We Got a Bad Yelp Review…and It’s Perfect

There is no opposite of Yelp.com, or Angie’s list. There is no forum to complain about customers.
This is probably a good thing, as I can’t even begin to imagine the lawsuits that would be filed if businesses could warn other businesses about problematic clients, entitled jerks, and serial scammers.

Though there is no shortage of websites where people can write anything they want about businesses without fear of reprisal, small businesses have very few options for protecting themselves against libel and defamation. If we reply on the review sites, we must appear humble and contrite, warm and intent on resolving the issue -lest we come across as hot-headed, petty, or arrogantly defending poor service or inferior products.  The social agreement dictates that we all know that a small percentage of people cannot and simply will not be pleased, yet we must ignore them. Thankfully, the  landscape seems to be shifting away from blind devotion to “the customer is always right,” but the demand for diplomacy remains intact despite whatever the client throws at you. I think this is a good thing overall, and is just a part of good customer service.

Less than hyperbolic lies and downright slander, I think negative reviews are usually just guilty of a little… posturing, we’ll say. There are certain details omitted from the review below that would change the story and considerably alter one’s opinion of the teller and the situation, but I’m not going to dwell on those. I want to discuss the aspects of this review that actually highlight what we do well, and demonstrate that we provide first-class service and why we have the lowest damages of any movers in town.

Before I go into detail about our bad review, I do want to be open about the fact that our business is a paying advertiser on Yelp. This does not affect my reviews- they post the bad and good and I cannot do a thing about it. This only means that a link to my page comes up as sponsored result for the first 400 searches for mover from this area every month. It does not mean I get special treatment from Yelp in any way regarding my ratings or reviews.

Here is a link to the Not So Flattering Review. The link may take you to the top of our reviews. If so, scroll down until you find the 2 stars.
We have one 1-star review, and now one 2-star review, two 4’s, and the rest are all 5’s. In fact, the reviewer gave us a shout out for that:

“Yikes, I feel intimidated. All these 5 star reviews and i have to be the bummer with only two stars.“

He then goes on to give his account of the move parameters and the back-story, which are different from ours, but that doesn’t matter. It is in the 4th paragraph that his review gets unintentionally complimentary:

“Two men arrived on time. They were friendly and went right to work wrapping….. and this is where the move went south. All items were wrapped as if this move was first going to be loaded and tied down into a container, driven across country, then loaded onto a barge headed for Asia. At that point, it would be finally driven to its end destination. “

This is my favorite part, and it shines a light on something that everyone should know, but is something that could be just hype and advertising coming from me: We protect your belongings really well.
In actuality, furniture headed for Asia would need to be crated in custom-built wooden crates which of course takes time and materials and is quite costly, but you get the point. We pad and wrap furniture and almost everything else we can. This practice of padding and wrapping was part of the telephone conversation with this client, and was included in the pre-move information we sent to him via email prior to the move.

What this review reveals for me is obviously going to be quite different than what it means to a potential client. I know the mechanics of moving through and through, and I know customer service as I have done it almost all my life. I know that the person paying always needs to be present for the move and when they choose not to be, they often feel the price is unfair or the service was unsatisfactory. We tell everyone that they need to be present but not everyone is willing or able to commit to that.

What I hope this review reveals to the public at large is that we are not a bargain company. We do not cut corners. We do arrive on time. We are friendly. Our office staff is our moving staff and we support each other. We work very hard to provide a great value, and work quickly to show that we respect our client’s time and their dollar.

I can’t help but wonder what the review would have been like if there were damages to the furniture…?

I will let the rest of the reviews speak to the quality of our service. I will also encourage anyone who is curious about the Moving Crew and what we do here to call or email me personally. I am so proud of this company and the work that we do. I love my clients and I love my career, I even love online review sites. Thank you for your consideration.

-Andy Zuker
916-730-8305
andyz@calmovingcrew.com