How Not to Respond to Criticism on Yelp: A Case Study

By Ian Froeb Tue., Aug. 3 2010 at 10:00 AM

Categories: Media, WTF?

Michele Laudig, the restaurant critic for our sister paper Phoenix New Times, files a fascinating case study on how not to respond to a negative review of a restaurant on Yelp. Seems someone had a negative experience at a restaurant called Amy's Baking Company and, as is the wont of Yelp users, made his displeasure known on the site.

Then the Amy of Amy's Baking Company attempted to defend her restaurant's honor. Here is the opening of her response:

Dear Joel,L. It is blatantly obvious to me why you were ALONE on a Saturday night! Read any of the reviews that have been written about us and you will see that EVERYONE loves us!! The only people that don't is our "Competition". We knew you had been sent by another restaurant before you even ordered your $14.00 Pizza.

It goes downhill from there. (The tone of the response as well as the misuse of exclamation points.) Amy's response is only the beginning of the fun, however, as Laudig's post features, as of this writing, 111 comments, including further responses from Amy, the Yelp user who posted the negative review and all sorts of onlookers and trolls. Fun times.