After reading a few posts and reviews, I think it is time that LIWeddings created a specific section where people can go and express their concerns/regrets about their experiences without defaming anybody in particular. I think people are afraid to post their true experiences because they are afraid of the repercussions.
A lot of vendors have benefited from this site but at times they forget that each brides is just as important as the next. If people were able to truly express their experiences perhaps vendors will realize the importance of LIWeddings and the power it possess.
Lsorrent
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Re: Honest Opinions
I must agree with this. While it's great to see raving reviews of different vendors, it definitely s*cks that we can't post negative reviews if we need to. I understand not being able to completely trash someone, but we should be able to be entirely honest about our experiences. If there is a bad review about one of my vendors, I want to hear it so I can be on top of it!
MikesBride2B
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Re: Honest Opinions
I kind of feel like this is what The Brides' Review is for...I've seen plenty of negative reviews in there, and that's where I get most of my research from.
MirabellaNYC
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Re: Honest Opinions
A family member of FH's is an LIW vendor.
Keep in mind that negative reviews get pulled because the vendor doesn't get to defend themselves. It could also turn into a legal issue. There was a thread on our board explaining it-I know Ann52409 posted the original thread and Client Services explained everything.
I'll try to find it and give the link.
MrsList
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Re: Honest Opinions
I agree with you but I don't think that would happen. Too many vendors threaten to sue or have the negative reviews taken down and some girls on here get their panties in a bunch if anything negative is said about any part of their wedding.
In my opinion, the best thing if you have a concern or negative experience with a vendor is to FM the bride asking for advice/recommendations. I think we should be able to post negative reviews in all their glory (without putting other brides down of course) but the etiquette police say we have to word things a certain way and not be insulting. Well most of us don't have time to word a thoughtfully crafted and tactful 200 word essay on the bad experience they had at a dress shop. But a site of all positive reviews is basically useless.
aleciaf79
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Re: Honest Opinions
I dont see why vendors cannot come on here and defend themselves and why would they threaten to sue? Is it because they dont want people telling the truth about their experiences? Its one thing to bash a vendor its another to talk about how bad the food was or if the staff was unprofessional. IMO if a vendor treats its clients as they would the President then they wouldnt have to worry about seeing negative reviews about them
MrsCM
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Re: Honest Opinions
When people write reviews it's of their experience. A vendor shouldn't need to defend themself, as they certainly don't defend themselves when it's a positive review they're fine with that. It needs to work both ways. I kind of think it's a conflict of interest that the vendors pay on here and so no one can write anything else about them. Also, when I wrote things about a salon/spa the owner saw it here and emailed me to find out what happened and apologize and to me that says a lot.
sophisticat13
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Re: Honest Opinions
I think it's a great idea...but I don't think it would fly...too many vendors on here would have the negative reviews pulled. It's not really fair that they have the right to do that...we should be able to hear all of the feedback, negative and positive, to help us make decisions. Wedding vendors are really expensive and we deserve to hear the truth. Some really well-known popular vendors here have had well-deserved negative reviews (ones that would really surprise you ) and then had them edited...they should grow the h*ll up!!!!!!!!!! If they did the right thing in the first place there wouldn't be any negative reviews....!!
MarjorieFrank
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Re: Honest Opinions
I fully agree with you and definitely would LOVE to see this section added. However... these businesses pay to be vendors so if they demand something be taken down, it will most definitely get taken down. It's all about the
Nina1010
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Re: Honest Opinions
ITA with this suggestion. As brides, its important we can get the real scoop on services. We spend a lot of money on what is dubbed the biggest night of our life, we should definitely havea forum where we can be very candid on our experiences. Sure vendors have off days, we all do, but if real brides voice their opinions and suggestions in a safe enviroment, all of us can benefit...incl some of those vendors. Good, bad and other it only helps them to grow their business and move in the positive direction.
Juhgail
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Re: Honest Opinions
It should be added but will never happen.
NEVER.
Im sure that LIW has a nice big leagal department. They are affraid of getting sued. If there is a bad post the vendor can sue.
Its all legal and we, unfortunatly, suffer.
I thik if we are able to put a 'challenges' section on LIW it would be great. It would be just for challenges we had with vendors.
What about that whole Em-EYE-AY thing where she cancelled 3 weeks before the weding. The second that went up people came on and said 'I had a very bad experience too'.
We will never have a section like this becasue they are affraid of getting sued.
I started a blog of wedding challenges from here, but my FH said NO WAY!! He said I could be held accountable for it.
JAAMS
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Re: Honest Opinions
I think that's a wonderful idea because it is so important to get the full picture. There is no vendor that everyone in the world is going to be happy with, because everyone has different tastes. I think it's only fair for the positives & negatives to be posted because then people are able to get a better idea of which vendor really fits with their personal preferences.
Cassie15
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Re: Honest Opinions
I would love to see that section as an addition to the brides forum. However, the administrators of this site will simply just pull it from this board. Like many of the brides/brides to be have expressed in their posts, all of the vendors featured on this site pay fees for their advertisements/endorsements. The administrators are really strict about the wording of negative feedback esp if it's in bold letters with the label 'BEWARE, AVOID, or DON'T EVER GO TO THIS VENDOR' I think the reason why the site avoids having this particular section besides the legal boundaries is mainly of appearance. It might get out of control and end up as a ranting board between vendors and past brides/brides to be so the site avoids having one altogether. Also, vendors can't post on the bride forum, they have to go to the vendors helping brides section. They have to create an account as a vendor not under a bride's account (although some vendors have and may have been removed) due to advertising/business soliciting. So that they have to pay a fee to advertise under this site. If you def feel it is unfair, bring it up to the administrators of this site and draft a petition so that you can get all the support of members of this site. That way they might feel pressured to do something about it.
aleciaf79
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Re: Honest Opinions
It would be nice if an admin could come on here and tell us why we cant speak negative about a vendor. I dont mean slander or telling a bride not to use a vendor but just state the facts without feeling like they will get banned. It doesnt make sense to have a wedding forum where you can only talk good things, in what way is that really helping a bride? I am sure people on here have had bad experiences that had others been able to speak freely could have prevented these mishaps. There are vendors who have a habit of not treating and respecting brides so why should they continue to receive false praises just because they pay to advertise. As everybody knows a wedding is supposed to be the most important day for a female, so why should we not be able to have both sides of the story instead of just the good?
Cassie15
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Re: Honest Opinions
I agree, unfortunately past brides who had post about negative experiences with vendors got their thread pulled off. And it's not right, we should be able to express both the negative and positive so members are able to get a better judgment of whether to work with the vendor or not. In the newlyweds forum where I belong, some bride's accounts even got deleted as a result of voicing their opinions with site administrators. A lot of the brides have gone over to LIWeddings & face book.
caper24
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Re: Honest Opinions
I think we should have a code word for any negative review we would like to post when writing in the 'brides review' section...or any section for that matter. When it comes your time to write your review, type the vendors name and instead of a grade, write 'FM me for the details' This should be written instead of a 'negative' review that may get pulled off the board. This way you are not saying anything negative, but a bride-to-be can FM you to get the not-so-rosy review of the particular venue or vendor. You may have to cut and paste your story a lot, but it would be worth it to save another bride from going through the negative experience you had to endure.
Now that the administrators of the LIW boards have seen this,,,is my post going to get booted???
Clover23
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Re: Honest Opinions
Posted by caper24
I think we should have a code word for any negative review we would like to post when writing in the 'brides review' section...or any section for that matter. When it comes your time to write your review, type the vendors name and instead of a grade, write 'FM me for the details' This should be written instead of a 'negative' review that may get pulled off the board. This way you are not saying anything negative, but a bride-to-be can FM you to get the not-so-rosy review of the particular venue or vendor. You may have to cut and paste your story a lot, but it would be worth it to save another bride from going through the negative experience you had to endure.
Now that the administrators of the LIW boards have seen this,,,is my post going to get booted???
ITA with this idea!!
italgal
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Re: Honest Opinions
Posted by MirabellaNYC
A family member of FH's is an LIW vendor.
Keep in mind that negative reviews get pulled because the vendor doesn't get to defend themselves. It could also turn into a legal issue. There was a thread on our board explaining it-I know Ann52409 posted the original thread and Client Services explained everything.
I'll try to find it and give the link.
If we truly want honest opinions, give the vendor a chance to defend anything said. After all, there is TWO sides to every story.
MrsDR2010
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Re: Honest Opinions
Posted by seawedding
When people write reviews it's of their experience. A vendor shouldn't need to defend themself, as they certainly don't defend themselves when it's a positive review they're fine with that. It needs to work both ways. I kind of think it's a conflict of interest that the vendors pay on here and so no one can write anything else about them. Also, when I wrote things about a salon/spa the owner saw it here and emailed me to find out what happened and apologize and to me that says a lot.
I totally agree. I think that negative reviews should help the vendor see what they did wrong apologize and try their very best to correct it. Every vendor has an off day as I have learned already....so the best thing to do is to try and work on it to make things better the next time.
soontobemrsag
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Re: Honest Opinions
Posted by Lsorrent
I must agree with this. While it's great to see raving reviews of different vendors, it definitely s*cks that we can't post negative reviews if we need to. I understand not being able to completely trash someone, but we should be able to be entirely honest about our experiences. If there is a bad review about one of my vendors, I want to hear it so I can be on top of it!
