What your next contractor will never tell you about his work
Why Yelp and Google reviews will always reign supreme
It was 11 p.m., and I stared down at the text message. There was no way in the world that this contractor seriously thought it was a good idea to text me that late at night. Not only was it that late at night, but it was on the Fourth of July on a Saturday evening. Texting someone about business at night is unprofessional. Texting them about business on a Saturday evening is questionable. But texting them on a federal holiday (whether I celebrate it or not) is all bad and makes it three times worse. But per usual, con artists are rarely smart and always tell on themselves. All consumers have to do is patiently wait for them to do something wrong. It won’t take long.
ADVERTISEMENT ~ Amazon
As an Amazon affiliate, I earn a percentage from purchases with my referral links. I know some consumers are choosing to boycott Amazon for its DEI removal. However, after thinking about this thoroughly, I want to continue promoting cool products from small businesses, women-owned businesses and (specifically) Black-owned businesses who still feature their items on Amazon. As of the first date of Black History Month 2025, each new post will ALWAYS include a MINIMUM of one product sold by a Black-owned business. (I have visited the seller’s official site to verify that Amazon Black-owned logo.) I am (slowly) doing this with older, popular posts too. If you still choose to boycott, I 100% respect that decision.
There are countless reasons why I think Google Reviews and Yelp Reviews come in handy. One, a company with references will always give you the best experiences they participated in, so there’s a clear bias. Two, a company that plugs other companies on their page will rarely if ever plug someone who had a difficult contractual experience.
While I’ve always pondered on why everyone from consumers to hiring managers just go with whatever they’re told, I get the bigger picture. If you want a job done bad enough, you’re not going to go looking for things wrong with the company (or person). Get a few good compliments, and that person is hired. The end — only it’s not. And there’s an argument to be made about why consumers need to find out the complaints of those who did not like working with the client.
Recommended Read: “Why are you rating black churches on Yelp? ~ Should churches receive travel reviews?”