Help with One Star Yelp Review Reply

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#1
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It's not the 1 star reviews that hurt so much because they are generally not reasonable. It's the 3 start reviews that hurt the most, in my opinion. But I still like to respond to the one star reviews for "damage control".

This potential client called looking for tax services.

He was told that the tax preparer that takes in-person appointments is full and not taking clients, and that we still have someone in the office that is still taking "online-only" appointments.

(note that our website and our Yelp profile both clearly disclaim this)

His review was:

I'm sorry if I could leave zero stars I would. I just called this tax preparer to see if my fiancé and I could get our taxes done for 2022. She said the tax preparer only does it digitally nothing in person so I would have to scan documents over and she would review them do the taxes and then send them to us to sign. What a humbug!!! I'm sorry to get my taxes done. I need to at least have a face-to-face conversation with explanation on what needs to be done and what is going to be done. Too bad. So sad.

I'm looking for a quippy but still polite/professional response that sort of belittles the unreasonableness of one star review. It's not him I'm worried about - it's that I still take a few clients each offseason and I have staff that will provide online only services.

I was thinking:

It is true that I have no remaining availability for in person appointments for new clients.

To help accommodate those who are OK with it, we still have availability to offer online services to new clients in some cases.

I don't believe that it is reasonable, however, that simply not having availability should garner a one star review. It is the middle of tax season, I'm only one person and can only do so much, and this is all clearly disclaimed on our website and on our Yelp profile. We have done our best to hire extra help to accommodate late inquires with online-only service offers.

Not OK with online only services? Fine, I understand.

1-star review for it? Not appropriate.


If you have a second, please critique/correct my response, thanks.
Last edited by ItDepends on 6-Mar-2023 4:04pm, edited 1 time in total.
 

#2
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This is why I don't like online reviews. This person has never used your services. Your process just doesn't meet their expectations. And, that's okay, you're a private business, not a government agency. Private businesses have liberty in certain areas, like developing a process that works for them, and choosing their clientele.

I wouldn't put much effort into a response. If you do you're just showing they rattled your cages, so to speak. Any objective person who reads their review will see that their review was unnecessary and their perspective is unreasonable. This is your chance to rise above.

Thank you for your consideration. Best of luck in your continued search for a tax preparer.

I would also contact Yelp and explain the situation with the goal of getting the review removed as this person never utilized your services (which would hopefully result in them also receiving a warning from Yelp).
 

#3
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100% agree. This person essentially doesn't like your business model. That's like calling a taco truck and being angry because they wouldn't serve you sushi.
I spent more time reading this than I would have spent if I'd have received it.
But...I don't have any online presence and don't have any desire to have a Yelp profile.
~Captcook
 

#4
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So let’s say that you call a restaurant to make a reservation. It’s one of those places that has a formal dining room, where reservations are encouraged and a bar area that is first come, first served. You want a table in the formal dining room because you need to not be near the noise in the bar. They apologize that the dining room is fully booked on the day that you want, but suggest the bar. Your response is to write a scathing Yelp review. “How dare they be unable to accommodate my needs!”

What do you think most reasonable people would make of that review?
 

#5
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SumwunLost wrote:So let’s say that you call a restaurant to make a reservation. It’s one of those places that has a formal dining room, where reservations are encouraged and a bar area that is first come, first served. You want a table in the formal dining room because you need to not be near the noise in the bar. They apologize that the dining room is fully booked on the day that you want, but suggest the bar. Your response is to write a scathing Yelp review. “How dare they be unable to accommodate my needs!”

What do you think most reasonable people would make of that review?


Frankly this analogy might be the best thing for him to post. Great example.
 

#6
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Right..that exactly.

I actually don't want YELP to take it down. The occasional unreasonable review builds trust that the reviews are real.

It behooves my business to let readers know that we can't "always" take in person appointments, and that we are not "online only"

But I like MvT's style and also the Captain's aloofness to giving two cares about it.

I'm not seething or spending hours on this, but now I'm at:

Unfortunately, during tax season, our in-person appointment availability for new client inquiries often becomes fully booked.

Thank you for your consideration and best of luck in your continued search for a tax preparer.


And let the reader be the judge form there.
 

#7
CathysTaxes  
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ItDepends wrote:It's not the 1 star reviews that hurt so much because they are generally not reasonable. It's the 3 start reviews that hurt the most, in my opinion. But I still like to respond to the one star reviews for "damage control".

This potential client called looking for tax services.

He was told that the tax preparer that takes in-person appointments is full and not taking clients, and that we still have someone in the office that is still taking "online-only" appointments.

(note that our website and our Yelp profile both clearly disclaim this)

His review was:

I'm sorry if I could leave zero stars I would. I just called this tax preparer to see if my fiancé and I could get our taxes done for 2022. She said the tax preparer only does it digitally nothing in person so I would have to scan documents over and she would review them do the taxes and then send them to us to sign. What a humbug!!! I'm sorry to get my taxes done. I need to at least have a face-to-face conversation with explanation on what needs to be done and what is going to be done. Too bad. So sad.

I'm looking for a quippy but still polite/professional response that sort of belittles the unreasonableness of one star review. It's not him I'm worried about - it's that I still take a few clients each offseason and I have staff that will provide online only services.

I was thinking:

It is true that I have no remaining availability for in person appointments for new clients.

To help accommodate those who are OK with it, we still have availability to offer online services to new clients in some cases.

I don't believe that it is reasonable, however, that simply not having availability should garner a one star review. It is the middle of tax season, I'm only one person and can only do so much, and this is all clearly disclaimed on our website and on our Yelp profile. We have done our best to hire extra help to accommodate late inquires with online-only service offers.

Not OK with online only services? Fine, I understand.

1-star review for it? Not appropriate.


If you have a second, please critique/correct my response, thanks.

I like this response. I may also add that since covid, virtual tax services is the norm and not the exception and that an one star review for a common business practice is unrealistic. Especially if your online sites mention it.
Cathy
CathysTaxes
 

#8
smtcpa  
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The first two sentences of your reply are great, but do not add the rest. Leave it at this and maybe add, "sorry we could not offer the services you were comfortable with."

"It is true that I have no remaining availability for in person appointments for new clients. To help accommodate those who are OK with it, we still have availability to offer online services to new clients in some cases."

The rest makes you sound bitter and mean. That part of your response will be far worse than the review itself. Leave it out.

Honestly, most people would read the review the guy left and disregard it as irrelevant. But if you can respond by being the better person, the review and response will benefit you.
 

#9
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I don't encourage reviews for this reason. I don't want to be stressing over any BS that may arise.

I'd keep the response simple, while still pointing out that it is not appropriate:

I am sorry that our currently available service offering does not suit your needs or preferences. It is unfortunate you felt a need to leave a negative review for that reason alone considering you have never received services from my company. I wish you the best in finding a suitable tax preparer.
 

#10
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smtcpa wrote:But if you can respond by being the better person, the review and response will benefit you.


Exactly. You're not responding to the poster. Because you're not going to change their mind, and truth be told, you probably don't want them as a client.

You're responding to every other potential client who will read your post, and that's what your post should be mindful of and geared toward.
 

#11
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We would certainly not take this client.

I apologize for taking the time of the members here during tax time. This is actually an important response because we are mentoring admin personnel to be tax preparers, and we could use the Yelp exposure to help them build their client base.

This complaint and our response will be read by many and for years to come.

Interesting that 3 responders (of whom I very much respect) take an extremely high road, and 3 others (of whom I also very much respect) also take a high road but push back at the silliness of the poster's bad review.

My New York Italian father always taught me to attack offenders with revenge equal to 20 times beyond what they have done to you - as a warning to any possible other offenders less they mess with you.

But with age I have found that I disagree with this advice.

Whenever I respond aggressively, I feel poorly. And the more humble I respond to offenders, the better I feel about it afterward.

So I will go on the high side here...and I very much appreciate your time during the season, thank you.

During tax season, our in-person appointment availability for new clients often becomes fully booked, so we try to help by offering some online-only services to clients that are OK with it.

We are sorry if our currently available service offering does not suit your needs or preferences.

We thank you for your consideration and we wish you the best of luck in your continued search for a tax preparer.
 

#12
JAD  
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That sounds really good. I was also raised to hit back harder. It is not a way of living that fosters any internal peace.
 

#13
CathysTaxes  
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My Chicago Italian father would agree with your New York Italian father.
Cathy
CathysTaxes
 

#14
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My parents never raised me this way, I just have developed a habit of wanting to be very aggressive in responses when people piss me off but I typically tone it down quite a bit. I think I just observed how often my parents were pushovers at times, yet other times my dad would become quite aggressive on some topics. Example, a lawyer broke a window on their house while golfing--my dad chased the lawyer down and when he failed to pay, faxed his office every hour for a week demanding payment. The lawyer paid after a week of the embarrassment and his staff and partners seeing it. (this occurred in Arizona and at the time, golfers were responsible for any damage they caused--it was not covered by an assumption of risk by buying a house on a golf course) :lol:
 

#15
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Here is the result:

I'm sorry if I could leave zero stars I would. I just called this tax preparer to see if my fiancé and I could get our taxes done for 2022. She said the tax preparer only does it digitally nothing in person so I would have to scan documents over and she would review them do the taxes and then send them to us to sign. What a humbug!!! I'm sorry to get my taxes done. I need to at least have a face-to-face conversation with explanation on what needs to be done and what is going to be done. Too bad. So sad. (This is in response to the owner replying to my post. Sir, THEN SAY THAT!!! The articulated delivery over the phone is SXXT!! I don't wanna hear any excuses of why you can't explain yourself or the situation as to why you're only offering over the phone and digital services. Train the staff properly.


(his response is not censored on Yelp as it shows in the post)

Here is my analysis:

1) If this were a middle school playground, a gang altercation, or a prison, I would have no choice but to fight.
2) From a business objective standpoint, the situation is closed, and I could not ask for a better result.
3) His fiancé has poor judgement
 

#16
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ItDepends wrote:1) If this were a middle school playground, a gang altercation, or a prison, I would have no choice but to fight.


In nearly any instance, you always have the ability to walk away. As a professional, to remain professional, I have had to walk away from many interactions in which I was 100% right, but "fighting" would have required me to leave my position of 100% right. While frustrating, IMO, that is the correct approach of a professional.

ItDepends wrote:2) From a business objective standpoint, the situation is closed, and I could not ask for a better result.
3) His fiancé has poor judgement


Agreed. Statements of this nature in any context say more about the person making the statement than the object of their statement. Let that speak and provide context to their rating (I know you've already stated this above).
~Captcook
 

#17
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ItDepends wrote:3) His fiancé has poor judgement


Presumably, you're dealing with a woman. Fiancé = an engaged man. Fiancée = an engaged woman.

Either that or the poster doesn't know the difference. Or a same sex marriage.
 

#18
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Regardless, as someone else mentioned, reasonable people will see right through this moronic review.
 

#19
sjrcpa  
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For future reference, is it possible that it wasn't explained well to the complainer?
They did mention something to that effect in their response.
 

#20
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sjrcpa wrote:For future reference, is it possible that it wasn't explained well to the complainer?
They did mention something to that effect in their response.


It was not mentioned that the preparer who accepts in person appointments (me) is not taking clients, has no availability, or will only take a certain demographic of client.

I overhead the conversion, and our admin person on phone was pleasant, patient, clear, and helpful.

They are trained that, "with people, slower is faster" (Steven Covey).

She said something like, "we are only providing online services at this time, are you OK with completing your taxes online and not at the office"? Then I heard her saying, "sorry...." but the caller hung up on her. The review came 3 minutes later.

Even after this event, I still don't feel like we should start explaining the non-public goals, objectives, or procedures of our firm to every caller.

I hesitate to show the response to the admin staff member or provide further training as a result of this review.
 

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