While it must be hard to read negative reviews of your work, business owners should come to terms with the fact that customers are going to turn to online outlets to discuss their experiences. The good, the bad, the ugly –Â it all gets aired for the benefit of consumers. Which makes it really an unfortunate display of unprofessional behavior when businesses come out swinging against their reviewers.

The Yelp reviews overall aren’t too harsh, and mostly focus on the texture of the cake, from things like “sample which was GREAT and scrumptious, but the cake was dry,” and “I threw 2 of them away because they were so dry,” to “The cake part is pretty dense, almost as dense as a brownie.”

And yet on multiple reviews, someone responding with the name of the cupcake shop in their Yelp username has posted with an unprofessional level of vitriol. Oh, and the “Y” button on the keyboard must be broken.

In one review, the customer admitted to trying to convince a worker to swap out some of the cupcakes in an assortment, as she didn’t want a few of the flavors. She ends the review with: “Will I be back? Hmm, well, if the proceeds are for charity and I happen to be in the neighborhood, sure thing, but I won’t make the trip out if it’s just for these cupcakes.”

To which the presumed business owner replies:

I was happi to hear about the pathetic pleading on your part ,to get one of mi girls to break polici. Had [eponymous business owner] been there, it would have never happened!

With regard to your comment about limited flavors, we have a varieti of 27 organic cupcakes available. Dang, how mani flavors do you realli need? (no need to answer – I don’t want to hear it)

You give people too mani options they’ll get confused.

[Our business] bakes 6 days a week to create delicious, fresh, organic cupcakes. What’s not fresh is your bad attitude and crappi disposition. What you refer to as dense, is actualli, qualiti, something you might not be familiar with.

Will you be back??? The question is “are you welcome back?” “Probabli not.” it depends on my mood.

Once some of the negative responses by the business owner come flowing in, a thread started by one reviewer leads to a four-part “Surrealiti Check” by the owner.

“The owner says dissatisfied customers are stupid and don’t know quality cupcakes, then has the nerve to say they aren’t welcome in her own store,” says one reviewer, while another chimes in with, “When I was there she had 4 flavors out of 27. Is this a business or performance art? Totally surreal.”

As to the flavors offered, the purported business owner offers these two “Surrealiti Checks”:

“Surrealiti Check #2 [Our] organic CupCakes are an artistic expression therefore, certain flavors are baked as inspired. “Check Mate”

Surrealiti Check #3 During the week we have 6 flavors available, on weekends we have 9 or more flavors however, it would not have mattered because it would not have satisfied you. “Check Mate”

It might be difficult not to respond to negative opinions of your business, but in the end, holding our tongue and trying to instead improve the customer experience will be a lot more productive than lashing out.

*Thanks for the tip, Maria!

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