Rip Off Report – Is it the downfall of commerce? You be the Judge!

Writing by Nick Stamoulis on Wednesday, 18 of June , 2008 at 9:50 am

For all of you out there launching a business whether it is e-commerce or brick and mortar need to think twice before you try to pull a fast one on your customer.

If you have never heard of a website called Rip Off Report than you should take the time to read this because your business could crumble overnight with one negative post on this site. Rip Off Report is a whistling blowing site that allows consumers and disgruntled employees to post any negative information on a company’s wrong doing and allow the entire public to see. This is a very high powered and high ranking website that almost always ranks on the first page of any search engine when someone does a specific search for you name if there has been any negative information on your business posted on this site.

Don’t get me wrong Rip Off Report is extremely useful in today’s society but what happens when this privilege is abused? If a company has truly done you wrong and has not made any attempts to fix the situation than it is very important to let others know so that they do not fall into any traps as well. Sites like Rip Off Report need to exist so we can weed out the bad apples engaging in business only to pull the rug out from under their customer’s feet. For many years companies got away with tricking customers into forking over their hard earned dollars that they have slaved over all week. Of course Rip Off Report will not stop all the wrong doers lurking on unsuspecting buyers but it can sure put a dent in their game and hopefully force them to go back to their business plan and rethink their ink a bit.

Of course with any great invention comes abuse. How does this affect business in today’s society? Who is to say that a disgruntled ex-employee is not so upset over getting caught stealing from their place of work and are out to get revenge. That one single post on Rip Off Report could be enough to send a large percentage of your audience and potential new customers running in the opposite direction. Who’s to say it is not a he said she said situation and now your businesses reputation has been dragged through the mud for everyone to see on Rip Off Report. At least the Better Business Bureau contacts you in confidence before they release the hounds. I think their needs to be some sort of happy medium because what is going to happen eventually is that either Rip Off Report will lose all credibility or U.S commerce is just going to hit the fan because consumers are just going to be scared to shop. Well maybe it won’t go that far but there surely will be an impact on growth.

Please comment on this blog post if:

• Your business has ended up on the pages of Rip Off Report and has been hurt by the listing.

or

• If you are a consumer and you have been ripped off and how Rip Off Report has helped you.

                      Category: Online Reputation Management                      

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