Real-life MMD: Should I threaten a bad review to ...

[MSE Debs]

Money Moral Dilemma: Should I threaten a bad review to get better service?

I write a blog about the city I live in, which includes reviews of local eateries, hotels and attractions. I'm pretty certain last time I went to a restaurant, the waitress overheard me talking about my review, because the service picked up after. I don't get paid to write yet lots of places benefit from better custom after I've written about them. Should I start telling places I visit I'll be reviewing them to get better service?

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Note: Please remember that these are real-life Money Moral Dilemmas that have been sent into us and while we want you to have your say, please remember to be nice when you respond.

In this instance, as has been pointed out in the thread below, there is potential for blackmail (though this would depend entirely on how the situation is handled), which MSE does not endorse.


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[CCStar]

No, I think it is false.

People should be nice anyway.

[Xen6]

By telling them you review places you're right, your service will probably be better, but I think that your review will have more value if written from the perspective of an average customer enjoying a realistic everyday experience. This way you can really identify the positives and negatives of the restaurant rather than providing a distorted view from an "out of the ordinary service".

[iclayt]

I think it makes far more sense to provide feedback of your experiences based on the natural service you receive, which will be more honest, accurate and reliable for those who read it - unless you are planning to end every review with "I received excellent service, because I threatened them with a negative online review".

[scoobydoobydoo]

DUH!!!

Obviously not because although you may get better service the people who go there on your recommendation will not.

Why would this bother you? Well because your blog will get a bad name and people wont read it anymore.

What a stupid Q! And why are the MMD not even vaguely dilemma-ish anymore?

[scoobydoobydoo]

Oh and as someone who has worked in the restaurant business for years, I can tell you that you get short shrift from me if you threatened me with a bad review, just as you would if you told me that your best friend owns the company that employs me (that has happened to me).

[scotsbob]

It's basically a form of intimidation.
I would hope you got short shrift from anyone you tried it on

[bogwart]

How would you feel about being blackmailed? Your attitude is disgraceful. Who do you think you are, anyway? A small-time amateur blogger, is all. Do make an effort to get over yourself.

[juggsy]

I'm surprised at MSE for this, hardly a 'dilemma' and certainly not one many of us can relate to.

As for the question, it's blindingly obvious that basing your review on blackmail is pathetic and completely mis-leading to anyone reading the review.

When you have a column in The Times then you can begin to think your reviews have some sway. Until then I hope anyone you suggest this to chucks you out of their establishment.

[Sooler]

Originally Posted by MSE Debs

Should I start telling places I visit that I'll be reviewing them to get better service?

Just let them know you're coming so they know who the pompous cretin is.

[Hezzawithkids]

Absolutely not. What would be the point? It would make your reviews biased and unbalanced and ruin your reputation.

So maybe yeah, go ahead, you'll get what you deserve.

And what a rubbish MMD by the way.

[pollypenny]

You could try - more like try it on!

The proprietor may well report you and you could lose your job. Deservedly.

[debbiesmum]

No - because if that's the way you get good service , it's not an accurate reflection of the service another customer would get.

[joehoover]

Of course not, that would defeat the whole point in your review.

If you are doing your blog to help others aswell as your own enjoyment then it needs to be truthful, people use reviews for guidance a lot, the more incorrect ones out there the harder it is for others to make a decision.

You're better off not reviewing anything at all than giving false reviews.

I'm also a mystery diner, it's imperative staff don't know, if they can't be nice to you as a human being let alone being paid to be then they are in the wrong job, people shouldn't need an extra incentive to be nice and serve you better.

[gayleygoo]

Well you might get better service if the staff think you are reviewing the place, but other customers won't get the preferential treatment. If you threaten them with a bad review, then you're missing the point. If you have any sort of power at all over where people eat (and hopefully you don't have too much) then you need to be fair and not abuse it.

[clairmelville]

Writing a bad review will often make the establishment change their ways to improve service for others. I have noticed that as a result of some of the bad reviews I have written there have been positive changes to places, such as baby changing added, places made more child friendly. Or in the cases of good reviews where I can be identified I have been given discount on my return visit (this is of course NOT why I write reviews and I don't expect it or think that it is the norm).

[chrimson]

Surely the whole point of your job is to tell the truth as you see it! If you think letting them know you are doing a review will get you better service then there's not much point in the review.
Should "secret shoppers" let shop staff know that they are in the shop?

[tgroom57]

Anyone can write a review for a place on Google Maps, and many other sites.
Make yourself useful and offer new establishments a spot of publicity.

[pennypinchUK]

A review is only meaningful if it tells you what the normal standard, service, etc. of an establishment is.

What's the point of reading your review if the staff have raised their game to impress you?

I'd not take the blindest notice of a review if I was aware the staff had been tipped off you were coming and were trying to butter you up.

[Flickering Ember]

Definitely not. I am also a reviewer and a blogger and I see it as an extension of mystery shopping. I want to be treated like any other ordinary customer, so I can describe my experience on the basis of that interaction, as opposed to being sucked up to. I remember MSing a well known burger bar once. At the end of my visit, as they'd done very well, I had to approach the counter, ask for the manager and present them with a certificate to redeem a giftcard for the staff member who'd served me. Any time I went in there after that as a normal customer, the staff would be all over me and it was embarrassing. They should treat everyone like that!