, he moved on to restaurant gift cards.
This wasnt a $20 gift card to Chilis, either.
It was clear he was willing to pay just about whatever it took for me to remove the review.
Id be lying if I didnt consider any of these offers.
The free work was a bit of a joke, but who doesnt want a fancy meal?
But it all felt too weird.
It was a pay off, and the idea just didnt sit well with me.
More than anything though, I just wanted the conversation to end.
At this point, I was uncomfortable with the whole thing.
Id gone through a variety of emotions over the course of a five minute conversation.
I started with a holier than thou, consumer-advocating attitude, but I ended in state of complete confusion.
Many of those reviews were published close to or after mine.
Its also possible for a business to pay someone towrite fake good Yelp reviewsto boost their scores.
For its part,Yelp routinely denies these claims.
Business owners seem unsure of how to handle Yelp.
Ive heard similar stories from others, too.
That sounds nice on the surface, but its an odd business practice when you think about it.
After looking at their page, it was wipe the tire shop had some bad reviews for bigger jobs.
By the way,review solicitation isnt recommended by Yelp.
Its not just businesses trying to figure things out here.
Beyond all this, Ill admit my negative review was a last ditch effort.
It was my sad revenge as a consumer who felt duped.
It was a form of venting.
A one-star review on Yelp is more often a pleading rant than it is a useful review.
I could have continued calling the contractor every day until they sorted it all out.
In the end, I deleted my Yelpaccount, that review included.
Illustration by Sam Woolley.
