Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Why an "Epic Response" to a Bad Yelp Review is an Epically Bad Idea

I can hold my tongue no longer.

If you hang out in the "foodie" or restaurant industry corners of the interwebs you probably have seen the latest viral story surrounding the "epic takedown" of a yelp reviewer by the restaurant that was the target of that diner's one-star review. The original Yelp review, and consequently the restaurant's now famous response, has been deleted (presumably by the reviewer) but both have been preserved by several media outlets including Eater. I have also provided screenshots below (click to enlarge):

The original one-star review (left) and the response that launched a thousand clicks (at right).


Full disclosure. I live in the Kansas City metro, and have reviewed once and happily dined more than a few times at the restaurant in question, Voltaire. To the best of my knowledge I do not know the Yelp reviewer in question, Sonal B. But Kansas City is small. It's likely there's a 2nd or 3rd degree connection.

Anyway...