Hi Everyone,

I just started my business late last year and I'm running it from home (legally) but so far i've only had business from friends and friends of friends.

Occasionally, I google the my company name to see what is happening out there and how well it ranks in the search engine...etc

And then yesterday I found this:

http://www.rayv.com.au/biz/65478

I'm upset because:

- I don't own a store (evident by the lack of address)
- I know all my customers (which so far is only less than 20 of them!)
- I never sold a cake for a 'son's birthday'
- and the claims about my cakes being dry and burnt are untrue!

There is no way I can edit the details and the person who put it there went to the trouble of setting up the entry and putting all my details there! They originally had my offical website on there but i managed to edit that to point to my flickr so that if people wanted to judge they could at least see the positive comments on flickr.

What should I do? I wrote to the website yesterday asking them to remove it but I have not heard back from them

Thanks in advance...

Sorry this has happened to you. That is just awful! I do not know what to say.

Sounds like one of two things, either it is an idiot who doesn't remember where she bought her cake from (not very likely though, sounds like a completely made up story), or it is a rival who is upset that you are getting business. And they obviously do not know how to act very professional.

I think I would just keep trying to contact the website and explain to them that you have all the receipts and have never sold a cake to that person, or for that type of occasion. Hopefully someone else can be of more help.

It looks like she is bashing more than just your biz. She had 2 other bad reviews for other businesses as well. It looks like you can flag it, which will alert the site to it being untrue/unfair.

Sorry this happened. Keep your chin up.

Just write exally what you just wrote here as a coment on her revew

Hopefully they can remove it for you. The lady that left that posted 2 other "terrible business" things about others too. I clicked on her profile where she left that comment and it linked to the others. She seems like a trouble maker. You'd think there'd be something good about some store, but she fixated on the negative.

Good luck!! By the way, I looked at your Flikr pics and they are awesome!

I find it hard to believe that three reviews and three pans. It looks like a phoney account may have been started to do things like this out of boredom. It happens on every site.

To tell you the truth, I wouldn't take the word of someone who didn't have anything good to say about any business, especially since she's only been a member of that site for a month.

I sent you a PM by the way.

Best,
Karen

I think this is an absolutely bogus person!!! Definitly keep e-mailing and let someone know about this. Not to worry, I usually tend to go to people that are highly recommended by people I know. If you are doing cakes for family and friends, be patient you will be busy in no time. New businesses need a little time to get up and running sometimes.

This happened to me, someone wrote up a review about my business (not bakery related) that was a total lie. It is true the person was one of my customers but the facts she stated were totally false. The first thing I did was post a comment with the true facts so that if anyone went on the site they could see the way it actually went down. I went on to state times, dates etc, I said I had proof of the transaction in paper with signatures, etc.
Next I contacted an attorney and he recommended that I write to the website and ask them to remove the post. Their response was that they could not, I wrote back to them and the person that wrote the review and told them that if the review was not removed in 24 hours I would take them to court and sue for defamaiton. The website wrote back and said they would contact person that wrote the review and tell them they request the review be removed. That worked they removed it. So If I were you I would write on the comment section of the review that you did not deal with this person.
It bothered me alot even though I know that not that many people go to these sites. But the fact that this person totally lied about the transaction really made me made.
don't let it get to you too much, just remember what goes around comes around. So they will get theirs.
Good Luck.

Thank you everyone for your replies.... even though it's a false person I am still upset that someone could write things like that I was considering logging on a writing something there myself but I don't want to look like a sour grape.

I also know it's just one review on a site that does not have that much credibility at the moment but it still comes up when googled and since I am starting out it dosn't look too good for my business with comments like that out there!

Karen - I got your PM, thank you so much, i'm replying now

I'll keep writing to them and let you all know what happens.

Sharon

The only bad review I have gotten online said a similar thing. My cakes were dry. I clicked on her, and she left several mean messages about other people, too. Some people just love to complain because they are mean. I do know exactly who the customer was who did it, and she was a little weird, so it doesn't surprise me.

I'm sorry this happened to you. It feels like a punch in the gut!

Sometimes those review sites go both ways...meaning the business owner can go on and try to resolve the review or post what actually happened. So if you don't have a store front, and know you haven't baked for this client....then their refuse automatically looks like a fake one.

I bet that site is like that. Usually in order to do that though, you have to claim the business listing; sign up and activate the account under your name.

I don't know if that one is like that...but some of them are.

I understand if someone wants to write a legitamate "poor" review, but false ones? If this is a false complaint, doesn't this fall under "slander"? I'd do the same thing and contact a lawyer.

Example~ Say for instance, someone is acting like a 4th grader and decides to "exact revenge" because they don't like you, so they slander your (general "your") business name, etc ~ Can they get away with that?

I'm so sorry this happened to you. I hope you get a lot of positive reviews to help take the sting off.

I've personally seen people post responses to false claims when attacked on websites like Craigslist and other review sites. I would post exactly what you did here adding all of the "I'm sorry you must be mistaken" and "I apologize if you are confusing me with someone else"'s that you can write without vomiting on your keyboard so that people will see that why you have no need to justify yourself, you do feel a desire to clear the blemish he/she's trying to put on your good name.
I would also post in general that in some countries (I don't know if Australia is one of them), that slander/defamation of character is grounds for a lawsuit.

I am wondering if all the places she reviewed are close by, b/c if not, this is something else you can show the webmasters or whoever you will talk with about this review.

Please, keep us updated. Mean people suck

Is the date on the corner, 19-01-2009, the date she became a member or the date she wrote the review? All her reviews have the same date.

This person is bored and miserable.
Notice all 3 reviews she left have the same date? Troublemaker..
Your work is exceptional!
I would respond in the reviews and ask her exactly which cake it was and the date and so forth and see what she comes up with. Tell her she should contact you personally so you have the chance to make her happy.
Of course I don't believe she was a customer, but maybe she will rethink what she's doing. Put her on the spot, although like most of the other posts said, not too many people will take her seriously anyways after seeing your pics.

I am sorry that this has happened to you. I agree too that it's probably nothing to worry about, not many will see it or put too much weight onto it. If you are very concerned about this being the only 'feedback' people find if they search for you online, ask any friends or family, or longtime clients, to go on and write a truthful, genuine, review.

I have to laugh at sassybee. You win the detective award (officially given for the first time in the OE thread)

I would flag the comment. If it gets flagged it should be deleted. I'm sorry that this happened to you.

Thank you all again for your support. I did see the other horrible reviews she left for the other businesses they are not close to me at all (maybe about a 20 min drive away) and she created the account the same day she wrote all those reviews, which makes me think she created the account just for that purpose - she didnt even complete a profile.

Tita9499 and Idreamofcakes, I think I will leave a comment and try to be as decent as possible but I just want the whole thing removedI guess it's all part of being in business but it's still crappy when people do hateful things like that!

And I've also flagged the comment I'll give it a couple of days more and write another letter like Karen suggested

Thank you all again Sharon

I had one (not near as witchy as this lady) but the bride gave my catering good reviews but expressed disappointment that we "would not" cut the wedding cake purchased from someone else. I emailed the site, explaining that this was not accurate and asked how I could respond. They explained the process and I was able to add a response stating that we are more than happy to cut other bakery's cakes .... we just ask that it be arranged in advance so I can make sure to send a skilled wedding cake cutter out on that job.

Under each business name is the town they are in correct? Are any of the other towns near you? I would flag it.

Definitely create an account and write a response review as that is will have an immediate effect. Maybe she really did have a horrible wedding day or whatever and that's why she went on to "get them back" but obviously she got the WRONG baker up there. Make sure you say "I'm sorry you had a bad time, but it did not come from us you have your bakeries mixed up". Then contact the site to let them know the same thing. They have to have a policy in place for this.

Also, if this helps at all... when I'm looking at reviews online, I tend to discount those reviews with horrible punctuation and grammar. This person obviously didn't take the time to write a clear review (and I don't mean perfect, just readable). If I happened to be researching your business, I wouldn't think twice about that review, but instead would keep looking for more credible reviews. The suggestion to have your friends and family members post is a good one. Hope you can get this straightened out; it's not fair to be picked on!

Oooooo, I was trying like heck not to search out the "contact this poster" button or whatever it would be. I was gonna say "What's up bit**? Are you just out to destroy some good business names? Does your dumba** brain even realize you left negative comments for the WRONG freaking person? Pull your head out of your a** for two seconds, and figure out who you meant to slam with your depressing commentary! Go stuff it! Peace!

(((sigh))) I feel better for that....lol!

Of course, I would never do.....well, you know what, I would actually. So, hopefully this never happens to me, cause I do not have the restraint of pen (keyboard) to conduct myself like a lady. Yiiiiikes!

Well, in cases like this I naturally have one response and it is always the same...MURDER!

I bet my eye teeth that it is a competitor or someone you've turned down for a cake...can you contact her and get her email addy then google that, THEN hire a hitman?

I'm with the other posters!
* respond with a well thought out posting that contains as many "facts" as possible...that's not sour
grapes
* as some of your good customers to post positive reviews directly to this site (encourage them not to sound defensive, rather to be positive
* continue pursuing the site operator and the negative poster to have the post removed
* Finally, don't let this get you down any more. As previous posters said, very few readers will take stock in this reviewers words after they see your response.

OMG!! I'm glad you were able to put hte flikr link on there. Those cakes are gorgeous!!! You can tell by looking at them that the "review" is off. You can see from the pictures that it would be impossible to tell if something was amiss with the cake just from picking it up.

It's probably a competitor... or someone from high school who wants to get even over something you probably don't even remember. It sounds like something childish.

Hopefully you can get it removed.

Or... you can have some of your friends and relatives sign up and put their reviews on there... telling which cake they got and referring to your flikr page.

I would advise the following: Do not respond to the review. You want it removed.

You should continue to contact the website to get them to remove the review. If you read their Terms of Service, they will remove content that is false/misleading etc. Be very explicit about why this review is libelous and illegal and violates their terms of service.

Make the communication calm and professional, but clear. You should follow them (the website) on Twitter, Facebook their blog, etc. and use all of those methods to get in touch. Once they see there is someone who is just making trouble, they'll want her off the site. It does nothing but hurt their reputation.

They'll have to respond. Good luck.

Also do not raise the ire of the original poster. If you do, you're just looking for more trouble. She's picked on you randomly, but if you give her an excuse, she'll find more places to bash you, for the fun of it. Don't feed her ego...

My 2c