After it broke last Friday that Mel’s Drive-In is apparently “bribing” customers to review them on Yelp by giving them a discount if they bring in their printed review, a manager at the chain basically shrugged and asked the New York Times yesterday what the big deal was. “The restaurant’s general manager, Jay Barnhisel, didn’t see it as much different than giving customers a discount for filling out comment cards,” Kim Severson wrote in Diner’s Journal. Barnhisel went on to say that only a couple of people a week are taking advantage of the month-old promotion. Still, does it need to be said that it’s really not the same as comment cards? Nobody sees those, and if they do happen to be in a public place, the restaurant can pick and choose which ones go live. Oh, wait, it’s very much the same then.
Yelp Them, They’ll Help You [Diner’s Journal/NY Times]
