It’s amazing how uncharacteristically nasty people can get when their identity is concealed. Suddenly, those who never dared to speak their mind or confront another person can do so.
This is particularly true with online reviews and comments about businesses, products, and services. The problem is that all too often it appears that the person writing the bad review or comment is motivated to do so because they have…
- Character deficiencies that led to unpleasant experiences with business staff members. In other words, they were not polite or respectful.
- Unrealistic expectations of what the service or product will do for them. Perhaps they foolishly believed that the product or service should do all the work for them.
- A negative attitude that influences their views, experiences, and reactions, and responses to people, places, and things. It would not be surprising that such a person has similar bad experiences in all areas of life due to their sour outlook.
Instead of being courageous and honorable by attempting to fix their dissatisfaction by communicating directly with the company or website owner, they get back at them by writing an extremely horrible review or comment. This cowardly act is likely motivated by insecurities they have about themselves because of their inability to deal with problems head-on.
Today’s businesses go to great lengths to ensure their customers or readers are happy so that reviews and comments posted online are favorable. As you can imagine, a high number of either outstanding or poor reviews or comments can mean great or mediocre success for a business, product, or service
Another potential cause of unwarranted bad reviews and comments is immaturity and ignorance. An immature person, at any age, sometimes does unfair things without fully considering the impact it has on others. Why do they not have empathy? This happens because the hallmark of immaturity is self-centeredness. The other factor is ignorance. A person who has never started a business, written a book, or built a website has no idea of what it’s like to receive a nasty review or comment on their work.
If you have objectively considered your motivations and attempted to solve the problem directly without success, writing an honest and fitting three-to one-star review may be warranted.
Businesses and other organizations with a website that offer the ability to post comments seem to attract negative people and bring out the worst in otherwise good people because they can remain anonymous and safe from physical harm. If some of the arguments I’ve read were done in person, it could easily become violent.
Because I’ve seen more self-serving, self-promoting, and mean-spirited comments and nasty argument threads posted on various websites, including my own during the short time I had these activated, I do not waste my time by having them on my websites. The same is true of all social media.
Most social media “adds,” “likes,” and “follows” seem to be bought or coerced in some clever manner. And responding to negative people who have nothing better to do than express their bitterness and argue is a waste of time.
The anonymity and safety that the Internet provides have shown us that we need to have unrestrained and honest discussions about some important and highly sensitive issues. Issues that have never been openly discussed. These, of course, include topics such as race, religion, and politics. To have an intelligent and responsible conversation, however, those who post comments must be required to come out of the shadows. Then their integrity and good human nature will prevail.
Certainly, there are businesses and individuals who truly “earn” and deserve bad reviews and comments, especially those who are unethical, arrogant, rude, or greedy. But these are rare, or they could not stay in business.
If you get poor service, are unhappy with a product, or are offended by something, strengthen your courage and character by tactfully and respectfully taking the matter directly to the source. By approaching the problem in this manner, you’ll get what you want most of the time. In this article, “How to Get Good Customer Service & Save Money,” I report on some amazing results I’ve gotten with businesses.
On the other hand, if you receive outstanding service, are very pleased with a product, or were inspired by someone’s work, take the time to post a well-thought-out positive review or comment. Communicate your appreciation directly by email, or both.
The company or individual will love you for it and shower you with appreciation. I’ve been amazed by some of the responses I’ve gotten after doing this. One caveat, though: What you write in the review or comment must come from your heart and be written for “their” benefit and not yours (e.g., self-promotion or ego-boosting).