Why Online Photography Ratings are Terrible

Before I get started with this blog post – I want to make clear that this post isn’t about one specific incident or observation.

This blog post is about why online photography ratings are the worst – no more & no less.

As a photographer who has been in the game for almost 11 years now, Suzanne Taylor Photography has watched a revolution in how people manage customer service issues.  It is outstanding to me what I have witnessed over the years and dealt with – both positively and negatively since the internet took over life – especially social media.

When I started photographing people in 2006 (not so much for money – but for interest), the internet was still in social media infancy.  I remember MSN chat (ok..that was from a few years before), Facebook was just about born, MySpace was still the hot social media platform to be on, and Twitter may or may not have existed…I can’t remember to be honest.  It wasn’t part of my life, and that is the point I am trying to make.  I remember printing images and taking them to work to show people.  I had a very low-quality website that was flash based (and you know no one saw that) and images of a pretty low quality technically compared to what I produce now.

Yah yah yah.  I am old.  I get it.  The internet that was useful at the time isn’t now and Social Media sites changed EVERYTHING about how we deal with business in 2018.  Facebook is for ‘old people’, there is Twitter, Snap Chat (which I seriously will never understand) and of course LinkedIn which is its society of difference.  There are all these fantastic platforms to share our feelings, experiences and life on – including complaints and shitty photography ratings.

I have had a few bad photography ratings in my life.  I will own up to them AND inform you that the information I collected out of those experiences typically changed how I did business.  By trade, I am a Social Worker (and a damn good one in my opinion) and have never tried to pass myself off as business women.  I did not go to University to study business – I went to University to learn how people work and how to make them happy – until something had to change which often wasn’t so smooth (a la Child Welfare), but the compassion and willingness to listen certainly transferred over to the business of photography.

So – what could be my beef with online social media photography ratings and reviews?  How on earth could this go wrong for anyone…?!?!?!?

*do you see me rolling my eyes here and laughing hysterically?*

Social Media is the darling of the last few years.  People hire photographers more and more because of the lure of that perfect family or profile picture, and most of the time – those sessions go well.  Facebook, Instagram and other social media is flooded every day with millions of images that we take, love and cherish – or at the very least, represent something important in our lives.  The sheer volume of professional pictures made every day is sure to please millions of people – but what about the people who are pissed off and start the ‘fire’ on Social Media though?

An Unfair Fight

Like being hacked, being trashed sucks – I would know – I have experienced both.  In both situations, you are entirely out of control about what is happening to you and your business and have no way to stop it.  Back in the ‘good old days’ when someone had a complaint about their product, service, etc. – they would pick up a phone and complain – or – write a scathing letter demanding a refund, a ‘do-over’ or whatever else would satisfy them and make them feel whole again.  The part that was optimal at that time, however, is that there was still personal interaction.  The upset person would contact business person – they would discuss the situation, and a resolution was either created or not.  That was it.  I remember my Mother being upset at things and then proceeding to seek resolution – either at a clothing store or grocery store as it may have been.  She would speak to the person in charge and often it was settled in such a way that everyone was ok when she left.

This really doesn’t happen anymore.  Angry people in 2018 rush to Google Reviews, Facebook and anywhere else they can be angry FAST and get the approval and virtual high fives from their friends that they are right and validate their victimisation.  The upset type so fast and with so much hostility I am sure that their fingers go afire.  I would know – it has happened to me.

I had two situations like this happen in my life.  One that ended very well and one that ended very poorly for me – all because of the power of anger on social media and how we are all driven by adrenalin when we get mad.

When Someone Hates Your Photography (or your business)

While I will spare the details of the few bad photography ratings and reviews that have been written about my business (boo – I know) what I will share is that one of the main reasons I HATE online reviews of just about any company.  That reason is that you will always have a mix of the people leaving reviews that:
A) were ultra happy and ultra passionate about the business (or received something for writing a good review) and,

B) the people who feel victimised and upset by their situation and are in NO WAY interested in speaking to the business owner about the problem they have had.

There are so many people that have fantastic experiences, were thrilled with their service but unable or unwilling to leave a review due to time, ability, accessibility, etc.  It is underrepresented how many people have a great experience – much like how many people have a so-so experience and make the decision to just move on – much like most people do when they are just kind of satisfied with a business’ services.

Both experiences I endured as a photographer came from two individual women that did NOT want to talk to me directly about their complaint.  As a business owner, I would have loved to receive a phone call from the said person rather than find out, via notification from Facebook and Google that someone had left me a poor review.  The situation that ended poorly was a woman who cost me a valued volunteer position as she dragged me and my business over and over in the mud.  I refused to photograph her in the future and the group we are part of elected to relieve me of my duties as a contributing photographer and donator to the organisation because she would just not be settled until I was out.  She won.  Nothing I did was wrong, and in trying to share this with the group I was let go from, ultimately because she would no longer get images from me, my word meant nothing.  I am still struggling with that situation that I had no power in.  She didn’t read her contract; she didn’t acknowledge any of the information I sent her in her emails.  Ultimately, she agreed to something then backed out – months later trashing me and tearing my reputation apart.   How do you defend yourself against that?  You have all the information as the photographer, all the records, all of the emails…but it doesn’t matter because the perceived victim has the power.  If she had wanted to resolve the issue – she could have called at any time, and we could have discussed the review and the problem…but it doesn’t matter because I was the photography business owner was silenced almost immediately by a woman who was out for blood.

Flash forward to this summer.  I had a lovely family who booked a session with me and had beautiful images produced from it.  They were thrilled and I was thrilled.  There was a misunderstanding about file sizes (as they self-admittedly did not read the contract they signed) and left a 1-star review on Google.  I contacted them immediately, and through an evening of discussion, they retracted their review – all because we discussed the issues they had like grown-ups.  The Mom said something to me I will never forget – she said: “I never talked to you because I figured you wouldn’t want to hear it”.

Wha???

Any serious business owner will always want to know when a customer feels failed by them.  Sometimes something can be done to make the situation better – sometimes not.   It is very telling, however, in this day and age that unfortunately, the age 25-40 crowd feels that writing a negative review online in the heat of the moment when they are the maddest or most upset is entirely justifiable.  They don’t recognise that those actions are something to be avoided – because it makes them feel better at the moment with little concern about the consequences of their words long term on a review that cannot be removed.

What the hell is going on?

Why on earth do we avoid discussing displeasure with a business owner whose business has ‘failed’ us – and why all of a sudden is it necessary to drag a company through the mud because – in both cases – the customer did not read the information provided to them?  The second couple I referred to left feeling heard – which ultimately wasn’t what they were hoping for, but we concluded on good terms and agreed that everyone should read their contracts in full.  The most important part of that whole exchange is that I got to know from them what was wrong with a process and then corrected it for others.  It wasn’t a perfect ending – but they removed their review, and I think felt validated that I cared – which I always do – about their thoughts, views and opinions.  For reference, this is two unhappy folks out of about 110 mini sessions…98% happy is a pretty good record for Calgary and Red Deer Photography Mini Sessions.  Want to educate yourself about Full and Mini Sessions with Suzanne Taylor Photography?  Click HERE!

As photographers, we are artists.  There are photographers out there with all sorts of backgrounds – mine is Social Work.  Another good friend of mine is a lawyer – another a dentist and it goes on and on.  We all have different fields of backgrounds and what we all have in common is that very few of us that I know at least are businessmen and women.  Some people have a knack for it – others have to learn as we go.

So in summary, I am really against reviews online.  Often the business’ have very little opportunity to defend themselves against them, and when the right person knows how to make their story go viral, it can be extremely damaging and painful for ANY business owner – not just photographers.  If I had a request to make, it would be for people to approach and talk to the business before freaking out online.  I am really serious about that.  If the business makes things worse or doesn’t respond at all – go ahead and get their attention however you need I suppose.  Any good business will always want to hear what works and what doesn’t for you and should be happy to hear the pros and cons of your experience with their services.  Business’ prefer being able to help you rather than clean up the damage from the negative review that will still be harming them LONG after you have moved on.

Be kind and be responsible and treat people how you would like to be treated.  It isn’t asking much.

Warmly,
Suzie

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