As you may know, Yelp is a social network for consumer reviews and local searches with approximately 108 million monthly unique visitors and 42 million local reviews.12 Many users rely on what they hope to be real reviews by real people, as the company claims. They wish to make more informed buying decisions based on Yelp reviews. Dan Wilcox, owner of Harbor Sail & Canvas in Long Beach, California, is not yet on Facebook, but he pays attention to Yelp reviews. Currently, he has six reviews, all five stars. Imagine his surprise when he recently received only one star from Jenna K.:
Harbor Sail & Canvas does good work, but it seems to have become a casualty of its own success. The company is unresponsive when you call and e-mail. I will take my business elsewhere because after 3 weeks, I still haven't heard about that estimate for my marine canvas. I had left a voice mail message and sent an e-mail. No response. I called again and was received as if my request were outlandish when I expressed the hope of getting a quote that same week. Since then, silence. Not cool. And I am a repeat customer. . . . People, fortunately there are other businesses out there!
Dan sighs because he is shorthanded. His administrative assistant has been sick and inquiries have gone unanswered; communication has been poor. Business is booming and Dan does not have enough qualified installers; as a result, weeks elapse before his small crew can do the work. Dan searches his files and finds Jenna's job completed four years ago. Harbor had made a dodger, sail cover, and other smaller canvas items for Jenna's 30-foot Catalina sailboat.

Your Task. Consider Dan’s options. Should he respond to the one negative review? What could be the consequences of ignoring it? If you believe that Dan should respond, discuss first how. He has the disgruntled customer’s e-mail, phone number, and street address. He could post a reply on Yelp to provide a commentary to the bad review. If your instructor directs, plan a strategy for Dan and respond to the customer in the way you believe is best for Dan and his business.