Pennsylvania-Philadelphia

Val & C&D

I was over on the boston board looking for a girl that wanted to see pictures of my dress on a real bride... I came across this big debate they are having there about vendors being able to post responses on a negative review a bride gives them (vendors that lurk and see these negative reviews)....Is this going to happen to the Philly board?If it does, what are your thoughts on this (open to the rest of the board, I'm curious to hear what you all have to think)
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Re: Val & C&D

  • jessica0602jessica0602 member
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker First Comment
    edited December 2011
    On one hand, I'd say yes because it might bring some much-needed activity to this board. On the other hand, this is a disastrous idea!  This is supposed to be a board for BRIDES, not vendors.  Allowing vendors, especially those that have caused so much drama WITHOUT being "allowed" to post (I use quotes because some of these folks post anyway) would make this place a hot mess.Here's something interesting to consider:http://www.switched.com/2009/03/24/dentist-sues-writer-of-negative-online-yelp-review/
  • ButtonsPepperButtonsPepper member
    Combo Breaker First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Ugh, I hate everything about it. You should be able to post reviews about vendors you've DIRECTLY had interaction with, and post negative, or positive PERSONAL experiences you've had with them. I'm praying it doesn't come to this board...
  • edited December 2011
    :butting in:This would only be good for the liveliness factor. How are vendors only going to be able to post in their defense? Isn't that in a way considered promoting their business?You can't have one & not the other. No vendors should be allowed to post, period. I think it would create a mess.
  • edited December 2011
    I think open and honest reviews about vendors are important. This makes brides more confident in their decisions or allows them to think twice before working with someone that other people have had problems with. Isn't that the point of the reviews? If those vendors are on here and posting about their reviews maybe that's why they were given a poor review in the first place. They should be working on their customer service and satisfaction rather than worrying about what people are saying on TK. it's not like people are mean about it, they are just honest. So do your job in the first place and you wouldn't have to worry about the reviews.

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  • edited December 2011
    Something along those lines should be happening. It won't be as open as you think though and it would take awhile. They have to send an email first to get it approved. I believe the thinking behind this is that vendors can't stick up for themselves if a bride comes on here and rants about a store and it isn't true so then the vendor can post something for what happened in their eyes. I'm not sure if I like it or not really. I mean, who is to say who is lying anyway. When a bride posts a review, you just be respectful of the vendor, don't call names and tell your story. no biggie. We'll see how it goes.
  • edited December 2011
    I understand a vendor wanting to defend themselves if they consider a review slander...but why is the post locked after that? Why can't the original bride reply/defend herself from the vendor's response? Sounds like disaster written all over it.
  • edited December 2011
    Where is the link? I'm curious what they are saying about it being locked - I haven't heard that or I don't remember.
  • ButtonsPepperButtonsPepper member
    Combo Breaker First Comment
    edited December 2011
    My main problem is this...If you go onto Boston, it shows two brides with the same complaint, pushy.The e mail that he sent to TK, that TK posted for him after "review" didn't explain himself as to why he made phone calls/maybe should have backed off/good to know type of defense. It was 5 paragraphs of how awesome of a DJ he is... that's NOT defending the experience these two ladies had... as Fool put on her post in boston - it's just him giving free advertising, through TK. Disaster... If you have a personal experience with a vendor, positive or negative, you should be able to post it, without having any e mail you sent to the vendor plastered for all to see, as I feel this is against privacy to begin with....Also, vendors weren't aloud to post (and still aren't) because this is a bride zone. This place is going to be full of vendors lurking daily at everything said if they become able to start posting on here.
  • edited December 2011
    New Vendor Response Policy From: Knot Annie Date: 9/23/2009 at 10:38 AM Due to an overwhelming response from our brides and the commitment to make our Community an even better resource for our Knotties, we're now allowing all vendor reviews to be posted on the message boards. In addition to this, vendors will now have the chance to respond to negative reviews posted on our message boards via The Knot. This allows brides and vendors to give both sides of the story and for you to plan your wedding with more accurate details. Brides -- you're now able to post all vendor reviews on our forums, but keep in mind that they must be factual, thoughtful, and free of profanity and character assassination. If your review doesn't meet these guidelines, the review will be removed.Vendors -- you can now respond to a negative post so that brides can hear your side of the story. If you're a vendor and see a post you'd like to respond to, please do the following:1. Draft your response and be sure it too is factual and free of profanity and character assassinations.2. Send your response, along with the URL of the post, the name of the board, and original poster and date, to [email protected]. We'll review and post your response if it's warranted and meets our Community Guidelines.4. If the original post doesn't meet our Community Guidelines, it will be deleted.5. The post will be locked after the vendor response is posted. Any further discussion should be made via email to The Knot. Please be sure to email us your response and don't post the response yourself, as we will remove it.Questions or comments? Please email [email protected].
  • ButtonsPepperButtonsPepper member
    Combo Breaker First Comment
    edited December 2011
    http://talk.theknot.com/boards/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=62221504&forumid=89There is the link val.... After the knot posts on behalf of the vendor, she will lock the post as so no one can reply to what the vendor had to say.In the 1 example I've seen, the vendor wasn't defending the negative comment made against him, he used it to explain how great his services were in 5 paragraphs.
  • ButtonsPepperButtonsPepper member
    Combo Breaker First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Vendors -- you can now respond to a negative post so that brides can hear your side of the story. If you're a vendor and see a post you'd like to respond to, please do the following:This is my main problem. TK is encouraging vendors to lurk at posts for negative things written about them.... It's not like wedding wire where there is a review tab, so they can go. It's crossing the line IMO
  • edited December 2011
    And what's really obnoxious is that TK is only administering this new policy on select local boards.  If they're going to do it right, the policy should apply to all the boards. 
  • edited December 2011
    Well I will say this - at least they do not have to create an account & have free reign to post as blatant vendor.
  • edited December 2011
    Wow, so sorry, I heard of this but didn't know it went into action already. I'll check on that.
  • ButtonsPepperButtonsPepper member
    Combo Breaker First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Fool - that was my question, if it was going to start happening to all boards. From the sounds of val, it looks like they spoke to her about doing it here too :-(.
  • edited December 2011
    I can't see them singling (is this a word?) boards out like this. Maybe she just hasn't gotten around to posting it all over yet? I'm finding out now. Also, if there really is an unwelcome response to this, I can't see them keeping it. Just something new to try I guess.
  • ButtonsPepperButtonsPepper member
    Combo Breaker First Comment
    edited December 2011
    If someone is interested in a vendor and someone gives a negative review, more people will post that they either agree/disagree with that review. If 10 people give the same reason why a vendor is bad news bears.... what response can a vendor give to that? If there is one bad post, and other people say how great of an experience they had, can't the OP just e mail/call the vendor themselves? Giving vendors range to post on here just seems so bad... and against everything TK tried to do by keeping vendors off these boards.
  • ButtonsPepperButtonsPepper member
    Combo Breaker First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I posted before lightly, wedding wire does this. But it's a review of vendor tab. I wouldn't mind if TK had one of these, where anyone could post a review/rebuttal to that review somewhere OTHER THEN our message boards. That would actually be beneficial. Knotties could search vendors based on location... read reviews that all the brides here put up, read any rebuttal a vendor may have, and make choices that way. I don't think the local message boards are the place for this.
  • edited December 2011
    I think there are is a safeguard to prevent abuse by the vendors - the response is posted by TK and not just the vendor coming on and blasting the original poster. If any of us think that vendors dont already lurk then we are kidding ourselves. So why not give them a chance to respond if they are spoken of negatively. we all know there are BSC knotties/brides/people out there - maybe there is a real defense to a negative review.
  • edited December 2011
    I'd like to see the Pro's take a stab at this. lol.
  • ButtonsPepperButtonsPepper member
    Combo Breaker First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Cand - I think it really got to me when I read what the vendor sent, and what TK thought was appropriate to post.The vendor copied and pasted e mails from one of the OP's, put 5 paragraphs about his aweosme business, and didn't address EITHER negative review (both the same review) about him.I don't think I'd be as bothered if they stuck to just defending the negative review... and it NOT being locked after so brides couldn't respond.
  • edited December 2011
    to play devils advocate- if his resopnse was "i wasn't pushy, janedoebridetobe was a crazy woman who wanted me to play the entire soundtrack to titanic and i was just offering other suggestions.." wouldn't that make his response alittle more neutral.
  • rumdrinxrumdrinx member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    here is a thing. what is some newb posts and asks a question about Happy Flower company.its a slow day. the only person that responds is the person who thought her flowers stunk, when really, they might not have.  you all know well that not everyone responds to a newb question, and sometimes you just could rather give a crap. In this case, I feel badly for Happy Flower Company .Also, there are some people that may seeem all nicey nice on the board but IRL are horrible to their vendors.  So, if they are going to crap on their vendors , I should think that they deserve a chance to respond?i dunno. i don't have any answers.
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  • edited December 2011
    I agree with BP, keep the vendors off the local boards, but give them another section where there can be reviews and the vendors can respond there. I know vendors look at these boards. One vendor had commented to me about a post I wrote about them. I was annoyed, but when they made up for what they didn't do, I posted telling people what happened. These boards are to help us plan our wedding, which is why we ask other people's opinnion. With all the weddign scams and rip-offs out there we need to hear about it so it doesn't happen to us.

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  • edited December 2011
    I read the post and it did sound like he was defending himself in a tactful manner in response to what the other posters wrote about him.
  • edited December 2011
    rum - you said better what i was trying to get at. that not every post that is negative about a vendor is necessarily warranted and i think that giving vendors a chance to clear the air is a good thing. but im not 100% comfortable with it either.
  • edited December 2011
    Since the vendor's responses are reviewed & filtered through TK higher-ups, I don't see it as such a big deal. Like I said, if vendors were given TK accounts & free reign to post, that's a different story.
  • edited December 2011
    Also, lets not forget that TK is in business to make money - money off of advertisers that may or may not be getting bashed unfairly sometimes. Of course they are going to want to keep their advertisers happy.
  • edited December 2011
    It should noted that the DJ copied and pasted from the bride's very first email to him.  She decided not to hire him b/c of his slimy behavior in subsequent emails and convos.  Also, it wasn't just that nobody was around to respond to the OP's inquiry. 2 brides had the same complaint about him.  They had no reason to lie.Also, the vendor in question claims to have a hugely successful business.   If that's the case, 1 or 2 bad reviews won't kill him. He also just emailed the bride, asking her to write him a check for the lost client.  Yet, under the new rules, the bride wouldn't have the chance to show brides how much of an a$$ the vendor actually is.  Where is the rule against vendor harrassment?
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