To think if you’re not happy with a service you’re free to post a review without raising it with the vendor?

[PumpkinPatchMismatch]

I went pumpkin picking at the weekend. The place we went to was posting on social media the day before about having expanded their capacity and released extra last minute tickets. When we got there the car park was so full I felt it was unsafe and the whole venue was packed, there was very little to see, the farm animals for the children to look at were clearly fed up and hiding away and all the ‘extras’ seemed very expensive. I wouldn’t go back but didn’t leave a review.

I’ve just seen tonight that the business has posted on social media today about how they have had “heavy criticism on our online reviews… Please message us first before you take to Google… please be kind before posting online.”

As far as I can see they have a total of three one star reviews from yesterday with similar criticisms to what I experienced. Since they posted they’ve had an “outpouring of support” on social media in which their supporters are mentioning “online trolls” and how they “cannot believe people would do this” and numerous positive Google reviews in the past hour.

AIBU to think that if people have a bad experience they’re allowed to leave a negative review without consulting the vendor? And to think the business is cynically using a small number of negative but factual reviews to rile up their online supporters to get positive comments, reviews, shares etc?

I do think it is a bit poor to post a negative review online without giving the vendor the chance to sort the issue out first.

Nah that’s literally the point in a review. No point in posting a review after you’ve been placated with a freebie or excuse or something as then it’s not genuine.

I agree with you, OP.

I've left a bunch of awful reviews on Ebay recently, and the seller is outraged.

Maybe, mate, if you'd sent the right top the second (and third) time, I wouldn't be so incensed.

Farms are struggling so I think it’s mean to impact a small business in this way.

What did they expect if they were as greedy as you describe? Of course people would call them out online, not least to warn others. It sounds like the owners have now got their mates to write more favourable fake reviews.

Why? A review is meant to let others know what a typical visit or experience might be like. You go somewhere, it's shit, you post a review pointing out that it's shit, job done. It's not a customer's responsibility to spoon feed a business through the process of providing it's services properly

I hate the hiding behind ‘be kind’. One could argue that it is ‘kind’ to warn other families who might spend their hard earned money on a rubbish experience.

By accurately describing what happened?

I think I depends.

If it is something that could have been a simple mistake and been easily corrected at the time, it is perhaps a bit off to do this. Say for example, if you went out for a meal and you were served a dish that had gone a bit cold. The restaurant should absolutely be given the opportunity to put it right.

But that doesn't apply in the situation you describe, where the experience is fundamentally just not up to scratch. In that case I think it's totally justifiable to post a negative review, and I certainly appreciate it when people share honest feedback when I'm deciding on going somewhere.

Once your review is honest, it's a service to other potential customers.

Most people with 1/2 a brain read reviews and read between the lines, or understand where the review is coming from or assess against their own experience...in other words reviews are helpful but people are intelligent to make up their own mind.

However, a bad review can be really helpful. I bought a vax vacuum cleaner with 1000s of great reviews...2 or 3 said it was badly designed and the attachments couldn't be fitted properly....I wish I'd listened to those 2 or 3...it was shite and ended up being thrown out of the patio door in a childish tantrum by yours truly.

But they couldn't resolve it. The time had come and gone.
They can stop ramming people in for future but they can't fix it for those who have been

No I totally agree with you.

When possible, yes I’ll give them a chance to solve it. But that’s things like I’ve ordered a T-shirt and been sent the wrong colour, or the wrong personalisation. I’m totally happy for them to resolve it before I review. But an “experience” is what it is on the day!

I think it would be better to raise it with them, give them the opportunity to learn from it, and a negative review if their response is rubbish.

I agree. As another example, I'm a theme park enthusiast and a lot of people have noted that Alton Towers have rammed the park full for Hallowe'en with very poor ride availability, resulting in 5 or 6 closed coasters and 3 with 2 hour queues. Their incentive to sort out operations next year should be the avoidance of negative reviews!

As for farms and struggling - our local pumpkin picking place is a very middle-class petting zoo and ice cream parlour. They'll make thousands upon thousands between now and the end of their Santa Trail.

please be kind before posting online

Why should I "be kind" when posting a review of a service or product? No need to be rude, but a factual account of your experience with a service or product is the whole point of a customer review. Reviews are meant for potential customers.

If the merchant has made an effort to rectify the problem I'll include that in my review but it won't change my initial impression.

Totally reasonable. What good is contacting them beforehand. Let's be honest they wont change the excess of extra tickets as that will lose them money and if you complain to them they will likely offer you something to make you go away and all that happens is lots of others book and have a miserable time.

So many people don't understand the purpose of a review. It's for the benefit of potential customers, not the business. There's no reason to pre-warn them.

This. I try to let services solve solvable issues, and give a review including their willingness or ability to solve them. But with this there was no way to solve it.

I also leave many more positive reviews than negative, which deals with the karmic thing.

You’re free to do what you want but it seems fair to give the company a chance to put it right before taking to the internet.

Agree with op 100%. Bought jumper on Vinted recently. Arrived with hole in it. Left review saying 'hole in jumper' . Seller incredulous that I wrote that, suggesting I should have contacted them directly to 'sort it out'. Er no, don't sell clothes that have holes in, I don't want to have to engage beyond receiving what I've bought in the condition in which it was described

How can they put right an experience that has already been experienced though? I suppose they could offer the event again for free after making changes to it, but how many families want to go back next weekend and do exactly the same thing, not many. I think online reviews are the perfect way to hold companies like this to account so they improve it next year, and think carefully about doing similar for Christmas soon. It's not ok to rip people off most of whom pay good hard earned money to go to these things.

I don't! If the review is truthful then it is useful for other potential customers.

Exactly!

Families are struggling so I think it’s mean not to warn them they are wasting precious cash in this way.