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?

A review is to help others to decide whether to go, and to give the business honest feedback. Not to support them per se (although I don't make a point of leaving poor feedback unless really shamelessly bad).

Whether it's fair or 'kind' depends whether it's rectifiable if so whether you've given them the chance to rectify it, if so whether theyve done so with grace. In this case it wasn't. They couldn't change the attraction, they'd packed it too full. Poor planning and greed. They could maybe offer money back but that doesn't change the fact that it's not a great experience so the reviews were fair.

But why? I’d like to know before I go somewhere whether I’m likely to encounter an issue. Even if it gets resolved, I’d much prefer to deal with businesses that don’t cause issues and that don’t require my time and energy to seek a resolution to get the service or goods I’ve paid for.

It seems that people don’t quite understand the point of a review

Sometimes things go wrong and it’s just unfortunate and not a sign that there’s an underlying problem. Sometimes the problem is that the customer misunderstood what they were paying for. I think people underestimate the power of a bad review and the fact you can cause a business thousands of pounds in lost sales. But of course you are free to do what you want 🤷‍♀️

I think a factual review is fine even if it is a bad one, but in many cases it would be fair to give the company chance to put things right. I am often sceptical of bad reviews as some people see them as a money making opportunity.
A few months ago someone left a review about my workplace. Yes something had gone wrong I can't remember what, I think a till had stopped working whilst they were scanning, but they were frustrated and angry. I was called when they asked for a manager. I agreed their experience hadn't been the best, apologised, and helped them complete their shopping gave them a 10%discount and a gift card of £10 towards future shopping. A few hours later a review went up listing what had gone and how bad it was. No mention at all of any of the measures we made to compensate

You're defo not unreasonable

If you paid for an item and there was an issue, that would be one thing

But this is for an experience. They can't go back and repair the experience you had, you just need to review it as it was

Social media is full of crazies these days, just weird people

I heard that pumpkin patches were just bits of grass with aldi pumpkins thrown about anyway? X

This. Honest reviews might make them sort their issues out properly.

No, I think that generally you should give them an opportunity to make things right.

Things can go wrong for anyone despite careful planning. I think it's far more indicative of what a company is like to see how they handle issues than almost anything else.

But in this case it wasn't things going wrong despite careful planning. It was the company deliberately worsening the customer experience due to greed. The company caused the issue and their reaction to complaints shows they clearly have no interest in rectifying this for future events.

All of this seasonal nonsense is a money making scam.

Mistakes happen. I think that the way an honest mistake is put right is part of the service. If it is corrected with good will, timeliness and care, I see that as speaking well of a company

YABU to go to a pumpkin patch in the first place

The caring and timely action would be to proactively offer customers refunds or tickets for another date as soon as the place became overcrowded. But instead they ignore it then moan that they "didn't get a chance" to put it right.

Yanbu!

I had an absolutely shit pedicure a few months ago. I didn't say anything, just decided I would never go there again. I got their email spam later that day asking for a review, I think I gave it 3 out of 5 stars. Like fine, but not great, no extra words, just the star rating they ASKED FOR.

Over the next 2 days I was absolutely spammed with phone calls from this business. It was outrageous actually. I blocked their number. Nothing they could have said to me on the phone could have persuaded me to go back there.

People are weird!

I left a fair review for a hotel I recently stayed in on their website. They tracked me down, emailed me and tried to defend themselves. I thought that was poor form to be honest. It felt intrusive.

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.

This is a No Shit Sherlock moment! you're never going to stop a commercial company like Alton Towers from ramming the park full of people on Halloween. Their one reason for being is to make money. Anyone who takes their family to Alton Towers for Halloween needs their head tested !

Depends on the service that you are using. If it’s fixable, then yes I’d give the owner an opportunity to fix it. If it’s a more fundamental flaw, then no.

We stay in Air BnB type places a lot when visiting the UK. One we stayed in was really cold during the day and we couldn’t get the heating to come on so I contacted the owner. Turned out the heating was set on a timer that was in the main house (where they lived) and they were unwilling to change it (they expected guests to be out all day like tourists - we were using it as home from home so had friends and family visiting during the day). So I’d given them the chance to fix the issue, and they didn’t, so that went in the review.

Another place we stayed in was filthy. Like really grimy, with broken furniture and an ingrained smell of cigarette smoke. The kitchen surfaces and the bathroom were clean but nothing else. The crappy furniture and smell weren’t something that could be fixed for our one-night stay, so I didn’t contact the owner but left an honest review.

It does speak well of the company. But not as well as them having perfected procedures so as to not make mistakes in the first place.

I think a review that leaves out the efforts a company has made to fix an issue or compensate is dishonest. But not as dishonest as, for instance, leaving a review that didn’t mention the problems because the company, effectively, bribed you with an particularly generous response.

I run two businesses can understand there businesses concerns a 1 star review can be really damaging. You can have 100s of 5 or 4 starts and a few 1 stars drag your rating right down. What you described was rubbish, but it sounds like they were overwhelmed and overpriced. I would have given a 3 star. I save 1 start reviews for really terrible customer service, awful products and dangerous practice. However, they would do better apologising and replying under the reviews.

There's no way a vendor can resolve the type of issues OP observed. It's not like getting the order wrong at dinner.

I think a y service provider has to be prepared for negative reviews. It isn't the customer's job to protect them.

No, I’m sick of businesses insisting you rate them highly for their products and services when it hasn’t been up to scratch. I’m also sick of having to give everyone time to correct it - mistakes happen, but too often it’s the customer who has to compromise.

I rated a business poorly for an item that arrived a week late, I’d had to contact them and ask where it was and remind them I’d paid for next day delivery, and all they could give was “we didn’t send it on time, sorry for the inconvenience”. I leave the review and all of a sudden it’s have a refund on postage, here’s a discount for next time (there won’t be one), now amend your review and give a better rating.

I think it depends on what it is and if there is a possibility for the business to address it. In the case the OP describes it is perfectly read to leave a negative review.

For restaurants and hotels (depending on the issue) there might be the chance to rectify something if you let them know straight away eg if food is over cooked or undercooked it makes sense to complain at the time.

My point was the ride availability, not that it's generally busy. Closing the coasters for an hour, opening them, then closing another can only be to save money on staff and power. They weren't broken.

I agree OP. If it's a simple mistake like being brought the wrong food or something being broken, then yes you complain to the business and give them a chance to put it right (although I still think it's ok to mention it in a review as it has affected your experience, but fairness would also say you would mention if they were helpful and friendly in sorting it out).

But if it is that the whole experience is not good, eg somewhere being overbooked so you can't enjoy the activities, then that's not something they can sort for you on your visit, so why waste your time in the day, probably complaining to a member of staff who can't do anything about it? After all, in OPs example staff and management should be able to see the problems with their own eyes!

As a consumer who has to really watch my pennies and for whom these kind of days out are a treat I have to decide whether to spend the budget on, I do want honest reviews.

And I would respect a business much more for using their social media to say 'we are listening and will try and make some changes for next time using your feedback ' than for complaining about mean people being negative and manipulating them into leaving good reviews!

As a customer I value honest reviews. I do take negative reviews with a pinch of salt. If it sounds like a one-off issue or something that wouldn't bother me, I disregard them. But if multiple people have mentioned a specific issue that is likely to negatively affect my experience, I want to know in advance.

What I find really annoying is when a place has hundreds of rave reviews and then turns out to be mediocre at best. Sure, people have different tastes and expectations, but I refuse to believe that an indifferent, overpriced tourist-trap café has sent hundreds of people into genuine raptures. It's got to the point where a five-star average can make me feel more suspicious rather than less (depending on the total number of reviews).

As for raising issues directly, it depends. If it's an item that I can return and buy something more suitable instead, sure. If it's a rubbish manicure or an experience that felt like a waste of time, then no, an apology or money off a repeat experience won't make me feel any better about it. I can't be bothered with the hassle and I don't like confrontation. I think many other people are the same.