It’s so tempting when I have a bad experience (like the time I had the windows on my van tinted) to post negative reviews on every review site I can find on the internet, tell everybody I know, and write about it on my blog. Basically it’s tempting to complain a lot and at a high volume. This can be easily justified by wanting to save others from the same awful experience that I had. I totally appreciate it when negative reviews save me from a bad restaurant or purchase.
I resist the temptation to post my own negative reviews though. At least, I mostly resist. There have been a few exceptions. Which is why if you don’t know the story about the van windows, it’s because I didn’t post about it. Even though I even had a great video of the really messed up conversation I had with the place about it.
The thing is that I just don’t want to spend my energy putting extra negativity into the world. I’d rather spend as little time thinking about those bad experiences as possible. I admit that sometimes I get kind of hooked on them and replay the episode over and over in my head thinking about all of the injustices I’ve experienced. “A dog hair forever trapped between the window tint and the window that I will have to look at forever! How could they do this to me??!!?? ” (There was a lot more wrong with the tint job than just the dog hair.)
Which brings me to what I mean to write which is just that I think it’s important to take the time to share about when we have a great experience. It’s a great way to show gratitude for the person or business that gave did a fantastic job.
I was reminded of this as I was writing something else and thought of two really positive experiences I had this week with a couple of businesses (State Farm and Braswell Roofing). Both of my experiences left me feeling like, “This is how a business should operate!”
In some ways, I think it’s sad that more businesses don’t provide high-quality products and service. It would be nice if positive experiences were the norm rather than a pleasantly surprising exception.
I could list way more times I’ve been disappointed with a place than times I’ve had excellent customer service. (Like the local bookstore I went to in T or C where the owner couldn’t be bothered to get up from her lunch when I was standing at the cash register with a stack of books I wanted or all of those companies that leave you on hold forever just to talk to somebody with an accent you can’t understand who just reads a script and has NO actual experience with the product you’re having trouble with.)
Let’s be honest though: I’m unlikely to change those bad companies by complaining. Maybe I can help to support the great companies by spreading the word. For the businesses that are smaller, my nice review may just make the owners feel good when they read it.
I just want to encourage everybody (including myself) to take the time to share the positive experiences they have. I think occasionally about how much I love eating at Thai Spice in Albuquerque and how I should leave them a nice review. So today, I took the time to go to Google maps and wrote that review that I’ve been thinking of. Then I went and wrote a review for my current favorite app.
Any businesses or restaurants that you just love? Or a favorite thing you’ve bought from Amazon? Or a favorite app on your phone? Take a minute or two and leave a nice review. Or if there’s a favorite blog that you read 😉 think about leaving a nice comment in the comment section.
