I recognize that font! I take my dog to Mike on Tuesdays! HAHAHA. I can’t believe I just stumbled on this.

And as a (former) proprietor of my own business, I have to say, if I got a review like that (not to mention the other reviews that were less kind), my biggest concern shouldn’t be that Bob didn’t identify himself, it should be “what the fuck am I doing wrong?!” And then I should be figuring out what to do to FIX it, rather than bitch about it in public (since I assume he didn’t hide that whiny little sign in a back room).

“Mike’s” note clearly screams inadequate personality, and hints that he prolly compensates for other things, too. o_O

I once put a completely honest review on Yelp of a new Tex-Mex restaurant in town. This is in England, so we don’t have good Mexican on every corner like in the US and I was thrilled when it opened. I’m from Texas, so am used to good Tex-Mex, but this wasn’t good. The owner claimed he’d travelled throughout the Southwest and spent years perfecting his food. Well, I thought his travel claims were complete crap, as was the food. Many reviewers agreed that the food was bad. There’s no way you travel in New Mexico and Texas and come back producing such awful, bland food. I put up constructive criticism and wasn’t mean (I didn’t call his food crap, like I have here). I said things like I had high hopes, but it missed the mark; if the rice was prepared another way, it wouldn’t be so hard and flavourless, he should have a salsa verde and fresh pico, he should use Monterrey Jack cheese instead of cheddar, the hot salsa should be a bit hotter and the meat should be slow cooked. The owner couldn’t take criticism. He responded saying I wasn’t a genuine customer, since his food is fantastic, and if I did actually eat there, I must have terrible taste in food and think Burger King is quality food. The guy went out of business within a year, probably due to a combination of his awful food and terrible attitude towards his customers.

I think owners need to use Yelp as a way to improve their businesses, by seeing criticism and finding ways to change based on it. Not everyone is a miserable person who feels the need to hide behind the internet and be a jerk. If someone puts up a bad review, usually there’s at least some truth behind it.

From the sound of it, the owner doesn’t seem like the sort of person that takes criticism well. He certainly doesn’t handle it professionally. I doubt that having a polite conversation with such a person would be a constructive use of time. I will say that name calling is never an acceptable solution, though.

I really only get annoyed with owners who seem to think all bad reviews are fake. Um, ever stop to think it’s because your place sucks you’re getting a bad review? And complaining to the owners/corperate doesn’t do a darn bit of good. They ignore it when it’s private communication. But the public humilation of a place like Yelp usually gets them to actually pay attention.

Unless, apparently, they’re Mike.