When negative online reviews turn vicious: Volume 1,103.
Ruchu Tan recently ate at Ninja City Kitchen and Bar and left the Cleveland restaurant a negative review on Yelp. Tan criticized the food and service in a lengthy review and said he did not think he would return to the restaurant.
That should be where this story ends, but chef Bac Nguyen decided to track down his displeased customer and send him explicit text messages in response to the review.
Mashable obtained screenshots of the NSFW messages:
Nguyen has since reportedly apologized for his messages to Tan, but the insane reaction brings up a question that has been brought to the forefront of online conversation this year, “Do you have the right to publish negative reviews online without facing recourse from the reviewee?”
There have been several instances of negative online reviews leading to harmful backlash, some with far more serious consequences than vulgar text messages.
A couple in Utah had their credit score damaged after they were fined $3,500 for unwittingly violating a retailer’s “Terms of Sale” contract by posting a bad review. A New York hotel put a $500 fee on a pair of newlyweds for any negative reviews posted by their wedding party. In France, a food blogger was fined $3,400 for writing a bad review of a restaurant that showed up too high in the Google results.
Just last week, news broke that an author tracked down an online critic at her home.
California recently became the first state to address this growing problem. In September, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill 2365, known as the “Yelp Bill,” into law, making it illegal for businesses to prohibit or fine customers from writing negative online reviews.
U.S. Reps Eric Swalwell (D- Calif.) and Brad Sherman (D – Calif.) introduced the Consumer Review Freedom Act that same month to make it illegal for businesses to penalize customers who write negative reviews nationwide. The bill is currently sitting in committee.
“No country that values free speech would allow customers to be penalized for writing an honest review,” Swalwell said in a statement. “I introduced this legislation to put a stop to this egregious behavior so people can share honest reviews without fear of litigation. I look forward to advancing this in a bipartisan manner, and protecting the right to speak one’s mind.”
