Fat City reader Jerry pointed me to an ABC piece about the owner of Boners BBQ (settle down, children) in Atlanta, Georgia. The owner, apparently frustrated by a negative review on Yelp, responded on Twitter and Facebook urging other restaurants to boycott the reviewer. He went on to allege that she had failed to tip her server and he posted a picture of her from her personal Facebook account. He later apologized, pulled down his rants and offered her a coupon.
Is this a restaurateur finally striking back at the anonymity of Yelp, or does it go way past the line of what's acceptable for a restaurant owner?
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The owner called her a drug addicted, embezzling whore.
consumerist.com/2012/01/woman-claims-wine-store-owner-called-her-a-drug-addicted-prostitute-online-because-of-bad-yelp-revie.html
I agree with the comments before mine. I think both parties were immature. What did we learn from this? Social Media is a double edge sword. The reviewer should had talked to the manager while they were there, or called shortly after leaving if busy. If the manager did not handle the situation, then the public should be aware of the establishment.
Comparing Yelp to Consumer Reports is like comparing the comment section of Tony's KC to The New York Times.
The litmus test I use for Yelp is if there is a portion that states "When we told the manager..." I think it is reasonable for a guest to express their dissatisfation while they are at the restaurant and something can be done to correct it. If they did so, and don't missrepresent the manager's response, then it carries more weight with me. If they missrepresent the manager's response, I think the manager should have the right to correct the record.
consumer reports employs experts- trained reviewers, testers, engineers and scientists. if they don't like something there is a valid reason and explanation. they never (I think) lost a case because they can support their conclusions with data. comparing CR to Yelp is like comparing my writing to Tolstoy.
Yelp has it's value and I left several reviews there as well, but some reviews there are beyond ridiculous and many are for sure "armchair Michelin-rater wannabes" (thanks ZeemanB). I have no problem with a restaurant calling a crappy reviewer out, unless the review was fair, then the owner will probably end up with even worse publicity than he already had. Lastly, I don't put my real name on any such sites.
If you read some of the reviews that were done before hers, you will see that Boners does not always satisfy. I agree with one reviewer who said that their innuendo laced menu was pretty tacky. Add that to the sometimes substandard food, and I don't think her review was that bad. She gave good and bad points, which is what you do on a yelp review. I review on yelp and I have given good ones and I have given bad ones. I also like to read reviews of restaurants and services and see if I am interested in going to a restaurant or using a service. I take them all with a grain of salt and then go with it.
Do you think consumer reports is evil and should be taken out back and given a whipping because they don't like all products? What about epinions.com? Are people terrible for writing about their feelings on products? What about people who review books on goodreads.com, amazon.com, etc?
Have you never given your opinion on something - good or bad? If so, then you just need to stop right there.
Movie reviews, car reviews, etc. I could go on. Opinions are like noses - everyone has one (with the exception possibly of Michael Jackson, but I digress). Stephanie S.'s review just hit the owner the wrong way and he responded inappropriately PERIOD. He could have responded to her review on yelp, he could have messaged her privately - both viable options that probably wouldn't have left such a bad taste in so many mouths.
It's always funny to see someone get blasted by an owner or manager, but I think in this case the guy's response spun way, way out of control once her pummeling began on Facebook and Twitter. Plenty of family trees with no forks to speak of to go around in this tale.
With Yelp you really have to know how to read between the lines....between the shills, illiterate loons and armchair Michelin-rater wannabes, the main value I get from the site is confirming a restaurant's address, phone number, and if they have a website. This guy's response ended up going too far, but the main takeaway I get from it is- if you're taking that much time to go out of your way to potentially mess with someone's livelihood on Yelp, get another fucking hobby.
From the story it sounds like an internet troll came in using a "Groupon" clone, didn't tip and then was surprised when her terrible behavior was called out. Social media is a double edged sword and I think owners should use it more often.
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