I made a mistake and I'd like your opinion on how to handle it.
My website offers reviews of cam sites to help people interested in webcam modeling choose a good site to work on.
I got an email today from the owner of one of the sites that got a very poor review published on my site based on their website looking unprofessional and a few models that had worked on their site having a lot to say about how bad of an experience it was. (Also very little other information or reviews available.)
Even though they said it was horrible, the site is legit (I knew that and did state that in the review). Since it is legit, I should have tried actually working there to see for myself for the sake of a proper review. Anyway, she was clearly upset and made several valid points I actually couldn't disagree with.
I responded with an apology and took the review down until I have sufficient firsthand information. I'm making it a policy from now on that unless the site is obviously a scam I won't publish a review without at least trying to work on the site first.
There are two ways I could handle this on my own site, so I wanted to ask your opinion. Option 1 is simply take the review down, don't mention it again, and just add the new policy to the reviews page. Option 2 is to leave it up but edit it into a public apology for publishing an impulsive review without enough information. (I'm considering Option 2 because I did actually hurt her business.)
Thoughts?
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I have posted a placeholder statement on the page as per Carla's suggestion. Thanks everyone for your help!
I agree, Carla has a great suggestion. Sorry to hear you went through that, but don't beat yourself up about, we are human and do make mistakes. Good for you for asking for some help! :))
Sorry to hear you've had a problem with this but good for you for recognising your error and wanting to put things right. Carla's idea seems to make sense. Best wishes.
I would say take it down pending further review and reference the new policy. You don't know that you have anything to apologize for yet.
I understand, but don't beat yourself up about it. You're human. You're trying to guide people away from bad decisions and you had what you thought was reliable information. At this point you don't know that the hearsay isn't true. Just because this lady contacted you doesn't mean anything has changed except that you have more research to do. I guess my point is, if you apologize, do it at a top level, don't go too deep with it until you know the truth.
There's a middle ground. Take down the review and post the new policy. However, in place of the review, put a note that you are going to be posting a new review as new information has become available, that you took it down to be totally fair and impartial, or words to that effect. So leave it as a place holder until you can work the site and then re-do the review. Make sure that lady knows you will be putting up a new review, but with more personal information. Good Luck with it!
This is actually a good idea, I hadn't thought of that. I don't like having a 404 error on my site while the review still shows up on Google, so a placeholder with the new policy and a "pending further review" statement might actually be the way to do this.
Thanks!
I think it's always hard to do a review based on other people's opinions - but some of the time, that is the only way of actually creating a review (eg. if the product costs more than you are ever likely to recoup) - so if you haven't tried the product/service first hand, then be prepared to deal with these types of issues.
Put the shoe on the other foot and think how you would feel if someone posted something which damaged your honest/hard worked for reputation - and as a result, people started to think your opinion wasn't valid at all.
It's a fine line to tread - but out of respect for the owner, give them the opportunity to put their side across to you - and rewrite a really balanced review. The opinion you have may not change - but you'd have it from the owner, and people who have worked there - and from that, you could form a fairly respectable review.
Best case though, is to genuinely use their service, and post about your opinion of it, whilst sharing other users and the owners views at the same time.
All the best, Mark
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I'm not sure what you actually did wrong here. You are providing your opinion and reviewing services based on the opinion. You are also trying to do your readers a service by writing unbiased reviews about various products or services, is this case. I have a review up that is negative and it was based on my personal opinion of their product. It was also based on the fact I felt the company was not transparent or professional with their customers or their marketing tactics. I think my readers have respected that and it has helped build trust that I am going to tell them when something is legitimately good and when it's not.
Your review is based on your opinion of tangible things to do with that business. One of the most important being the negative experiences of other girls who actually worked for them. I think you are doing people a service by leaving the review up and letting them know. If the company is upset, they shouldn't be upset with you, but rather clean up their site and make the working conditions better for their employees. They are angry at the wrong person, if you ask me. You are not to blame for their poor service or their poor site and I don't think you should feel bad for telling the truth. I say leave the review up and be transparent and honest regarding how you came to your conclusion about that particular business. That's my two cents. All the best to you and I hope everything works out
The problem with relying on other models' experiences is that not everyone is good at the job, and I have no way of knowing if their opinions of the company are representative of the facts.
I can certainly understand where you are coming from and I think in that case, a disclaimer is sufficient. However, it's not like you were only posting the negative and ignoring the positive. You were simply going off of what you had available to you. I wouldn't beat yourself up over it and just put a disclaimer :) All the best!