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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To worry about repercussions from leaving bad reviews

61 replies

worrier77 · 27/07/2021 11:48

Does anyone else ever worry that leaving bad reviews on platforms like Amazon etc could lead to repercussions?

I've occasionally had disappointing experiences when buying an item online or visiting a pub/restaurant. If the issue is resolved by the seller or venue at the time then I would never leave a poor review, as I don't think that's fair.

However, on the rare occasions where they don't show any interest in attempting to resolve the situation, then I've been tempted to leave an honest review of my experience online to warn other customers.

However, what worries me is that these people know where I live and if they felt aggrieved by a bad review, they could retaliate in some shape or form.

Am I being completely paranoid or is this a legitimate worry?

OP posts:

Gladimnotcampinginthisweather · 27/07/2021 13:53

I left some scathing reviews of a hotel on Trip Advisor and
booking.com and reported them to Trading Standards. If a place is that bad (it was) don't you have a duty to protect others?

Forstarters · 27/07/2021 13:55

I left a bad review for a restaurant once (anonymously) and they contacted me to ask me to retract it, when I refused (it was true and wasn’t that bad!) they offered me a free meal if I would. It was intimidating.

Chikapu · 27/07/2021 13:58

If it genuinely makes you that afraid then just don't leave reviews. Is it really worth all that worry?

Frannyhy · 27/07/2021 13:59

Airbnb hosts can see guest names and will google them. If they get a bad review, some of them will retaliate by trashing complaining guests’ businesses.

Forstarters · 27/07/2021 13:59

I’ve also had some awful tradesmen I’ve been afraid to give reviews of because they were aggressive and intimidating. One of them still hawks himself locally on the FB and I usually message the people who say they’re interested to warn them.

igelkott2021 · 27/07/2021 14:00

I wonder if that could be reported for a GDPR breech

In what way would it be a data breach? HQ/manager/waitress all one company.

ArseInTheCoOpWindow · 27/07/2021 14:03

I left a bad review on Trip Adviser.

The owner then came on and had a right go at me, accusing me of lying and being really horrible. I had to get in touch with Trip Adviser to remove their post.

It was horrible, l felt stalked.

Original poster

worrier77 · 27/07/2021 14:07

Hmm, I’m starting to think my concerns might be legitimate!

OP posts:

SchrodingersImmigrant · 27/07/2021 14:09

Of course some will get proper gobby when responding. Doesn't mean they will track you home

Wooollffff · 27/07/2021 14:12

I’ve left several bad reviews on Amazon and also many good ones. No come back at all. I have also left honest sometimes bad reviews on Tripadvisor staying exactly what was bad (or good).

EllaMayGrace · 27/07/2021 14:16

I left a bad review on Trust Pilot for a tenant referencing company. They treated us like shit, expressed doubts about our ability to pay rent, and then got loads of things factually incorrect in their “report”. The irony was we were moving from London (3 years evidence of £1650 rent and 1 year of £1800 rent) to a shitty two-bed flat in the north east (£550 per month).

When the referencing company saw the review, they rang our letting agency to ask if we were good tenants, paying rent, etc. and then asked them to call us and tell us to remove the review.

The woman from the letting agency kept telling me how they such good partners and always work together for every tenant they have. I deleted the review because I was worried our letting agency might evict us if the referencing company pushed for it.

Proper shitty shady behaviour imo.

Wooollffff · 27/07/2021 14:17

The only time I got asked to reconsider a review was one left for my (then) GP. I took issue with the fact she turned up half an hour late for surgery, with a number of Tesco bags. Clearly shopping was more important.
Also that I was kept waiting while she saw a sales rep, and the time I was kept waiting 40 minutes so a posh family who turned up off the street could have holiday vaccines.

crazymicrowave123 · 27/07/2021 14:19

I once left a bad review for a mechanic who had ripped me off (told me one price then after completing the work, it mysteriously went up by almost double...) anyway, many other people had left similar bad reviews and I left mine about half an hour after he completed the work and complained to him about the exact same issue so he must have known it was me.

Anyway I got a barrage of calls from a No caller ID over the period of 2 weeks and a text from a random number (not the one registered to his business) threatening to take me to court and saying they know where I live. I blocked them and eventually the calls stopped but it was scary none the less!

needsomesleeppls · 27/07/2021 14:19

We had a terrible tradesman and I wouldn't leave a review online for him. He seemed a bit unhinged and I'd worry about repercussions.

My uncle bought a second hand car that had problems and when he pursued it his car was firebombed to get rid of the evidence, also setting the front of his house and neighbours house on fire so worth being wary.

sergeilavrov · 27/07/2021 14:20

You’re not paranoid. My Nephew left a bad review for a takeaway that charged my card, but then said it wouldn’t go through. They hung up on us etc. In his response to the review, he left my credit card details and home address - knowing he would have to delete the review.

What he didn’t know is that I work in a protected profession and he got an unpleasant visit from state security Still shook me up though and I felt bad for DN who couldn’t have known what would happen.

godmum56 · 27/07/2021 14:28

I have left a few bad reviews on Amazon, Trustpilot and Checka trade when genuinely merited.

Fairfeather · 27/07/2021 14:41

I didn't leave a bad review for one shitty tradesman because I believed he'd have put nails in my car tyres, nasty piece of work.

Original poster

worrier77 · 27/07/2021 14:44

I didn't leave a bad review for one shitty tradesman because I believed he'd have put nails in my car tyres, nasty piece of work.

That's just it - part of me feels really angry that people like that are allowed to get away with it; the other part feels it's not worth the worry or hassle!

OP posts:

SchrodingersImmigrant · 27/07/2021 14:46

Remember that there is a massive difference between a seller on amazon, restaurant tens of miles away and a local plumber from 2 streets away

user1745 · 27/07/2021 14:53

Amazon sellers are probably getting bad reviews all the time. One more won't faze them. Plus if they retaliated in any way, you could report them to Amazon and they might be banned from the platform. They're not going to risk that.

It tends to be sole traders and self-employed business owners who occasionally take negative reviews very personally and react unprofessionally.

Shopaholic100 · 27/07/2021 16:54

Amazon reviews are fine. I would take any tradesperson reviews with a pinch of salt, even if they appear on seemingly reputable websites. From personal experience I tried to find a tradesperson to replace my guttering and filled out a form on a website, received a number of calls from deceitful individuals with high star ratings. One said it was a free quote, then tried to get me to pay £50, when I said I’d think about his quote. He was so forceful and wouldn’t leave but had good reviews. I didn’t post a review because I didn’t want him to come back.

Whyo · 27/07/2021 18:05

Not unreasonable at all! I left a bad feedback for a seller on eBay. He send me a flurry of abuse referring to the fact he had my address and that I had better watch myself when I go out.

He also replied to the feedback which is public calling me the R word.

EBay’s response was to delete my bad feedback (so his score went up ), refused to hide my address from him, and took zero action on his account because he was still selling. A lot of “we’re sorry you feel that way” and nothing else about the threats he made and slur.

Nothing came of it thankfully but it was a really horrible experience as someone living alone. Haven’t used eBay since and I couldn’t believe there wasn’t a fairly robust protocol in place already for such a large business.

icedcoffees · 27/07/2021 18:09

I think an anonymous site like Amazon is very different from a small local establishment.

I'm in a town where everyone knows everyone and I would never leave a poor review as it would probably cause people to boycott my own business :/

Wearethetwirl · 27/07/2021 18:21

I understand your concerns and would caution against trusting reviews in general.

I bought my wedding dress from a shop which had dozens of five star reviews. Well they ruined my dress, lied about the amendments they did and then would not correct it despite selling me an “unlimited alterations package. ”

Well I thought I d write an honest review. It was taken down from yell after the shop complained. So I put a review on Google which I knew they could not remove. The owner responded with a scathing response insulting me and claiming I was lying. It was really upsetting as she got quite personal.

Then lo and behold 5 other five star reviews popped up out of the blue the very next day burying my review down the bottom of the page.

I realised they had been running a whole review scam and hiring people to write false reviews.

In the end I wished I hadn’t trustedj in the reviews nor written one as it wasn’t worth all the stress. They were just scammers and

Wearethetwirl · 27/07/2021 18:22

it wasn’t worth the hassle.

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