Kyle had a LivingSocial voucher for 1-800-Flowers, and thought that he would put it to good use sending a lovely arrangement to his parents to show that he was thinking of them at Christmas. 1-800-Flowers didn’t really want to cooperate, though. They e-mailed him twice to let him know that the arrangement had been delivered…but it actually hadn’t. Silly Kyle, assuming that one of the messages had to reflect reality. They’ve since promised him a refund and a $20 coupon that have never come. [More]
1-800-Flowers Promises Flowers, Refund, Coupons: Delivers None Of The Above
By January 4, 2013
Virginia Supreme Court: Businesses Can’t Censor Yelp Reviews Until They Prove Statements Are Libelous
By January 2, 2013
As we’ve covered numerous times, online review sites like Yelp can become a nasty battleground between unhappy consumers and business owners who take issue with what they claim are overly negative, sometimes malicious, comments. Last week, Virginia’s highest court ruled against one such business that had tried to squelch a customer’s reviews. [More]
Restaurant Owner Posts Completely Reasonable Response To Negative Online Feedback
By December 13, 2012
No, that isn’t a sarcastic headline. After being lambasted by readers’ comments on his recently opened eatery, a Washington, D.C., restaurateur did what some of his foodie kin could not — issued a restrained, thoughtful and apologetic response. [More]
Shoe Store Allegedly Bans Mom Over Son’s Negative Yelp Review
By December 10, 2012
(UPDATED with response from store). Imagine you’ve been going to the same store with your family for a decade and then find out that you are banned from the shop because your adult son penned a scathing review of the business on Yelp. [More]
Florist Added Pretty Purple Ribbon, Subtracted Actual Attractive Flowers
By December 10, 2012
Maybe MZ should have just picked up some flowers from Walmart or the grocery store instead. FTD sent the order to a local florist, but not a competent local florist. Maybe FTD should learn to search Yelp first. [More]
Restaurant Celebrates Bad Yelp Reviews By Broadcasting Them In The Restrooms
By December 6, 2012
While there are all the horror stories of businesses turning on negative Yelp reviews, there’s at least one restaurant that seems to be taking the bad and turning it into something amusing. When it comes down to it, some of those reviews are downright dramatic, and the gastropub’s owner figured he might as well have with that: His restaurant pipes in audio of voices reading those reviews in the bathrooms. [More]
If You’re Not Happy With A Handyman’s Work, Kidnapping Him To Do More Repairs Is A Bad Idea
By December 5, 2012
If you saw it in a movie you wouldn’t believe it. A couple in California are accused of taking a handyman hostage and forcing him to do fix-it jobs around the house, apparently because they were unsatisfied with his previous efforts. [More]
Travel Channel Host: Yelp Is A Forum For Uninformed Morons To Take Down Restaurants
By December 3, 2012
Since the first food critic bashed a prehistoric cook over the head with a rock, chefs have been trying to appease these evaluators, some of whom had the pull to sink an eatery with a few nasty words. So what happens when not only everyone becomes a critic, but when the place they post their criticism becomes a go-to source for finding grub? [More]
Here’s Why You Should Ignore The Yelp Star Rating And Always Read Filtered Reviews
By November 30, 2012
Small business owners around the country have a very love/hate relationship with Yelp, and which side of that fence they fall on probably has something to do with the community review site’s filtering system. Depending on which reviews the site hides behind the filter-wall, consumers may be getting either a very honest or very skewed version of the truth. [More]
Moving Company Realizes It Probably Shouldn’t Have Threatened Lawsuit Over Negative Yelp Review
By November 15, 2012
Yesterday, we told about the Massachusetts moving company that decided it would be a good idea to threaten a Yelp reviewer with a lawsuit if she didn’t remove the review ASAP. Now the movers are saying they don’t want the review deleted, just corrected. [More]
Moving Company Picks The Wrong Person To Threaten To Sue Over Bad Yelp Review
By November 14, 2012
In May 2011, Kristen’s parents had a bad experience with a Massachusetts-based moving company. So on their behalf she wrote a negative, one-star review of the incident on Yelp. Just the other day, 18 months after the review was posted, she received a letter demanding she remove the review by Nov. 21 or face a lawsuit for libel. [More]
Shop Owner Drives To Customer’s House After Bad Yelp Review
By October 26, 2012
After receiving his first negative Yelp review, the owner of a California store made repeated attempts to contact the disgruntled customer in the hopes of turning him into a gruntled customer, and ultimately ended up at the Yelper’s doorstep. But before you go looking for the shop owner’s mug shot, this is actually a good thing. [More]
Yelp Conducts Sting To Catch Businesses Who Buy Reviews
By October 18, 2012
Since the dawn of Yelp, a handful of businesses have been accused of trying to game the system by paying for positive reviews on the site. Recently, Yelp operatives began going undercover to bust companies for this no-no, and anyone caught buying reviews will be forced to carry a badge of shame for the 90 days. [More]
How Does A $59.95 Duct Cleaning Result In A $1529 Bill?
By October 9, 2012
When an 84-year-old woman in California decided to hire a ventilation company based on a price of $59.95 for “unlimited” duct cleaning, she probably had no idea that she would end up stuck with a bill that was more than 25 times larger than what she’d been quoted. [More]
Restaurant Dangles Refund If We Replace Scathing Yelp Review With A Five-Star One
By October 4, 2012
Have you ever visited a restaurant or store that was really terrible, but had lots and lots of four- and five-star Yelp reviews? Maybe they’re engaging in practices similar to a restaurant that Jennifer reviewed. They offered her a refund to change her poor review to four or five stars. She and her fiancé brought a large family group to a steakhouse for a pre-wedding “meet the family” dinner. Was it the second tip that the waiter added to their bill for himself, the extra $400 in seafood dinners added to their tab, or the the attempted sleight-of-hand with bottled water? She wrote about all of it, and the restaurant didn’t like it. The refund, however, was only to come after she revised the original review and pretended the bad experience never happened. [More]
Locally-Owned Computer Shop Sells Me A Self-Destructing Computer
By September 28, 2012
Whenever we post a reader’s story of Geek Squad or other computer repair woe, readers immediately jump in to recommend taking ailing computers to an IT-savvy friend or to a locally-owned computer repair shop. For people who lack friends with tech skills, the latter is apparently the only option. The problem is that a locally-owned business can be just as shady as the least qualified member of the Nerd Herd, only answering to no corporate overlords. [More]
Ice Cream Company Learns That Not All Muslims Live In Pakistan
By September 27, 2012
A 100-year-old Montana ice cream company is getting to know what it’s like to be hated by the Internet after it told a Muslim customer from Wyoming that it doesn’t deliver to Pakistan. [More]
My Run-In With A Creepy, Scammy Locksmith
By September 14, 2012
You don’t need a locksmith right now. That’s the best time to look for one, so take some time today to ask your friends and colleagues, search Yelp, and do whatever you can to learn which locksmiths in your area are reliable and reasonable. Then put their numbers in your phone contacts. This will help you in your time of need, so you’re not stuck with a scammy, creepy bait-and-switch artist in an emergency situation. That’s what happened to Rob’s daughter recently in Washington, D.C. [More]
