My experience with a 'negative review' scammer. • Hacker News Board

Re: My experience with a 'negative review' scammer.

#61

Post by shaggyfrog » Tue, Aug 02, 2011, 3:43 PM UTC

garron wrote: post #41

jrockway wrote: post #22

I wouldn't even worry about a subjective review like "this tea tastes like shit". Even if it's the finest quality tea in the world, someone is going to think it tastes like shit. I would worry about reviews like, "ordered, never received product, called owner and he told me to 'fuck myself with a pointy stick'". That is significantly more damning, since it reads like an account of a factual event, rather than an unin…

You have a good point there, it is impossible to define what is good and what not in flavors. It is like asking what is the best dog bread? And yes, the review about service is more important. This guy (Brian) at the end admitted that he did what he did just because he was unfollowed in twitter. What a guy!

I'm not sure why some people react in that way when they are unfollowed. But why were they being followed in the first place? I know some companies like to follow every single person they can with the expectation they get followed back and then boost their subscriber numbers, and I think it's a silly game to play.

Re: My experience with a 'negative review' scammer.

#62

Post by brokentone » Tue, Aug 02, 2011, 3:56 PM UTC

mattraibert wrote: post #31

It's a shame the OP doesn't ship to the US. Hacker News US people would probably buy a lot of tea and this is good exposure.

Agreed. I'm always surprised how many of us there are who enjoy good tea.

Re: My experience with a 'negative review' scammer.

#63

Post by pitdesi » Tue, Aug 02, 2011, 4:01 PM UTC

Not too dissimilar from the BBB, which is a total scam/protection racket... You have an "F" rating... now pay us $1000 to "rate" you again and review that rating. 3 days later Boom you have an A.

More: http://feefighters.com/blog/the-bbb-is-a-scam/

Re: My experience with a 'negative review' scammer.

#64

Post by code_duck » Tue, Aug 02, 2011, 4:02 PM UTC

westiseast wrote: post #44

code_duck wrote: post #39

"406 Following 350 Followers" is not exactly a position of great influence.

No, you're right. However, most of those followers are other tea bloggers, tea companies and tea industry people. It's a small community. I'm new to the business, so an 'established' tea blogger posting lies about my company can have a really negative impact.

I see. It does seem that this guy is blatantly an idiot, which hopefully limits his influence... not that being so prevents one from being taken seriously in politics and other realms these days, I suppose. Bringing this extortionary behavior to public attention is exactly the way to go.

Re: My experience with a 'negative review' scammer.

#65

Post by madiator » Tue, Aug 02, 2011, 4:19 PM UTC

This scammer has a scary bplan. I mean what would you do if the scammer sets up a bunch of twitter accounts and posting negative reviews and then demands money?

Re: My experience with a 'negative review' scammer.

#66

Post by ElliotH » Tue, Aug 02, 2011, 4:44 PM UTC

Well, you've now nicely turned a negative review into some positive attention. Bookmarked for next time I run out of tea.

Re: My experience with a 'negative review' scammer.

#67

Post by josefresco » Tue, Aug 02, 2011, 4:51 PM UTC

code_duck wrote: post #39

"406 Following 350 Followers" is not exactly a position of great influence.

The following to follower ratio is a misleading statistic. The number of people you want to see Tweets from vs. the number of people that want to see your Tweets isn't relevant unless you're using Twitter as a publicity platform or are "collecting" followers like you collect Friends on FB/MySpace.

In this case the information is arguably very relevant, but I hope it isn't used generally for all users as it's a biased metric for judgement of quality.

Quality information is not always popular.

Re: My experience with a 'negative review' scammer.

#68

Post by mootothemax » Tue, Aug 02, 2011, 4:54 PM UTC

westiseast wrote: post #60

docgnome wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well that's a huge bonus! Wish you shipped to the US. I'd buy some tea from you!

It will be happening soon! Start of September I'll be able to ship to the US.

One quick idea - add a mailing list for this to your homepage. Mailchimp is free, and voila - come September you can let those interested know they can order, and you'll start the month with a bump of sales :)

Re: My experience with a 'negative review' scammer.

#69

Post by DenisM » Tue, Aug 02, 2011, 6:01 PM UTC

I've also learned a valuable lesson - however angry you are, openness and honesty will always win over in the end. Structure a logical argument, stand your ground, and idiots/scammers like Brian DiVita will expose themselves without you needing to lift a finger.

I fear you've reached the wrong conclusion. Haters gonna hate, and there is no way you can answer them all. The more you sell, the more crazy people will be among your "customers" and some of them will have a bad day and take it out all on your tea and you. The victory over one hater may make you happy for a day, but you can't scale it.

Focus on encouraging public praise from your happy customers.

Re: My experience with a 'negative review' scammer.

#70

Post by rkalla » Tue, Aug 02, 2011, 6:12 PM UTC

pitdesi wrote: post #63

Not too dissimilar from the BBB, which is a total scam/protection racket... You have an "F" rating... now pay us $1000 to "rate" you again and review that rating. 3 days later Boom you have an A. More: http://feefighters.com/blog/the-bbb-is-a-scam/

For anyone else interested in this topic (or doubtful about the claim) 20/20 did an cover story on this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yo8kfV9kONw&feature=playe...