I was recently on the receiving end of a company using their customer base (email subscribers) to help counter negative reviews, but I’m not so sure I agree with their tactics. This restaurant — which I frequent for take-out — has been getting some bad reviews on Yelp. In an effort to pump up their rating, they sent out the following email:

Subject: Yelp me out Please!

In the the last month I have gotten some really bad Salsa Bar Reviews.

Jason M.,  Royal Oak
The food was alright, nothing any better than what a chain like Qdoba or others could do. It seemed fresh and the staff was nice. I would have probably given it three stars until I walked around to the salsa bar. What a disappointment! They were watery, it seemed like the tomatoes used were canned, stewed at best. The others were boring…. I hope to give it more stars, but lose that poor excuse for a salsa bar!
                        
Tim E.,  Detroit
All in all it wasn’t too bad. The food was good enough… the salsas were awful! From the mild that seemed to be mostly a mooshed up can of stewed tomatoes to the others that seemed watery at best. I wish I would give it more stars, I really wanted to, but those darn salsas got in the way!
                       
Janelle P., Clawson
But now for the bad…  The salsas are terrible.  So terrible, in fact, that they should be ashamed to serve them.  The mild salsa tastes like spaghetti sauce, the tomatillo is too acidic, and the chipotle-tomatillo is garbage.  Seating is also limited and kind of awkward, especially when the restaurant is busy.  Not the best seating layout ever designed. 

I would love to hear your opinion! Thanks!

The problem is that it appears they are banking on these negative experiences being the exception (where the Company is right and the customers are wrong).  I tend to agree with some points from the customers in the email and I might not have bothered to Yelp about it until now.

Another point is how credible will those one-time reviewers, even though positive, be to a frequent Yelper like myself? I tend to place more weight on the heavy reviewers and ones who have positively reviewed restaurants that I have liked as well.

I think a stronger action might have been for Zumba to compliment this with a statement as to how they are working to improve their product/service based on this feedback. Remember, the customer is always right.

In case you’re wondering, I love their spicy Pico de gallo.

Sarah Jo Sautter