Fake Reviews

 Facebook and Google try to cloak themselves by claiming that they are platforms and not publishers.  For now, this gives them the protections they say they need to keep them from being sued by people that have had damages from every nutjob, loser, and whacko that takes it upon themselves to try and defame a business when they think that they have been wronged.  

For example, I don't allow people to park in my parking lot without permission.  I have seen things that I am pretty sure looked like drug deals and have been informed that I must chase all people out in order not to discriminate.  I have signs with small words telling people not to park here unless they are doing business here. 

Doesn't matter.  You would think that if they need to use their cell phones, they would simply park on the street and use them. Nope.  They pull into my lot, block the flow of traffic and then sit there. Not today. I had a group of so called volunteers that decided to keep their vehicles safe from the traffic on the road by simply parking all over in my lot without even asking. Nope.

If you want to park here, ask me.  There is every chance in the world that I will say yes. But just walk away from your vehicle? Good luck finding which place towed it away.

All of that leads me back to the fake reviews. This seems to be the catalyst for  a person, let's call her Cornfed Beef.  She is too obese to walk 40 feet down an alley to pick up her equally obese child from the school bus drop off.  Instead, she parked her largeness in my alley and blocked the flow of traffic in 3 separate directions.

I politely asked her to move and before I know it, my online reviews are listing me around 2. I had fake review after fake review all originating from CFB.  I contacted Google and their advice was to get other people to give me positive reviews.

Really? That's the best that they have.  So now, I begin to get angry.  I'm not a stranger to the small claims system so I filed a claim because my contention is that people might actually listen to this woman that is too heavy to use a horizontal bed and too large to use a standup bed without getting grill marks on herself from the protective metal shield.

I posted her picture with my rebuttal showing that she is two degrees whiter than a glass of milk.  What happened next you ask? I got a visit from the police department asking me if I was online harassing her. Yes, I was swatted for telling this woman she wrote a fake review. The officer looked at the exchange, shook his head and apologized for bothering me. Then CFB got a ticket for making a false police report.

So long story short, we are going to have to find some accountability in these reviews.  Fake ones can drive a small business out if wielded.  There has to be a better solution than asking  customers to leave  reviews to counter the lying ones. 

Think about it, you'll thank me later.