I employ people. Sometimes people who leave are unhappy and sometimes they post negative comments on social media anonymously. Sucks when they do and it always makes me reflect on what we could have done differently as an employer. Also makes me work harder with my team to ensure they have a positive experience - happy employees are the best recruiters. Would it ever occur to me to track disgruntled former employees down and sue them? The fuck it would. How could that help you improve your rep in the market?
This is disgusting. Those former employees are probably on minimum wage somewhere, with children and other things to worry about, while Zuru swan about in their mansions and on yachts - yet they want to sue poor working class people and probably put their families in poverty??? They are a toy company and they want to fuck over some children basically. I think we should boycot.
Because if there's one thing I can easily believe, it's that a company who will happily sue the plebs, is probably a terrible company to work for, so their reviewers are probably telling the truth. Just really really gross. Ugh.
Does our dude here not get to go to the next Coachella if Zuru's reputation is a little nicked? Won't their pursing of action with the courts make Zuru look WORSE than whatever was on Glassdoor in the first place? They sell overpriced and environmentally gross toys anyway, so I'd be surprised if they were ethical employers, but I never would have known of the Glassdoor goss if they'd not gone after it.
Jul 18, 2022·edited Jul 18, 2022Liked by David Farrier
The Mowbary's have unquestionably built a huge and successful toy company that has expanded into other fields, so all power to them, it's pretty amazing.
Nick Mowbary for me gives off serious "If you only would listen to me and my big brain everything would be ok" vibes though. Being super successful at one/two/three things doesn't mean you know how to run a Country in a global pandemic, but he, the Herald and various other media sure seemed to think it qualified him with all his commentary on how he would do things.
This begs the question why are they so worried about it to go after it like this? It's such an over-reach and huge over-reaction to sue Glassdoor and individual people to shut them up. Like this will promote the idea of a bad working environment far more than a few Glassdoor reviews. Smoke, fire etc!
I had a bad experience interviewing for a job in 2017. To make a long story less long, I applied, did a quick screening interview over the phone, did an hour interview over the phone and then drove to another city for an in-person interview that lasted all morning. I probably didn't do great. Had I done the interview now I would have probably gotten the job. Back then I just wasn't ready. But that's not the point. I was ghosted. And this would have been for life-changing money in a city I really wanted to live in with a baby on the way.
I got another job in said city and once I accepted the offer, I put in a review on Glassdoor. I was polite, said good things about the people I interviewed with but was honest in my assessment. I was ghosted - very badly. I followed up about a week after the interview and was given a new date that I would get an answer one. Day came and went and I heard nothing. I followed up again and heard nothing. I clearly didn't get the job, at least tell me to fuck off and go look elsewhere.
The person who was supposed to give me updates replied to my posting and claimed that she emailed me on a specific date. She didn't. I double-checked my email and sure enough there was nothing there. I wanted to post a reply about that but was blocked from doing so on Glassdoor. Basically if you have a comment the employer can reply but you can't. I lost a lot of faith in Glassdoor after that moment. It gives final say to the employer which kind of defeats the purpose.
This ruling doesn't help, either. I'm just bummed the producer of a toy my 4 year old is obsessed with is this problematic.
If they think bad reviews on a website most people don’t use is making it tough to recruit, what do they think suing former employees and getting that written up in global news going to do for their desirability as an employer?
This is kinda giving me Arise vibes - people speaking out… the big dogs not wanting stories to get out…
But to your question David - YES! People should absolutely be able to speak out about their experiences without fear of retribution. It enables others to make informed decisions about where they might work / shop etc.
I guess it becomes complex where those reviews aren’t genuine - we’ve seen this play out a lot with ‘fake’ poor reviews on Trip Advisor. It’s hardly fair to deliberately damage a business’s reputation because you’re mad you didn’t get a free room upgrade / pay rise.
That said, I still 100% agree with speaking out. There’s just grey areas, as always.
Jul 18, 2022·edited Jul 19, 2022Liked by David Farrier
Whilst mostly concerned about Zuru's intentions here, I am just a little bit torn about this. I run a motel, and being reviewed is the single worst part of the job. I'm sure that as a public figure releasing works of art for public consumption, you'd have some insight on this too David. While I absolutely agree that the power dynamics here seem rotten, and there will only be one winner in a battle between Zuru and an ex-employee, to what extent should Zuru be able to defend themselves should they believe a review is false and malicious.
We sometimes receive horrid reviews when a guest has an axe to grind against us (not allowing a late check-out for instance). We just had a lady try and extort from us a $200 cleaning fee that we charged her for excessive tobacco odour in her room. She had written up a malicious and false review and said she'd send it to every review website under the sun if we didn't pay her back.
I'm not sure that review sites are fulfilling their originally intended purpose now, or perhaps more accurately reviewers aren't always being fair and reasonable in their reviews.
I'm intrigued to see where this story goes, and I sympathise with the ex-employees who probably have had bad experiences while they helped Zuru grow into the behemoth they are now, but to me this opens up a whole other discussion about the world of online reviews.
Jul 18, 2022·edited Jul 18, 2022Liked by David Farrier
Thanks so much for asking these questions, it's so important. I remember one of the Mowbrays popping up at the start of NZ's response to Covid and weighing in (negatively) on the govt's response. It was so bizarre, to me, that his comments were deemed to carry enough worth to make the papers - one of three NZ owners of what is essentially a Chinese company, that manufactured nothing here, that contributed sweet FA to NZ economy, he certainly wasn't an epidemiologist or medical professional. Obviously work ethic and entrepreneurial spirit are key components of their success (and to be clear I don't begrudge anybody success if it's fairly and humanely achieved), but I don't think they've earned the "right" to be viewed as authorities on matters of public health, what's best for NZ (the country they chose not to build anything in), and this latest news is just further proof that NZ needs to take a good, hard look at who we "value" (the rich) and why (financially successful business means you're awesome not matter what kind of arsehole you might actually be). I love the Patriotic Millionaires movement: success + humanity. Wish they did, too.
Jul 18, 2022·edited Jul 18, 2022Liked by David Farrier
What zuru is doing makes them look like a worst company to work for, than in they had just not tried to sue. Now it’s all over the news that multiple employees had an issue with the culture, and that Zuru, with all this information about how their work culture is bad, is largely focused on attacking people than reflecting on what caused them to write those reviews in the first place. Surely it would have been better for the company and cheaper in the long run to investigate the claims made in the review and address them.
Especially considering I take glass door comments with a grain of salt, To begin with. It’s like all those online reviews, it’s not the most credible source on its own. You need to look at the reviews as a whole and even then you never know how manipulated they are. You often don’t know the whole context of an individual review too. Iif you don’t know the intention behind it or if it’s sour grapes or even if the company is paying for false positive reviews. But Zuru’s actions are Zurus own actions, and they are a more credible evidence that Zuru doesn’t treat its employees well than a few anonymous reviews.
I probably won’t be posting on glass door in the future but I may pay more attention to it and what companies are acting in retaliatory ways like Zuru. If a company is quick to sue a former employee over an opinion, what else are they willing to do to former employees and what else do they consider justify being punitive?
But also, I’m kind of side eyeing the idea that Glassdoor reviews are the reason they had a slower recruitment process. I live in a regional city of nz. People talk. I know vaguely the work culture of the main employers in my region, or at least who would know. I know one major employer who has a culture of complacently and another with a serious bullying cultural issue. I also have heard which owners of smaller businesses have a reputation for being abusive. Employers operate in the communities they recruit from and people talk! I feel most people would have heard if there was a bad work culture problem from other members of the community.
I would never want to work for someone who might sue me for criticising them. Negative feedback shows where improvement is needed. Just swallow your medicine and be better in future.
What I don't get is how does Zuru think this is a good move for them? If it hits the mainstream that this massive toy company is suing former employees for anonymous posts on glassdoor it's not going to look good for them. I cannot understand what they want to get out of this. Already I'm planning on avoiding buying any Zuru toys for my son (tbh no hardship they're hideous).
This whole deal is really disgusting to me. People should be able to speak negatively about their experiences without the fear of being persecuted by the big companies. Otherwise we will end up in this giant circlejerk of positivity where everything is positive but nothing is true.
The power inequities in this entire picture are vomitous. Quite frankly, both Glassdoor and Zuru deserve to lose any semblance of a decent reputation in what they do. Filthy rich and teaching the serfs a lesson? Makes me want to see them both go bust.
I employ people. Sometimes people who leave are unhappy and sometimes they post negative comments on social media anonymously. Sucks when they do and it always makes me reflect on what we could have done differently as an employer. Also makes me work harder with my team to ensure they have a positive experience - happy employees are the best recruiters. Would it ever occur to me to track disgruntled former employees down and sue them? The fuck it would. How could that help you improve your rep in the market?
This is disgusting. Those former employees are probably on minimum wage somewhere, with children and other things to worry about, while Zuru swan about in their mansions and on yachts - yet they want to sue poor working class people and probably put their families in poverty??? They are a toy company and they want to fuck over some children basically. I think we should boycot.
Because if there's one thing I can easily believe, it's that a company who will happily sue the plebs, is probably a terrible company to work for, so their reviewers are probably telling the truth. Just really really gross. Ugh.
Does our dude here not get to go to the next Coachella if Zuru's reputation is a little nicked? Won't their pursing of action with the courts make Zuru look WORSE than whatever was on Glassdoor in the first place? They sell overpriced and environmentally gross toys anyway, so I'd be surprised if they were ethical employers, but I never would have known of the Glassdoor goss if they'd not gone after it.
I didn't start the day curious about how Zuru is reviewed on Glassdoor
The Mowbary's have unquestionably built a huge and successful toy company that has expanded into other fields, so all power to them, it's pretty amazing.
Nick Mowbary for me gives off serious "If you only would listen to me and my big brain everything would be ok" vibes though. Being super successful at one/two/three things doesn't mean you know how to run a Country in a global pandemic, but he, the Herald and various other media sure seemed to think it qualified him with all his commentary on how he would do things.
This begs the question why are they so worried about it to go after it like this? It's such an over-reach and huge over-reaction to sue Glassdoor and individual people to shut them up. Like this will promote the idea of a bad working environment far more than a few Glassdoor reviews. Smoke, fire etc!
I had a bad experience interviewing for a job in 2017. To make a long story less long, I applied, did a quick screening interview over the phone, did an hour interview over the phone and then drove to another city for an in-person interview that lasted all morning. I probably didn't do great. Had I done the interview now I would have probably gotten the job. Back then I just wasn't ready. But that's not the point. I was ghosted. And this would have been for life-changing money in a city I really wanted to live in with a baby on the way.
I got another job in said city and once I accepted the offer, I put in a review on Glassdoor. I was polite, said good things about the people I interviewed with but was honest in my assessment. I was ghosted - very badly. I followed up about a week after the interview and was given a new date that I would get an answer one. Day came and went and I heard nothing. I followed up again and heard nothing. I clearly didn't get the job, at least tell me to fuck off and go look elsewhere.
The person who was supposed to give me updates replied to my posting and claimed that she emailed me on a specific date. She didn't. I double-checked my email and sure enough there was nothing there. I wanted to post a reply about that but was blocked from doing so on Glassdoor. Basically if you have a comment the employer can reply but you can't. I lost a lot of faith in Glassdoor after that moment. It gives final say to the employer which kind of defeats the purpose.
This ruling doesn't help, either. I'm just bummed the producer of a toy my 4 year old is obsessed with is this problematic.
If they think bad reviews on a website most people don’t use is making it tough to recruit, what do they think suing former employees and getting that written up in global news going to do for their desirability as an employer?
This is kinda giving me Arise vibes - people speaking out… the big dogs not wanting stories to get out…
But to your question David - YES! People should absolutely be able to speak out about their experiences without fear of retribution. It enables others to make informed decisions about where they might work / shop etc.
I guess it becomes complex where those reviews aren’t genuine - we’ve seen this play out a lot with ‘fake’ poor reviews on Trip Advisor. It’s hardly fair to deliberately damage a business’s reputation because you’re mad you didn’t get a free room upgrade / pay rise.
That said, I still 100% agree with speaking out. There’s just grey areas, as always.
Whilst mostly concerned about Zuru's intentions here, I am just a little bit torn about this. I run a motel, and being reviewed is the single worst part of the job. I'm sure that as a public figure releasing works of art for public consumption, you'd have some insight on this too David. While I absolutely agree that the power dynamics here seem rotten, and there will only be one winner in a battle between Zuru and an ex-employee, to what extent should Zuru be able to defend themselves should they believe a review is false and malicious.
We sometimes receive horrid reviews when a guest has an axe to grind against us (not allowing a late check-out for instance). We just had a lady try and extort from us a $200 cleaning fee that we charged her for excessive tobacco odour in her room. She had written up a malicious and false review and said she'd send it to every review website under the sun if we didn't pay her back.
I'm not sure that review sites are fulfilling their originally intended purpose now, or perhaps more accurately reviewers aren't always being fair and reasonable in their reviews.
I'm intrigued to see where this story goes, and I sympathise with the ex-employees who probably have had bad experiences while they helped Zuru grow into the behemoth they are now, but to me this opens up a whole other discussion about the world of online reviews.
Thanks so much for asking these questions, it's so important. I remember one of the Mowbrays popping up at the start of NZ's response to Covid and weighing in (negatively) on the govt's response. It was so bizarre, to me, that his comments were deemed to carry enough worth to make the papers - one of three NZ owners of what is essentially a Chinese company, that manufactured nothing here, that contributed sweet FA to NZ economy, he certainly wasn't an epidemiologist or medical professional. Obviously work ethic and entrepreneurial spirit are key components of their success (and to be clear I don't begrudge anybody success if it's fairly and humanely achieved), but I don't think they've earned the "right" to be viewed as authorities on matters of public health, what's best for NZ (the country they chose not to build anything in), and this latest news is just further proof that NZ needs to take a good, hard look at who we "value" (the rich) and why (financially successful business means you're awesome not matter what kind of arsehole you might actually be). I love the Patriotic Millionaires movement: success + humanity. Wish they did, too.
What zuru is doing makes them look like a worst company to work for, than in they had just not tried to sue. Now it’s all over the news that multiple employees had an issue with the culture, and that Zuru, with all this information about how their work culture is bad, is largely focused on attacking people than reflecting on what caused them to write those reviews in the first place. Surely it would have been better for the company and cheaper in the long run to investigate the claims made in the review and address them.
Especially considering I take glass door comments with a grain of salt, To begin with. It’s like all those online reviews, it’s not the most credible source on its own. You need to look at the reviews as a whole and even then you never know how manipulated they are. You often don’t know the whole context of an individual review too. Iif you don’t know the intention behind it or if it’s sour grapes or even if the company is paying for false positive reviews. But Zuru’s actions are Zurus own actions, and they are a more credible evidence that Zuru doesn’t treat its employees well than a few anonymous reviews.
I probably won’t be posting on glass door in the future but I may pay more attention to it and what companies are acting in retaliatory ways like Zuru. If a company is quick to sue a former employee over an opinion, what else are they willing to do to former employees and what else do they consider justify being punitive?
But also, I’m kind of side eyeing the idea that Glassdoor reviews are the reason they had a slower recruitment process. I live in a regional city of nz. People talk. I know vaguely the work culture of the main employers in my region, or at least who would know. I know one major employer who has a culture of complacently and another with a serious bullying cultural issue. I also have heard which owners of smaller businesses have a reputation for being abusive. Employers operate in the communities they recruit from and people talk! I feel most people would have heard if there was a bad work culture problem from other members of the community.
I would never want to work for someone who might sue me for criticising them. Negative feedback shows where improvement is needed. Just swallow your medicine and be better in future.
What I don't get is how does Zuru think this is a good move for them? If it hits the mainstream that this massive toy company is suing former employees for anonymous posts on glassdoor it's not going to look good for them. I cannot understand what they want to get out of this. Already I'm planning on avoiding buying any Zuru toys for my son (tbh no hardship they're hideous).
This whole deal is really disgusting to me. People should be able to speak negatively about their experiences without the fear of being persecuted by the big companies. Otherwise we will end up in this giant circlejerk of positivity where everything is positive but nothing is true.
Pretty gross. Zuru didn’t have to prove if statements were correct either. Another win for the rich.
The power inequities in this entire picture are vomitous. Quite frankly, both Glassdoor and Zuru deserve to lose any semblance of a decent reputation in what they do. Filthy rich and teaching the serfs a lesson? Makes me want to see them both go bust.