darthbimmer

I realize I'm pretty late to the party on this topic; OP has already resolved the situation. BTW, thank you kokonutz for updating us on what you chose.

One thing I'm curious about... did you ask the owner if they would provide the refund (or a partial refund) in exchange for an edited review? That would be my first inclination in a situation like this. I'd amend my review to mention the problems and credit the proprietor for taking responsibility. I'd also acknowledge that I received monetary compensation. Something like:

pittpanther

I'm really surprised at the number of people willing to accept a bribe in exchange for their integrity.

As someone said previously, if companies can pay to remove bad reviews then the entire concept of a review site becomes a waste of time and effort.

Kensterfly

Suppose the OP had been able to speak with the owner, at the time of his departure, to express his dissatisfaction. Suppose the owner apologized and offered to refund X amount of money as compensation for the poor experience. I'm sure the OP would gladly have taken the offer. Is it considered a bribe if the business offers some sort of compensation/service recovery in exchange for your good will? Or is it only a bribe if the business expects something in return?

The thing is, I believe in communicating with the manager/owner directly, giving them a chance to make things right even when I am not seeking compensation of any sort, merely pointing out some deficiencies that need some attention. They can't fix it if they don't know that it's broken. I don't typically write a bad review unless I've communicated with them and didn't like the response- or didn't get one.

kokonutz

This is where I came down on it. The owners were not there (that was REALLY the heart of the problems). Their terrible substitute manager was not around when we left. And I assumed that any email communication sent would be deleted by the terrible manager. Had I had the opportunity to express my dissatisfaction directly to the owner then likely my review would have been different or not posted at all.

For example, last night we went to our favorite local hot pot for dinner. We go there regularly and service is usually good. Last night it was TERRIBLE. On the way out I pulled the host aside and let him know how disappointed we were and he apologized profusely, said he would talk to the staff and that it would never happen again. That was good enough for me and I won't be writing a bad review based on that (hopefully) one-off experience.

Kensterfly

I do that frequently. I tell the manager I'm not after anyone's job but perhaps that waitress could use a little more training, etc. I always get a nice thank you. I sometimes get invited back for a comp dinner to 'give them another chance.' Again, they can't fix it if they don't know it's broken. My parents had small retail businesses when I was growing up. I learned about customer service at a young age. I was in customer service for most of my adult life. When something goes wrong that was in our control, I try to remedy it, try to ensure it doesn't happen again, and always ask the customer to give us another chance- that I want them to continue to do business with us.

On the other hand, I am also very pro-active in notifying a manager when I receive excellent service. People tend to complain easily but rarely praise.

DonCarpenter

Is it really a bribe? The customer wasn't satisfied and the company gave him a refund.

Besides, it's Tripadvisor, not a scientific paper published in a journal.

sbm12

Yes, it is.

But only if the customer also changed the review. Hence the problem.

Still a sacrifice of personal integrity for the sake of financial gain. The OP was bought off and is trying to justify that.