Groupon sales rep threatens restaurant with negative Yelp reviews • Hacker News Board

Re: Groupon sales rep threatens restaurant with negative Yelp reviews

#151

Post by mathattack » Sun, Aug 18, 2013, 2:05 AM UTC

droithomme wrote: post #6

Isn't this a protection-money racket (extortion) from a legal perspective? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extortion http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protection_racket > "Extortion is a criminal offense of unlawfully obtaining money, property, or services from a person, entity, or institution, through coercion." > "In the United States, extortion may also be committed as a federal crime across a computer system, phone, by m…

I think I would have written a hardcopy letter to the CEO, cc:ing every member of the board of directors asking how they would protect my business from the slander.

I don't see how the offending employee doesn't get fired, but I think I would have given the boss a way to make me whole before going public.

Re: Groupon sales rep threatens restaurant with negative Yelp reviews

#152

Post by stusmall » Sun, Aug 18, 2013, 2:06 AM UTC

Lorentz wrote: post #93

skore wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Link seems gone already. Next time, take a screenshot, otherwise it's a bit hard to prove you were right - especially considering you are making claims about mentions of drug use.

He hasn't deleted his Instagram yet. http://instagram.com/p/WF2X88xgST/ (if he takes it down: http://i.imgur.com/GzdJ9su.jpg ) http://instagram.com/p/aJ8ER-xgZO/ http://instagram.com/p/Y-06E8Rgcy/

Dude, What is this? Some kind of 4chan style doxing? The dude is bad at his job... okay. He was a jerk to someone over email. I hope he gets fired and I've got a feeling he probably will. Lets lay off the estalking and witch hunting.

There is a line and this thread is crossing it.

Re: Groupon sales rep threatens restaurant with negative Yelp reviews

#153

Post by pbreit » Sun, Aug 18, 2013, 3:03 AM UTC

ams6110 wrote: post #72

usaphp wrote: post #4

http://www.yelp.com/user_details?userid=hnH6RaPkJ2Tfw9ZkKMfL... see how many bad reviews he already wrote for Sause! I think his profile should be flagged, you can't trust a person who does this kind of things. Edit: He just changed his name to West C. what a guy :) Another Edit: Just look at his reviews date - they all are written on July 29-30 - why would anybody write so many reviews unless you receive a commissio…

Does anyone really take unscreened "review" sites like Yelp seriously? I never even bother looking at them.

I do. I think there's lots of good information on Yelp.

Re: Groupon sales rep threatens restaurant with negative Yelp reviews

#154

Post by taigeair » Sun, Aug 18, 2013, 3:09 AM UTC

nosoc wrote: post #147

ultimoo wrote: post #54

I don't like that this thread is fast turning into a reddit style witch-hunt.

Absolutely. Random people have found his Yelp, Linkedin, Twitter, and Instagram. He also made the mistake of spelling out his name and detailed contact information on the letter. I know that his threat is stupid at best and harmful to Sauce's business at worst, but clearly he's young and inexperienced. Having hundreds (thousands?) of people discussing, criticizing, and examining your details online is terrible. I'm n…

I guess this is the online equivalent of a reality show...

Re: Groupon sales rep threatens restaurant with negative Yelp reviews

#155

Post by unclebucknasty » Sun, Aug 18, 2013, 3:37 AM UTC

mbreese wrote: post #114

baddox wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does that act that's being threatened have to itself be illegal in order for the threat to qualify as extortion? Yelp reviews aren't illegal.

It could also be considered tortuous interference if they are intentionally trying to disrupt the business of someone. In this case, if the sales rep did somehow get people to leave many negative Yelp reviews, that could be considered interfering with the business. All in all, it seems like just another bad PR day at Groupon.

I thought tortious interference only applied to contracts?

Re: Groupon sales rep threatens restaurant with negative Yelp reviews

#156

Post by jiggypuffs » Sun, Aug 18, 2013, 4:14 AM UTC

stusmall wrote: post #152

Lorentz wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He hasn't deleted his Instagram yet. http://instagram.com/p/WF2X88xgST/ (if he takes it down: http://i.imgur.com/GzdJ9su.jpg ) http://instagram.com/p/aJ8ER-xgZO/ http://instagram.com/p/Y-06E8Rgcy/

Dude, What is this? Some kind of 4chan style doxing? The dude is bad at his job... okay. He was a jerk to someone over email. I hope he gets fired and I've got a feeling he probably will. Lets lay off the estalking and witch hunting. There is a line and this thread is crossing it.

There's a big difference between dox'ing and re-sharing information that Andy Johnston posted publicly using his real identity.

I haven't seen anybody posting his home address, identifying his relatives, harassing his friends, revealing private nicks, or really anything else that I'd associate with a 4chan style doxing.

Re: Groupon sales rep threatens restaurant with negative Yelp reviews

#157

Post by nemothekid » Sun, Aug 18, 2013, 4:34 AM UTC

bdcravens wrote: post #144

lancewiggs wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is a story about Groupon. How can they let their staff get into this situation where they are so desperate as to make threats? How did they not know about and fix the poor experience with Groupon previously? How are the staff paid - is the commission component so high that they have to make sales no matter what? Is the training and are the SOPs so poor that the staff are free to operate on the edges of legality? I…

I don't correct it's correct to blame practices like these on the employer's business model. That's like blaming road rage killings on the government for having congested roads. Sounds to me like it's a kid barely out of college who can't control his emotions and is having a pouty hissy fit. His emotional age obviously is not advanced enough to prepare him for sales. If you want to blame anything, blame the culture (…

I fail to see how this has anything to do with his age. There are assholes at all stages of life.

Re: Groupon sales rep threatens restaurant with negative Yelp reviews

#158

Post by reactor » Sun, Aug 18, 2013, 4:38 AM UTC

jpalioto wrote: post #150

jacquesm wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

His former career. As of now he is likely between jobs.

He has the opportunity to begin his new job search immediately.

I wonder who would recruit him. Moreover watch out for the company recruits him.

Re: Groupon sales rep threatens restaurant with negative Yelp reviews

#159

Post by qaruxj » Sun, Aug 18, 2013, 4:50 AM UTC

smsm42 wrote: post #103

nwh wrote: post #9

Mirrors for when the original content inexplicably disappears. Facebook post (OP's link): http://archive.is/lIFF5 Negative reviews left: http://archive.is/js6nY and http://archive.is/hnMmA The attackers reviews on Yelp: http://archive.is/Itdbw

He reviewed the same Sauce in the same day in different parts of town. How likely is that to be genuine? Yelp should have some algorithms to at least flag such things for manual review, it would certainly look fishy even if we didn't know the true story.

As far as I understand, Yelp is a pretty scummy company. Apparently, they frequently call small business owners and offer to hide negative reviews in exchange for payment. (http://www.ibtimes.com/yelp-extortion-rampant-say-small-busi...) From Yelp's perspective, it's not in their best interest to protect the companies their users review because there's no money in it for them.

Re: Groupon sales rep threatens restaurant with negative Yelp reviews

#160

Post by bdcravens » Sun, Aug 18, 2013, 5:19 AM UTC

nemothekid wrote: post #157

bdcravens wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't correct it's correct to blame practices like these on the employer's business model. That's like blaming road rage killings on the government for having congested roads. Sounds to me like it's a kid barely out of college who can't control his emotions and is having a pouty hissy fit. His emotional age obviously is not advanced enough to prepare him for sales. If you want to blame anything, blame the culture (…

I fail to see how this has anything to do with his age. There are assholes at all stages of life.

I chose the term "emotional age" carefully for that reason.

That said, if we were talking about hiring a node.js dev, and comparing a 22 year old vs. a 57 year old, would "I fail to see how this has anything to do with his age. There are great developers at all stages of life." be applicable as well? Or would it reasonable to make some generalizations while appreciating exceptions?