I started a new job. It’s basically like a dream job, in my desired industry, doing what I like to do, lots of latitude to do my job, some very fun elements. While in the process of playing around with the product I began doing some research looking for user generated info. I ended up looking at Reddit and discovered some very fishy looking posts. Awesome reviews of the product with no karma and no other comments. Posts extolling the virtues of the product and the company when lightly nudged for an opinion.
We had just hung up on my first zoom meeting with the company and I didn’t want to bring this up where everyone was listening. So, I went into the other office to ask the marketing guy who was dealing with Reddit. I assumed they were gonna say “it was the old guy” or “don’t know what you’re talking about”. He and the other people in the office giggled and looked sheepish. I broached further and discovered they had been using non-American labor to post positive reviews and comments on Reddit and other places to bolster the company’s image. Needless to say, I lost my shit.
First, marketing is one thing; lying is just scummy. You have low customer ratings? Fix the problem, but you don’t fix bad customer sentiment with fake good customer sentiment. The whiplash of people expecting a great experience and getting a shitty one is going to do more damage in the long run.
Second, it lowers the quality of Reddit thereby making good press on Reddit less valuable because they cheapened their own pool of users.
In the process of passionately making my point that the way to fix customer sentiment is not to post fake reviews on Reddit I may have gotten a little out of control. I didn’t call anybody names, and I was both ethically and professionally correct in my beliefs, but my tone was probably a little too impassioned for my second day and my first time meeting these people who were otherwise excited to meet the new guy.
So on my third day I got shanghaied into a meeting with the CEO about this—I thought we were going to be having a product conversation but instead it was very much a “why were you such a dick on your second day and why shouldn’t you be fired.” I explained the situation and he was totally on board with manipulating reviews to correct customer opinions of the company. But he knew that the only reason I called them out on their bullshit was that I am going to do a way better job than a couple fake Reddit posts.
Here’s the thing: I was hired to fix their customer sentiment problems. If I had known this was what they were up to I would have asked for more money up front. Now, I have this gigantic bargaining chip and dirt on them, so I’m pretty sure I’ll be getting a new cars worth of raise at my 90 day review. Plus I’m going to spend the foreseeable future getting the bullshit reviews taken down.
I’m let down that I was lied to about how bad the situation is. I’m more let down that they tried such underhanded bullshit, it barely moved the needle, they’ve doubled down on the fact that it’s a good idea, all while hiring me to be the face of their customer operations.
I’m not getting fired anytime soon. But I’ll be damned if I’m not gonna push the limits on everything I can just to make my position known, and going to milk the controversy for every penny I can.