NM
Niel M
1 reviews | Active since Aug 2019
21 Aug 2019, 11:13
Is Hellopeter's unfair business practices destroying innocent entrepreneurs?
I have a serious problem with Hellopeter's business practices. The first problem is that anybody can create a **** profile under an alias, and post a review of a business to damage and tarnish their reputation.
This already opens anyone with a business open to exploitation. If, for example, a business has a disgruntled ex employee, an ex husband or wife, or anyone else that they had a disagreement with, nothing stops that person from creating a dozen **** profiles and posting negative reviews.
See the problem here?
The second issue is that Hellopeter allow people to post reviews of people that have never done business by that company. In our business we do a lot of advertising and we appeal to people's aspirations to lead a better life.
Some people take exception to this as they find themselves in a dark space in life. They are then allowed to review our company, when they have in fact never done business with us.
How is it fair that someone reviews a restaurant, without ever having visited them, or eaten their food, or experienced their service?
The third issue is the biggest problem I have with this company. As a business, you have to pay them to respond to a review, never mind remove them. This is basically a form of ******ion of you think about it.
Let's take a scenario.
Competitor B decides it is going to have a go at competitor A. Their strategy is to create a few dozen **** profiles, and to post a few dozen **** reviews.
Due to Hellopeter's rankings on Google, Competitor A shows up as an awful service provider as a result of unsubstantiated claims, by non buyers, with **** accounts.
Competitor A is ******ed to respond to all these **** reviews from people who do not exist in an effort to keep their now struggling business afloat.
How is this helping South African entrepreneurs? How is this supporting the South African economy? And how is this fair business practice?
We posed these questions to the Consumer Goods Council of South Africa and they also cannot see the fairness of this, and as a result we are no proceeding with action.
If your business is also negatively affected by this, please don't be passive about it and allow this to persist. Take action and put a stop to this please.
As an entrepreneur you work incredibly hard to make your business work. And you have a voice and you have rights. Don't let anyone bully you or take it away from you.
Helpful (0)
Replies (7)0
Replies (7)
Hellopeter's replyOfficial
22 Aug 2019, 09:21Hi Niel
Thanks for taking the time to give us that feedback.
We hear your frustrations, however the points raised are not accurate. Mainly, reviews that breach our content guidelines are not permitted and will be subsequently removed from our platform. Examples of this include:
In addition, businesses do not have to pay to respond. We have a free package option available, and the business owner simply needs to claim and register there profile to begin responding to reviews.
Kind regards, the Hellopeter team
Thanks for taking the time to give us that feedback.
We hear your frustrations, however the points raised are not accurate. Mainly, reviews that breach our content guidelines are not permitted and will be subsequently removed from our platform. Examples of this include:
- Reviews written by current or ex-employees
- Reviews written by people who are not customers or did not directly interact with the respective business
- Defamatory reviews
- False reviews (good or bad)
In addition, businesses do not have to pay to respond. We have a free package option available, and the business owner simply needs to claim and register there profile to begin responding to reviews.
Kind regards, the Hellopeter team
Hellopeter's reply22 Aug 2019, 09:21
Official
Hi Niel
Thanks for taking the time to give us that feedback.
We hear your frustrations, however the points raised are not accurate. Mainly, reviews that breach our content guidelines are not permitted and will be subsequently removed from our platform. Examples of this include:
In addition, businesses do not have to pay to respond. We have a free package option available, and the business owner simply needs to claim and register there profile to begin responding to reviews.
Kind regards, the Hellopeter team
Thanks for taking the time to give us that feedback.
We hear your frustrations, however the points raised are not accurate. Mainly, reviews that breach our content guidelines are not permitted and will be subsequently removed from our platform. Examples of this include:
- Reviews written by current or ex-employees
- Reviews written by people who are not customers or did not directly interact with the respective business
- Defamatory reviews
- False reviews (good or bad)
In addition, businesses do not have to pay to respond. We have a free package option available, and the business owner simply needs to claim and register there profile to begin responding to reviews.
Kind regards, the Hellopeter team
NM
Niel M's updateReviewer Update
22 Aug 2019, 10:27Thank you for your reply.
You can flag a review yes, that is not the problem I am addressing here.
The issue is that you are allowing people to create **** profiles, without verifying their identity. Those people can then also post a **** review on you.
As a business, we then have to pay you a fee to respond to that bogus review. How is that fair?
Another gipe I have with your firm is how long it takes to remove bogus reviews.
We had a **** review show up on Google Search for almost two months AFTER it was removed by Hellopeter. And this did serious damage to our business and we hold you squarely accountable for allowing this to happen in the first place.
I suggest your evert back to the list of items you provided in your reply, and address the most important question of all - is this a real person?
Why not make it mandatory for people to put in their ID number and mobile number, and SMS them a code before they can activate their profile?
At least that way you know you are dealing with a real person.
The way I see it, Hellopeter has an economic incentive to not put that in place, because the way you make money is by getting businesses to pay a fee to reply to reviews, even if they are bogus.
You can flag a review yes, that is not the problem I am addressing here.
The issue is that you are allowing people to create **** profiles, without verifying their identity. Those people can then also post a **** review on you.
As a business, we then have to pay you a fee to respond to that bogus review. How is that fair?
Another gipe I have with your firm is how long it takes to remove bogus reviews.
We had a **** review show up on Google Search for almost two months AFTER it was removed by Hellopeter. And this did serious damage to our business and we hold you squarely accountable for allowing this to happen in the first place.
I suggest your evert back to the list of items you provided in your reply, and address the most important question of all - is this a real person?
Why not make it mandatory for people to put in their ID number and mobile number, and SMS them a code before they can activate their profile?
At least that way you know you are dealing with a real person.
The way I see it, Hellopeter has an economic incentive to not put that in place, because the way you make money is by getting businesses to pay a fee to reply to reviews, even if they are bogus.
NM
Niel M's update22 Aug 2019, 10:27
Reviewer Update
Thank you for your reply.
You can flag a review yes, that is not the problem I am addressing here.
The issue is that you are allowing people to create **** profiles, without verifying their identity. Those people can then also post a **** review on you.
As a business, we then have to pay you a fee to respond to that bogus review. How is that fair?
Another gipe I have with your firm is how long it takes to remove bogus reviews.
We had a **** review show up on Google Search for almost two months AFTER it was removed by Hellopeter. And this did serious damage to our business and we hold you squarely accountable for allowing this to happen in the first place.
I suggest your evert back to the list of items you provided in your reply, and address the most important question of all - is this a real person?
Why not make it mandatory for people to put in their ID number and mobile number, and SMS them a code before they can activate their profile?
At least that way you know you are dealing with a real person.
The way I see it, Hellopeter has an economic incentive to not put that in place, because the way you make money is by getting businesses to pay a fee to reply to reviews, even if they are bogus.
You can flag a review yes, that is not the problem I am addressing here.
The issue is that you are allowing people to create **** profiles, without verifying their identity. Those people can then also post a **** review on you.
As a business, we then have to pay you a fee to respond to that bogus review. How is that fair?
Another gipe I have with your firm is how long it takes to remove bogus reviews.
We had a **** review show up on Google Search for almost two months AFTER it was removed by Hellopeter. And this did serious damage to our business and we hold you squarely accountable for allowing this to happen in the first place.
I suggest your evert back to the list of items you provided in your reply, and address the most important question of all - is this a real person?
Why not make it mandatory for people to put in their ID number and mobile number, and SMS them a code before they can activate their profile?
At least that way you know you are dealing with a real person.
The way I see it, Hellopeter has an economic incentive to not put that in place, because the way you make money is by getting businesses to pay a fee to reply to reviews, even if they are bogus.
Hellopeter's replyOfficial
22 Aug 2019, 11:38Hi Niel
We have a standard account activation process, where we verify that the email address belongs to a real human - however this is not full proof as people can create multiple accounts. However, if a review is reported and we find one user posting multiple reviews, they will all be removed.
Regarding that review in Google. When a review is removed from Hellopeter, we log a removal request with Google - but when Google performs their re-indexing is up to them, and we don't have control over this.
Again, businesses do not have to pay to respond. I mentioned this in my first reply above, but to reiterate, we have a free business package available and businesses simply need to claim their business and they can respond for free.
Kind regards, the Hellopeter team
We have a standard account activation process, where we verify that the email address belongs to a real human - however this is not full proof as people can create multiple accounts. However, if a review is reported and we find one user posting multiple reviews, they will all be removed.
Regarding that review in Google. When a review is removed from Hellopeter, we log a removal request with Google - but when Google performs their re-indexing is up to them, and we don't have control over this.
Again, businesses do not have to pay to respond. I mentioned this in my first reply above, but to reiterate, we have a free business package available and businesses simply need to claim their business and they can respond for free.
Kind regards, the Hellopeter team
Hellopeter's reply22 Aug 2019, 11:38
Official
Hi Niel
We have a standard account activation process, where we verify that the email address belongs to a real human - however this is not full proof as people can create multiple accounts. However, if a review is reported and we find one user posting multiple reviews, they will all be removed.
Regarding that review in Google. When a review is removed from Hellopeter, we log a removal request with Google - but when Google performs their re-indexing is up to them, and we don't have control over this.
Again, businesses do not have to pay to respond. I mentioned this in my first reply above, but to reiterate, we have a free business package available and businesses simply need to claim their business and they can respond for free.
Kind regards, the Hellopeter team
We have a standard account activation process, where we verify that the email address belongs to a real human - however this is not full proof as people can create multiple accounts. However, if a review is reported and we find one user posting multiple reviews, they will all be removed.
Regarding that review in Google. When a review is removed from Hellopeter, we log a removal request with Google - but when Google performs their re-indexing is up to them, and we don't have control over this.
Again, businesses do not have to pay to respond. I mentioned this in my first reply above, but to reiterate, we have a free business package available and businesses simply need to claim their business and they can respond for free.
Kind regards, the Hellopeter team
NM
Niel M's updateReviewer Update
22 Aug 2019, 11:51Well the point here is that people can create bogus accounts.
And it's an extremely important one, because it's the root cause of the problem.
Anybody can create multiple free email accounts on a litany of platforms.
If I had it in for a competitor, I can go and create ten free email addresses on Gmail, Hotmail, and a host other.
Armed with this ability to 'verify that I am a real human' I can now go and create 10 profiles on Hellopeter and post bogus reviews.
The competitor I am trying to harm is now going to have to go through the schlep of reporting these and get them removed, which even if they get removed, still show up on a Google search for months.
For the time it takes to get his removed from Google, I can simply repeat this process again.
Can you see how this opens up your system to exploitation?
The origin of this problem is your verification process, which by your own admittance, is far from perfect.
I again ask the question - why not just make it a) mandatory for someone to provide an ID number, and b) send an activation code to a mobile number, before they can activate their profile and start posting reviews.
This will eliminate 99% of the problem with people who are trying to game the system.
As a prominent player in the digital space, I feel Hellopeter should take greater responsibility for ****ing out unfair business practices in an effort to support legitimate entrepreneurs in an already ailing economy.
And it's an extremely important one, because it's the root cause of the problem.
Anybody can create multiple free email accounts on a litany of platforms.
If I had it in for a competitor, I can go and create ten free email addresses on Gmail, Hotmail, and a host other.
Armed with this ability to 'verify that I am a real human' I can now go and create 10 profiles on Hellopeter and post bogus reviews.
The competitor I am trying to harm is now going to have to go through the schlep of reporting these and get them removed, which even if they get removed, still show up on a Google search for months.
For the time it takes to get his removed from Google, I can simply repeat this process again.
Can you see how this opens up your system to exploitation?
The origin of this problem is your verification process, which by your own admittance, is far from perfect.
I again ask the question - why not just make it a) mandatory for someone to provide an ID number, and b) send an activation code to a mobile number, before they can activate their profile and start posting reviews.
This will eliminate 99% of the problem with people who are trying to game the system.
As a prominent player in the digital space, I feel Hellopeter should take greater responsibility for ****ing out unfair business practices in an effort to support legitimate entrepreneurs in an already ailing economy.
NM
Niel M's update22 Aug 2019, 11:51
Reviewer Update
Well the point here is that people can create bogus accounts.
And it's an extremely important one, because it's the root cause of the problem.
Anybody can create multiple free email accounts on a litany of platforms.
If I had it in for a competitor, I can go and create ten free email addresses on Gmail, Hotmail, and a host other.
Armed with this ability to 'verify that I am a real human' I can now go and create 10 profiles on Hellopeter and post bogus reviews.
The competitor I am trying to harm is now going to have to go through the schlep of reporting these and get them removed, which even if they get removed, still show up on a Google search for months.
For the time it takes to get his removed from Google, I can simply repeat this process again.
Can you see how this opens up your system to exploitation?
The origin of this problem is your verification process, which by your own admittance, is far from perfect.
I again ask the question - why not just make it a) mandatory for someone to provide an ID number, and b) send an activation code to a mobile number, before they can activate their profile and start posting reviews.
This will eliminate 99% of the problem with people who are trying to game the system.
As a prominent player in the digital space, I feel Hellopeter should take greater responsibility for ****ing out unfair business practices in an effort to support legitimate entrepreneurs in an already ailing economy.
And it's an extremely important one, because it's the root cause of the problem.
Anybody can create multiple free email accounts on a litany of platforms.
If I had it in for a competitor, I can go and create ten free email addresses on Gmail, Hotmail, and a host other.
Armed with this ability to 'verify that I am a real human' I can now go and create 10 profiles on Hellopeter and post bogus reviews.
The competitor I am trying to harm is now going to have to go through the schlep of reporting these and get them removed, which even if they get removed, still show up on a Google search for months.
For the time it takes to get his removed from Google, I can simply repeat this process again.
Can you see how this opens up your system to exploitation?
The origin of this problem is your verification process, which by your own admittance, is far from perfect.
I again ask the question - why not just make it a) mandatory for someone to provide an ID number, and b) send an activation code to a mobile number, before they can activate their profile and start posting reviews.
This will eliminate 99% of the problem with people who are trying to game the system.
As a prominent player in the digital space, I feel Hellopeter should take greater responsibility for ****ing out unfair business practices in an effort to support legitimate entrepreneurs in an already ailing economy.
NM
Niel M's updateReviewer Update
22 Aug 2019, 12:08This colorful little discussion thread is a perfect case in point:
https://www.hellopeter.com/elite-entrepreneur-inc/reviews/elite-inc-act-road-map-niel-malan-***
We only picked up on this complaint in June this year, and we promptly rep**** to this lady asking for her details so that we can respond to her.
We also asked Hellopeter for this person's contact details so that we can resolve her challenge.
On our database there is nobody with the first name Charlotte and the surname H that has bought this particular program.
So two questions:
1) how do you know this is a real person
2) how do you know this person really bought our product, and its not just another malicious attempt by some ***********, and
3) if this is a legit person, why won't you furnish us with her details so that we can resolve her query
We have posted this question several times and we are simply not getting any answers.
In the meanwhile the comments section is iniviting all sorts of spammy opinions from all sorts of people that have never bought our product or done business with us.
And this is also what people find when they search our name on Google.
Only yesterday was a Spam post un indexed by Google that was posted months ago.
My legal team is currently putting together a case of damages and we are also taking this to the Consumer Goods Council of South Africa.
I am personally holding Hellopeter responsible for damaging our business.
https://www.hellopeter.com/elite-entrepreneur-inc/reviews/elite-inc-act-road-map-niel-malan-***
We only picked up on this complaint in June this year, and we promptly rep**** to this lady asking for her details so that we can respond to her.
We also asked Hellopeter for this person's contact details so that we can resolve her challenge.
On our database there is nobody with the first name Charlotte and the surname H that has bought this particular program.
So two questions:
1) how do you know this is a real person
2) how do you know this person really bought our product, and its not just another malicious attempt by some ***********, and
3) if this is a legit person, why won't you furnish us with her details so that we can resolve her query
We have posted this question several times and we are simply not getting any answers.
In the meanwhile the comments section is iniviting all sorts of spammy opinions from all sorts of people that have never bought our product or done business with us.
And this is also what people find when they search our name on Google.
Only yesterday was a Spam post un indexed by Google that was posted months ago.
My legal team is currently putting together a case of damages and we are also taking this to the Consumer Goods Council of South Africa.
I am personally holding Hellopeter responsible for damaging our business.
NM
Niel M's update22 Aug 2019, 12:08
Reviewer Update
This colorful little discussion thread is a perfect case in point:
https://www.hellopeter.com/elite-entrepreneur-inc/reviews/elite-inc-act-road-map-niel-malan-***
We only picked up on this complaint in June this year, and we promptly rep**** to this lady asking for her details so that we can respond to her.
We also asked Hellopeter for this person's contact details so that we can resolve her challenge.
On our database there is nobody with the first name Charlotte and the surname H that has bought this particular program.
So two questions:
1) how do you know this is a real person
2) how do you know this person really bought our product, and its not just another malicious attempt by some ***********, and
3) if this is a legit person, why won't you furnish us with her details so that we can resolve her query
We have posted this question several times and we are simply not getting any answers.
In the meanwhile the comments section is iniviting all sorts of spammy opinions from all sorts of people that have never bought our product or done business with us.
And this is also what people find when they search our name on Google.
Only yesterday was a Spam post un indexed by Google that was posted months ago.
My legal team is currently putting together a case of damages and we are also taking this to the Consumer Goods Council of South Africa.
I am personally holding Hellopeter responsible for damaging our business.
https://www.hellopeter.com/elite-entrepreneur-inc/reviews/elite-inc-act-road-map-niel-malan-***
We only picked up on this complaint in June this year, and we promptly rep**** to this lady asking for her details so that we can respond to her.
We also asked Hellopeter for this person's contact details so that we can resolve her challenge.
On our database there is nobody with the first name Charlotte and the surname H that has bought this particular program.
So two questions:
1) how do you know this is a real person
2) how do you know this person really bought our product, and its not just another malicious attempt by some ***********, and
3) if this is a legit person, why won't you furnish us with her details so that we can resolve her query
We have posted this question several times and we are simply not getting any answers.
In the meanwhile the comments section is iniviting all sorts of spammy opinions from all sorts of people that have never bought our product or done business with us.
And this is also what people find when they search our name on Google.
Only yesterday was a Spam post un indexed by Google that was posted months ago.
My legal team is currently putting together a case of damages and we are also taking this to the Consumer Goods Council of South Africa.
I am personally holding Hellopeter responsible for damaging our business.
Hellopeter's replyOfficial
22 Aug 2019, 12:08Thanks Niel, we will take all this feedback on board when reviewing our verification process. Kind regards, the Hellopeter team
Hellopeter's reply22 Aug 2019, 12:08
Official
Thanks Niel, we will take all this feedback on board when reviewing our verification process. Kind regards, the Hellopeter team
NM
Niel M's updateReviewer Update
22 Aug 2019, 16:08After a bit of digging here is what we found about one particular case (http://bit.ly/2LfAowX):
The person who made a complaint was listed as Charlotte H. We do not have a Charlotte whose surname starts with an H on our database so we could not track her down to resolve the query.
We then posted a reply on our Hellopeter profile to ask the complainant for their details, and we never received a reply.
Next, we contacted Hellopeter for her details. And lo and behold, we had to create a paid account before we were able to get this person's email address.
This is where the ******ion part came in.
And here is the fun bit. Neither the name, nor the email or the phone number provided to us by Hellopeter can be found on our database.
So firstly, Hellopeter did not verify this person's identity.
Second, you also did not verify if this person was in fact a buyer.
Third, when we queried the situation, you refused to take it down, despite the above.
And finally, this review has now attracted a litany of abusive comments in the Facebook Comments box, that you have done absolutely diddly about.
And the real whammy is that if you search our company, this is what shows up on the first page of Google.
Along with another **** review that was removed, however is still showing up on Google.
We are in the middle of an aggressive recruitment drive, and we have had at least five high quality candidates turn us down because of what they found.
And we are also getting details from our sales team on all the losses that we suffered as a result.
So here is the question:
Hellopeter is a company that pretends to care about the consumer.
Do the above actions strike you as a company that cares?
Because from my vantage point, all I can see is profiteering and ******ion.
The person who made a complaint was listed as Charlotte H. We do not have a Charlotte whose surname starts with an H on our database so we could not track her down to resolve the query.
We then posted a reply on our Hellopeter profile to ask the complainant for their details, and we never received a reply.
Next, we contacted Hellopeter for her details. And lo and behold, we had to create a paid account before we were able to get this person's email address.
This is where the ******ion part came in.
And here is the fun bit. Neither the name, nor the email or the phone number provided to us by Hellopeter can be found on our database.
So firstly, Hellopeter did not verify this person's identity.
Second, you also did not verify if this person was in fact a buyer.
Third, when we queried the situation, you refused to take it down, despite the above.
And finally, this review has now attracted a litany of abusive comments in the Facebook Comments box, that you have done absolutely diddly about.
And the real whammy is that if you search our company, this is what shows up on the first page of Google.
Along with another **** review that was removed, however is still showing up on Google.
We are in the middle of an aggressive recruitment drive, and we have had at least five high quality candidates turn us down because of what they found.
And we are also getting details from our sales team on all the losses that we suffered as a result.
So here is the question:
Hellopeter is a company that pretends to care about the consumer.
Do the above actions strike you as a company that cares?
Because from my vantage point, all I can see is profiteering and ******ion.
NM
Niel M's update22 Aug 2019, 16:08
Reviewer Update
After a bit of digging here is what we found about one particular case (http://bit.ly/2LfAowX):
The person who made a complaint was listed as Charlotte H. We do not have a Charlotte whose surname starts with an H on our database so we could not track her down to resolve the query.
We then posted a reply on our Hellopeter profile to ask the complainant for their details, and we never received a reply.
Next, we contacted Hellopeter for her details. And lo and behold, we had to create a paid account before we were able to get this person's email address.
This is where the ******ion part came in.
And here is the fun bit. Neither the name, nor the email or the phone number provided to us by Hellopeter can be found on our database.
So firstly, Hellopeter did not verify this person's identity.
Second, you also did not verify if this person was in fact a buyer.
Third, when we queried the situation, you refused to take it down, despite the above.
And finally, this review has now attracted a litany of abusive comments in the Facebook Comments box, that you have done absolutely diddly about.
And the real whammy is that if you search our company, this is what shows up on the first page of Google.
Along with another **** review that was removed, however is still showing up on Google.
We are in the middle of an aggressive recruitment drive, and we have had at least five high quality candidates turn us down because of what they found.
And we are also getting details from our sales team on all the losses that we suffered as a result.
So here is the question:
Hellopeter is a company that pretends to care about the consumer.
Do the above actions strike you as a company that cares?
Because from my vantage point, all I can see is profiteering and ******ion.
The person who made a complaint was listed as Charlotte H. We do not have a Charlotte whose surname starts with an H on our database so we could not track her down to resolve the query.
We then posted a reply on our Hellopeter profile to ask the complainant for their details, and we never received a reply.
Next, we contacted Hellopeter for her details. And lo and behold, we had to create a paid account before we were able to get this person's email address.
This is where the ******ion part came in.
And here is the fun bit. Neither the name, nor the email or the phone number provided to us by Hellopeter can be found on our database.
So firstly, Hellopeter did not verify this person's identity.
Second, you also did not verify if this person was in fact a buyer.
Third, when we queried the situation, you refused to take it down, despite the above.
And finally, this review has now attracted a litany of abusive comments in the Facebook Comments box, that you have done absolutely diddly about.
And the real whammy is that if you search our company, this is what shows up on the first page of Google.
Along with another **** review that was removed, however is still showing up on Google.
We are in the middle of an aggressive recruitment drive, and we have had at least five high quality candidates turn us down because of what they found.
And we are also getting details from our sales team on all the losses that we suffered as a result.
So here is the question:
Hellopeter is a company that pretends to care about the consumer.
Do the above actions strike you as a company that cares?
Because from my vantage point, all I can see is profiteering and ******ion.