ONLINE EXTORTION: I have seen many local businesses get poor reviews on a number of different sites and wondered how such a thing could happen to a very good reputable business. As a small business owner I have recently been approached by some of those same sites where I too have gotten bad reviews, and been offered a package deal where I can have the bad reviews removed. For a few thousand dollars I can go to arbitration and ATTEMPT to have the damaging information POSSIBLY removed. Of course at the bottom of the contract there are those small little words that say we cannot guarantee a positive outcome or removal of any information on this or any other website. I do believe you would call this EXTORTION. After doing some lengthy research on the topic, it appears that this is very commonplace with Yahoo, Google, Yelp and RipOff Report. This is how they make money... at the expense of small businesses who work hard to keep their doors open and compete with larger chain markets. Where bad reviews can cause economical damage and in some cases cause some business to completely close their doors. These same companies even pay individuals to work from home doing negative reviews on businesses. WOW. I personally have seen several legitimate positive and negative reviews on those sites and rebutted them, then there are some that I dont even know who they are or when the said incident happened. Now I know. I have seen many positive reviews left for my business completely disappear off the same sites, those left by long time customers who still do business with us. While the negative ones remain. This to me is the same as holding someones child hostage, a business reputation is something a person or people work hard to obtain and attain, to purposefully manipulate that for financial gain is immoral and should be illegal. But it is not and is not covered by any federal or state laws. So these cyber criminals can operate much the same way a tyrant or terrorist does. The only reputable online reviews website is the Better Business Bureau. They actually take the time to review and mediate legitimate complaints against a business free of charge for both parties. If a business does not operate ethically they actually can have sanctions filed against the business. So this ensures that customers are working with ethical small businesses. The other aforementioned websites do not verify the validity or any claims or complaints, nor do they review any information being left on their sites nor do they remove them if they are proven to be erroneous or incorrect. In essence they promote bad reviews and negative remarks in order to use this against a business for profit. I ask that you pass this information along to others so that they can see what its like being on the inside of operating a small business and the way large corporations prey upon us. I have declared that in 2015 I will cease fighting an online battle that cannot be won. Our work speaks for itself and our clients will always be our best form of advertising. I hope you all have a blessed and prosperous New Year. Chef Vavette
Posted on: Tue, 20 Jan 2015 21:17:08 +0000