“What is the legitimacy of this Review, and of the Reviewer?” Positive Reviews should carry the same scrutiny as Negative Reviews. I believe Humans are more likely to question the affirmation of a business than they are the defamation of a business, but both should be weight evenly.

Getting into the online Review business should have its responsibilities. Yelp for example at times can be criminal in the way they filter reviews.

Not all viewers of a review are going to be objective. I would say Most, take them at Face Value as long as they are believable.

For Google to package many different Reviews from Different Sites, They are saying these reviews are credible and reliable, please look at these reviews and make a decision. Google also places weight on reviews in regards to display results. If your reviews determine how well your company will be displayed then google is no longer just displaying the information, they are actually using the information to make a decision which make them liable when the display these reviews!

I looked today and found gross misconduct on a handful of business reviews, different Usernames, posted on the same dates, for the same business in different locations both as positive and negative reviews! Word no longer travels person to person, its person to the world, and when a unfounded negative statement is made both the party that made the statement and the party that published the statement who does or does not Make Money From Displaying the Statement should be held liable.

I really enjoyed this Article.

As you said, there were 19 reviews, all of them describing the same situation. You can clearly see the user was either a real person with a personal vendetta or some rival company trying their best to stain Midas’s online image.

You can find the piece here - http://www.canuckseo.com/index.php/2010/08/online-maps-review-credibility-what-do-you-see/ — and judge yourself about the veracity of such reviews!

Oh, do check this search category - new car dealerships - in your own city…what do you see there?

Jim

Allow me to play devils advocate: The poster does not mention any location specifically. The posts are clearly targeted at the brand itself and their figureheads in (presumably) the posters area.

Could it be that the posters complaint had been elevated to a corporate level? At anyrate, franchise owners recieve the benefit of brand recognition and live and die by the name. The concept of franchising eliminates individuality at it’s core, and one has to accept the good with the bad for that brand. It simply cannot be a one way street here.

I work extensively with car dealers and manufacturers, and this is common. I have seen stores blamed for the oem’s actions, other stores and vice versa.

If unfair at times you can’t lose sight of the fact that as corporations that sell franchises point out commonly in their advertising, you start a store and join the team/family. In doing so your reputation is integrally tied to your sister stores, usually good but sometimes bad. It’s the cost of doing business and one that honestly every franchise owner is made well aware of before signing the dotted line.

I agree that Midas should get involved , but should do so to address tge customers concerns. If they want to see real bad press, wait till their legal team goes after this guy and the local press/tv starts running stories on the lawsuit. Clearly this poster is upset enough to make a day out of posting his experience, do you think he will have any issues hounding news starved reporters looking for another consumer activist story or big bad corporation?

I speak from direct multiple experience here.

The solution is to make it right with the customer and make those attempts transparent online in the same venue the poster used. This will help moderate the bite of the reviewseven if no solution is found.