‘Start praying that two grand is going to magically appear’: Salesman reveals why angry customer tried to tank his business

A used-car dealer recently went viral after finding a one-star review on his page from someone who never bought a car from him. The dealer, who goes by @mistaconnas on TikTok, woke up after a busy weekend to see his small shop had received a terrible rating. He joked that he immediately wondered if he had insulted anyone recently.

The person who left the review wasn’t even a real customer. The dealer explained that a man came to his shop with only $3,000, wanting to buy a car that cost $6,000. When the dealer told him the numbers didn’t add up, the man got upset and left. The one-star review was his way of getting back at the dealer.

According to Motor1, @mistaconnas runs a cash-only business, which means he doesn’t offer payment plans or financing. He said the customer knew this before coming to the dealership. When the man showed up short on cash, the dealer simply told him there was nothing he could do to help.

Small businesses suffer the most from fake reviews

The conversation between them was straightforward. @mistaconnas remembered telling the visitor to “start praying that two grand is going to magically appear in your pocket.” After seeing the unfair review, the dealer called the customer to ask why he left it. The man admitted he was angry about not getting the car.

This situation is frustrating for small business owners. @mistaconnas couldn’t understand why the customer blamed him, especially since the review is now stuck on his page forever. He wrote on TikTok that “online reviews are out of control.” It’s terrible when people try to hurt someone’s business over something so unreasonable, similar to demanding a manager over one cent.

For a small dealership, one negative review can cause serious damage. Most people don’t realize how much one-star reviews hurt small businesses because they don’t have thousands of positive reviews to balance it out. This means a single bad rating can do much more harm than it would to a larger company.

Many customers won’t shop at a place with negative reviews, and one harsh comment can change their mind at the last second. This results in lost sales and a damaged reputation. Experts say the loss of trust hurts the most because it makes potential buyers hesitate.

Bad reviews also affect online visibility. A drop in ratings can push a small business lower in search results, which means fewer people will find it online or visit in person. Unreasonable customer behavior isn’t new, as seen when a customer camped out for a Starbucks cup. Once this starts happening, it becomes very difficult to reverse.