Jed Wallace
Consumers will often browse review sites before you make a purchase. In contrast, in some cases, these reviews are more confusing than helpful. In others, they may be downright misleading. How can you really tell should they are honest reviews or maybe if the company is paying someone to post positive reviews as part of an "online reputation management" service? Just how much influence should a bad review play within your decision to use or not make use of a specific company?
Today, you'll find dozens of business review sites for consumers to browse. Sites like Angie's List, Yelp, Google+, and Yahoo Local are used by consumers. Likewise, sites like the greater Business Bureau offer the opportunity for customers to leave a review about a business. In the event the company is online, you will find literally dozens of online websites offering feedback about a company.
In the majority of cases, review web sites are open to anyone wanting to leave a review. Sites like Google + do a quality job of weeding out spam, but no program is going to be perfect. One of the ways to rule out review websites is in the event the site doesn't permit the business owner to respond to the feedback or actually review the feedback before it is posted. Sites such as this are probably there more for income generation through ads than actual legitimate feedback.
You really need to look at the overall picture of the business. How many transactions is the business completing on a daily basis vs. how many reviews are left for the company? Basically, a business systems; Full Post, doing 10,000 transactions a month which has 1 or 2 negative reviews within that period just isn't a true representation of the customer service the company offers. Every company on earth could be satisfied with a customer satisfaction rating that high!
The bottom line here is the fact that 1 or 2 negative feedbacks on any business review site are no reason to write off a business. Take a really good look-at the overall picture of customer service and make your decision that way. Moreover, realize that at times, there simply is no satisfying a customer. If you own a business yourself or work in something customer service related, you have most likely dealt with at least one person where nothing would satisfy them.
Consumers are far more more likely to leave a review after a negative experience than they can be after a positive one. Because of this, do the research to discover the overall range of transactions a particular business is doing and weigh that against the overall number of reviews you are seeing. If you still have doubts, simply call them up and to see what kind of customer support will be offered. However, if you have a positive experience, do the business proprietor a favor and leave a review!