We got our first one star review on Yelp at URL: https://www.yelp.com/biz/towpath-trail-snack-shack-bolivar on Feb 26th 2017. I saw the review March 12th and it immediately occurred to me that we were closed Feb 26th for the Winter season due to weather and the risk of our mobile trailer holding tanks freezing. In fact, I closed for the Winter the third week of December 2017 due to below freezing weather.
The reviewer left the comment:
"do not eat here !!!!! It's not a good "snack shack" got a hot dog and it was not all beef like described !!!!! Ahhhh!!!!" by kinz h. canton, oh Yelp profile: https://www.yelp.com/user_details?userid=vhRASExSI7CYanT4n-zyTg
So, I responded to the review:
3/12/2018 Being a little perturbed, I posted my frustration over the poor review on our Facebook Profile at URL:
https://www.facebook.com/TowpathTrailSnackShack/posts/218322578719876
Here's a copy of my post:
"Well, we got our first negative Yelp review! The thing is, I was closed for the Winter when it was written Feb 26th
Yelp doesn't approve of soliciting reviews which sucks when our first review is likely bogus by someone with a history of negative reviews. So all I can do is respond to the review in such a manner that hopefully points out why I think it's bogus having been closed for the Winter when it was left and that we offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee
I'm perturbed that the reviewer accused us of "not selling all beef hot dogs, as advertised" and why if someone thought that, wouldn't they have said something to us first!
Just in case anyone cares to read it on Yelp, visit URL:
https://www.yelp.com/biz/towpath-trail-snack-shack-bolivar"
It wasn't long before some positive feedback came into the Facebook post and one person who attended the 2017 Bolivar Strawberry Festival left a glowing review on the Yelp which notified me and I left a compliment and thank you! Here's a screen capture of that review:A day later, the 5 star review was missing! Say what? Holy Jeepers Batman, something isn't smelling right about Yelp leaving a one star likely bogus review, yet removing a 5 star glowing review from an account I can trust....
Today, I Googled "kinz h. canton, oh" and learn that there is nothing and in fact that Kinz is a rare last name with only two listed people in the Canton, Ohio, neither which had a first name of H. just in case it was either last name first or first name last ;)
So, I start Goggling Yelp reviews and how to remove a bogus yelp review, yelp review integrity, and similar search strings. It was then that I discovered hundreds of lawsuits against Yelp have been filed according to https://www.huffingtonpost.com/foodbeast/sf-restaurant-sign-calls_b_3140276.html and I pause to think, could it actually be Yelp playing games? They were recently trying to contact me about advertising since I did start to take advantage of a couple coupons until I realized that I'd have to spend about $500 during my off season to reap any reward. I was actually planning to restart advertising in the Spring, but frankly, after this experience, it's highly doubtful!
The interesting thing is that while, I can't see the glowing 5 star review anymore, the Author could so I was able to ask for a screen shot which she promptly took and sent to me for this article.
Now that I believe I've experienced and found evidence of Yelp manipulating reviews and ad placement to extort advertising revenue, I can't trust them! I'll be removing any link to Yelp, excepting from this article, of course.
It's time for me to start focusing on improving our listing on TripAdvisor! https://www.tripadvisor.com/
#Yelp #BoycottYelp #badbusiness #YelpScam
We proudly serve Amish Country's own Walnut Creek Brand 100% All Beef Naturally Hickory Smoked Hot Dogs at the Towpath Trail Snack Shack!
We are excited to have been named Street Food Pros / Vendors United Vendor of the Week Dec 8 2017!
We were a little nervous about the idea of serving Alaskan Hot Dog W/Reindeer hot dogs made with Caribou meat sold as reindeer dogs on our Towpath Trail Snack Shack Facebook events page which we called "Sausage with Santa" at 2306 West Tuscarawas St NW, Canton, Ohio 44708 on Dec 2nd, 9th & 16th, however, Santa was ok with the idea. He told us that Caribou reindeer was considered a healthy sausage delicacy and is also sacred with the indigenous people up by the north pole and indeed he'd love to stop by the first three Saturdays of December for a hot dog and maybe even a sausage while he was out double checking Christmas lists for kids in the Canton-Massillon area.
Read more: Street Food Pro Vendors United Vendor of the Week Dec 8 2017
Santa, Buried Treasures & the Towpath Trail Snack Shack has partnered to have Santa visit our new location at Buried Treasures Antiques & Collectibles at 2306 West Tuscarawas Street NW, Canton, Ohio!
Of course, we have the best hot dogs near Canton Ohio because we sell Walnut Creek all beef dogs made in Amish county! We also offer Sugardale foods traditional hot dogs since they are made locally in Canton! Another thing that makes our hot dog selection the best around Canton is because we import wild game hot dogs for our specials too.
Visit us in Canton, Ohio at Buried Treasures 2306 West Tuscarawas the next time you want to try a great hot dog or sausage! We'll be providing food service at this location through 2017-18 ;)
The Peace Park Blog is about the park we're establishing at the intersection of the Greenville Treaty Line and the Ohio & Erie Canalway Towpath Trail between the McDonnell Trailhead and the village of Bolivar. The Greenville Peace Treaty was the first peace treaty authorized by President George Washington and our current US Congress! 2020 will be the 225th anniversary of the treaty signed on August 3 1795 by Mad Anthony Wayne and the American Indians.
The Towpath Trail Snack Shack blog covers scheduled events we will attend at various communities along the entire 110 mile lenght of Ohio & Erie Canalway Towpath Trail. Whenever we're not at an event, chances are, we'll be blogging about something related to the Snack Shack or within a reasonable 5 mile biking, hiking or driving distance, from a remote trail location.
The Towpath Trail Snack Shack collection of hot dog and sausage dog recipes.
This Ohio & Erie Canalway Towpath Trail Blog was established to share helpful information relating to the recreational activities like biking, hiking, dog walking, horseback riding, power walking, bird and wild life watching that someone may be interested in participating.