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My experience with a 'negative review' scammer.

westiseast.co.uk

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

#41

Post by garron »

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!

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

#42

Post by westiseast »

praptak wrote: post #19
crdoconnor wrote: post #13

As a consumer I pretty much rule out negative reviews where the company in question responds sensibly. Sometimes it gives me a more favorable view of the company in question, actually. The only time I really pay attention to stuff like this is when there is a bunch of negative reviews and the company never responds to any of them.

Yeah, methinks the general rule is: You don't really know a company until you see their reaction to shit happening. Deflecting blame and stonewalling are the worst kinds of response.

Thank you. I kind of agree - honest answers, acceptance of criticism etc. are key, especially when your talking about small companies that can't hide behind their size.

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

#43

Post by westiseast »

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…

thankfully, I've never told anyone to fuck themselves after buying my tea :)

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

#44

Post by westiseast »

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.

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

#45

Post by westiseast »

blackboxxx wrote: post #38
dspillett wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is sometimes the best way. If you get them blocked from Twitter they may take that as meaning "the fight is on" and register many fake accounts to continue posting the reviews from.

Not doing the right thing for fear of retribution? Staying quiet essentially allows them to do the same to others. Fear should never dictate the decision process. They need to be reported.

True. I think I've done enough to embarass the guy and expose the way he does business. I always believe you should leave a door open for people to 'save' themselves, and that might mean that long term, he proves to be a valuable member of the tea community. Who knows.

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

#46

Post by westiseast »

greenpaint wrote: post #14

I don't think the negative reviewer fully understands how Twitter works. In the thread you link to he says that he didn't delete the tweet, and that they "disappear after a certain number of days". They don't. Here's the tweet you're referring to (28 Jul): http://twitter.com/#!/FoodBlogTeaShow/status/966666235864719... and here's another from 14 hours ago: http://twitter.com/#!/FoodBlogTeaShow/status/981033271197696.…

I'd made the mistake on Twitter originally - I didn't see the tweet in my "Mentions" page, but it was still there on his feed.

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

#47

Post by westiseast »

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.

Yep - I will be shipping to the US very soon, but we're a new business. I've been testing supply chain, quality and bedding in the business before I take on the world :)

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

#48

Post by westiseast »

nodata wrote: post #12

(Just because you don't ship to the US doesn't mean he hasn't tried your tea, just that it's unlikely). But I like the rest of the post.

Right - it's extremely unlikely. The fact is, as a small business, I make it a point of communicating with my first treasured customers, so I know almost all of them by name. In almost all cases, I know how they've arrived at my business via friends, recommendations, family etc. And given the situation, I made a very confident guess.

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

#50

Post by westiseast »

PoundSterling wrote: post #26

This isn't particularly on topic so I'll keep it brief. On your site you mention delivering via Amazon UK; I was curious how this works or if you had any links that explained the process better? I'm currently dabbling with the idea of a simple site and this isn't something I've seen before as a way of handling deliveries. Thank you.

there's positives and negatives to using Amazon FBA shipping service. I'd be happy to help you with a bit of information about my experience with them so far. There's contact details here: http://westiseast.co.uk/about/
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