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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

In not removing review

351 replies

onanothertrain · 21/08/2019 13:16

Contacted a tradesperson for urgent repair, was told no problem, they would check the diary and phone me back within an hour. 4 hours later, no phone call so I sent a text. Another 4 hours later still nothing. I will admit to being annoyed so I left a Google review stating the above. An hour later I got a text asking me to remove the review as they hadn't actually done any work for me and they were working hard to maintain their business. I didnt respond and have now had 2 more texts asking me to remove the review. Im now considering either ignoring the texts and blocking, removing my review but leaving another one explaining why or just removing it all together. Although my stubborn side is not leaning towards the third option. So Aibu not to remove it?

OP posts:
Derbee · 21/08/2019 14:30

@ArgumentativeAardvaark living up to your name. You must be the OP, under a new name.

If it was a propert emergency, the OP would be calling other people and getting things sorted. Not sitting around for 4 hours at a time leaving shitty reviews on Google, and posting on mumsnet about how entitled and bratty she is.

ArgumentativeAardvaark · 21/08/2019 14:30

She did chase @messolini9. She sent him a text 4 hours later.

MerryDeath · 21/08/2019 14:31

that's completely unreasonable and unfair and you should remove it.

familycourtq · 21/08/2019 14:31

Bit of a Cunt move there.
No it really isn't.

ArgumentativeAardvaark · 21/08/2019 14:32

@sandytoes84 you say “no out of office message - why could your DH not have a voicemail message explaining that if he did not answer it was likely that he was on another job?

Sallyseagull · 21/08/2019 14:33

YABU

You were a bit quick to anger, who knows why they couldnt reply straight away, maybe they were finding out if they could help you in the meantime and if that was the case and they should have updated you then it still doesn't warrant such a hasty negative review.

Enko · 21/08/2019 14:33

I would not have left a negative review for this situation. However having said that
Him wanting you to take it down and texting repeatedly about it would make me leave it up. So I am on the fence .

sandytoes84 · 21/08/2019 14:35

@Watchingthyme it’s not that I value their time more than mine, it’s just that I’m aware my emergency might be less urgent than someone else’s.

Andromeida59 · 21/08/2019 14:36

I hate this! Due to the recent downpours we've needed to get our roof replaced. I contacted three people, one turned up on the day. One responded back two days later and then never again. One messaged me after three weeks when he initially said he'd be back in touch within the hour.
I want to know if tradespeople are unreliable. I will certainly be leaving a review of the others for their total lack of communication.

It's really simple, don't promise something you can't deliver. They need to manage realistic expectations. The OP was told she'd get a call back within an hour. She still hasn't heard after 8 hours and yet she's unreasonable?

sandytoes84 · 21/08/2019 14:36

@ArgumentativeAardvaark the tradesman OP was dealing with likely does have such a message...if she’s tried him again she might have heard it! The minutiae of it is irrelevant- the point is it’s a massive overreaction to not receiving a call back to leave the review in the first place (though I agree the immediate follow up is shady!)

Mandalorian · 21/08/2019 14:36

Funny how he couldn't get back in touch, despite promises, for eight hours yet can make contact within the hour for a poor review.

I'd be leaving it up.

soulrider · 21/08/2019 14:39

The OP had 'chased' by sending the text 4 hours later.

It's easy enough to avoid a bad review - don't promise to call back in a timescale you can't keep. If you do make a promise you can't keep and forget, be sure to respond to a text reminding you!

Yabbers · 21/08/2019 14:40

Tradespeople are very busy and he may have been dealing with something urgent and couldn't call

If he is running a business and making promises he isn’t keeping, everything is urgent. What if he is supposed to turn up tomorrow at 8 but “something urgent” came up? Or he’s halfway through the job and “something urgent” comes up?

We asked 3 joiners and two tilers to do quotes for us. Not one of them came back after coming out to see what we wanted. Not even a text to say they didn’t want the job.

It’s not restricted to small traders either. I work in the industry and unreliable contractors feature highly in everything I do.

I’d have left the same review. If I’m looking for a trade, I don’t want to waste my time with people who don’t call back when they say they will.

deliberately tried to damage his business?

She left an honest review of her dealings with him. She’s not the one doing damage.

He could be useless, he could have had a personal emergency, he could have suddenly been swamped with work. You don't know. Keep your reviews focused on the quality of someone's work.

If he’s swamped, he doesn’t need to worry about one bad review. He also would have known he’d be swamped and shouldn’t promise a 1 hour call back. In a personal emergency as “sorry I can’t call” text takes seconds.

Quality only? Really? Let’s say someone does a a brilliant job fitting your bathroom. But he wrecked your hall carpet by spilling paint on it and refused to pay for a new one. Or did a brilliant job but disappeared halfway through and left you chasing him for days? Or did a brilliant job but made a pass at you. You don’t mention any of that? Really?

SandAndSea · 21/08/2019 14:41

You don't know what he's going through or how hard he's worked to build his business. It's absolutely not worth potentially destroying his business and livelihood over. Please take the review down and give the guy a break. Life's hard enough.

Usernumbers1234 · 21/08/2019 14:42

@Watchingthyme

No I wouldn’t, I’d pick up the phone directly first and have a conversation with them to find out why they hadn’t called me back. I’d never tweet them or attempt to publicly disparage them whether it was BT or a local window cleaner unless I had absolutely exhausted all reasonable routes to try and get a solution.

People who’s first course of action is to publicly start moaning on Facebook and Twitter and google reviews are idiots, and it’s no surprise that they are almost always habitual public ranters because they go into these things looking for trouble and treat customer service staff with utter disdain from the start.

LisaMontgomery · 21/08/2019 14:43

Leave it up. It is honest and it is information I'd find helpful.

Yabbers · 21/08/2019 14:43

it’s just that I’m aware my emergency might be less urgent than someone else’s.

That might be the case. The professional thing to do is tell you that.

You fall and can’t get up. They say an ambulance will be there in an hour, 8 hours later it’s not there. Do you happily lie on the floor thinking others must be worse off than you? Or do you assume you’ve been forgotten?

KarmaStar · 21/08/2019 14:43

Definitely a hurried and somewhat nasty thing to do to someone.

Original poster
onanothertrain · 21/08/2019 14:44

Thanks all. I have taken it down.
I did think about having a vote but then I might not have captured all those who wanted to call me a cunt 🙄

OP posts:
Kaddm · 21/08/2019 14:44

Yanbu

It’s shit service to say you’ll call back in an hour and then not do it for 8 hours. Yes people are busy but if he was busy, why say he’ll call in an hour?

On the other hand, it’s 2019 and unreliability seems to be one of the UK’s core values. Call someone out on their unreliable service and you’ll be deemed a meanie! Fucked up times. Your review is 100% factual.

StormcloakNord · 21/08/2019 14:44

I'm inclined to agree with OP.

It's ridiculous when people promise to call back and dont. That isnt how you run a successful business.

They had time to hound the OP to remove a negative, and honest, review but they didnt have a spare 10 minutes to call the OP and either accept or reject the work? Ridiculous.

At least a phone call back to say they couldn't manage would let OP carry on trying to find someone else.

Leave the review OP!

Tellmetruth4 · 21/08/2019 14:44

YANBU. It was an emergency and they set their own service level agreement ( SLA) stating a 1 hr call back which you believed otherwise you’d have gone elsewhere. They didn’t respond and you gave them a second chance which was 8x longer than their own SLA. They only bothered to respond when you’d given negative feedback...Other customers with emergencies should be made aware. This is what reviews are for.

lalafafa · 21/08/2019 14:47

You sound very spiteful.

AnAC12UCOinanOCG · 21/08/2019 14:48

Thanks all. I have taken it down.

Put up a new one saying he pressured you to remove your poor review. I would want to know, as a potential customer.

MyNameIsRachel · 21/08/2019 14:49

DH who is a tradesman says that’s a legitimate review of the first part of service and tough luck on them! Shouldn’t have over promised and under delivered

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