Edmond salon responds to negative reviews by posting personal information - Edmond, OK - News Article Locations on Waymarking.com

A local salon was in the news for posting customers' personal information online.

Article text:

EDMOND, Okla. - An Edmond business has found itself in hot water recently after online posts began circulating on social media.

The business' Google account responded to negative reviews by doxxing its clients.

Doxxing is when a person or business searches for and publishes identifying information about an individual on the Internet, usually with malicious intent.

Some customers of Essence Salon and Spa of Edmond were stunned when they saw their names, addresses and phone numbers published underneath their negative reviews on Google.

"Someone stop this liar!" one post read, along with the customer's name, address and phone number. "DM us for where she works!!"

The posts were eventually deleted by the spa, as was the company's Facebook page. However, some customers captured screenshots before the posts were deleted.

Ashley Crane is one of the former customers. She visited the salon once to get her eyebrows done but was thoroughly displeased with the service.

"I decided this was a terrible experience so I left a review, which I hardly ever do," she said.

Soon after, she said the salon offered her a free service, which she declined. Crane says after that, their tone changed.

"They have been nasty to me and tried to tell me to take my post down."

Crane says she then received a text from a stranger, informing her that her full name, address, and phone number were now listed under her review. Posted by Essence Salon's profile, the response also calls her a liar.

"It was pretty ridiculous and it was honestly scary," she said.

Crane, and others, went to police, but doxxing isn't illegal as long as the target is over 18.

"As you've seen by those posts, bad (and good) information spreads around the internet like wildfire and it can never be taken down or taken back," said Patrick Allmond, social media expert.

However, Allmond pointed out that you can't always believe what you see in online forums.

Allmond says in cases like this, you might consider that the company's page was hacked or a former employee is trying to hurt the business.

News 4 left a message for Essence Salon and Spa, but has yet to hear back. We also went to the salon during their normal business hours, but no one answered the door.

We also heard from Jason Brown, who runs ReviewFraud.org; he says many of the favorable reviews left for the business were likely purchased from a review seller service or purchased through a higher digital marketing company. he sent us the following statement:

"I volunteer on the GMB forum and say the thread asking for the replies with personal information to be removed. I started looking at all the reviews and when I clicked on the profiles, I noticed this business had thirty suspicious positive reviews that needed to be removed. One of the review replies mentioned that people like to post negative reviews. I also run Reviewfaud.org where I highlight businesses with fake or suspicious looking reviews to help protect consumers"

Brown said he reported the questionable reviews.


A salon of a different name popped up at Essence Salon's address Monday

It also appears that Essence Salon and Spa changed their name on Google to Ehereal Salon and edited their responses to customers, but not before they were captured by consumers. It appears the salon's name was changed yet again to Sola Salons and Suites, although there is an existing Sola Salon Studios half a mile away.

Type of publication: Television When was the article reported?: 01/07/2019 Publication: Oklahoma's News 4 Article Url: [Web Link] Is Registration Required?: no How widespread was the article reported?: local News Category: Crime

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