Blogging for Beltsville shoppers

Consumer advocate rates local businesses

Thursday, Aug. 10, 2006

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by Dennis Carter

Staff Writer

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Ian Hurley⁄The Gazette

Beltsville residents can now access a consumer Web site that allows them to read and post reviews of local businesses. Beltsville native Hector Blackwell started the site.

For Hector Blackwell, blogging is a creative outlet, a therapeutic release and most of all, a way to provide Beltsville consumers with a tip sheet on the best and worst local businesses.

Blackwell, who moved to Beltsville five years ago, started the Beltsville Shopper Web log (beltsvilleshopper.blogspot.com) in June, inspired by less-than-adequate service at a local tax service.

Following the negative experience, Blackwell stood near the store’s entrance, warning others to look elsewhere for accountants’ assistance.

‘‘I wasn’t getting any satisfaction, so I took matters into my own hands,” said Blackwell, 45, a father of three who works fulltime as a Web content specialist.

The positive reaction from would-be customers at the Beltsville tax service spurred Blackwell into more extensive consumer advocacy. After eating at local restaurants or getting his hair cut at nearby barbershops, the former college journalism student gives fellow consumers the low-down on service, atmosphere and prices.

‘‘I see it as an avenue to contribute to the community so we can spend our money more wisely,” he said. ‘‘I want to let the businesses know that just because they’re local we don’t have to patronize them. They’re going to have to step up their game and treat [customers] right.”

Less than two months into his part-time venture, Blackwell is still seeking contributors to Beltsville Shopper. Anyone who wants to share a good or bad experience at a business in Beltsville, College Park, Greenbelt or Laurel can simply write a review and Blackwell will post it on his Web site.

‘‘I’m just a regular guy,” he said. ‘‘I’m not a secret shopper. I’m just a guy who makes a paycheck and has a bunch of mouths to feed.”

Fred Friday, owner of Beltsville’s Gloryland Beauty and Hair Salon – a shop that received an emphatic thumbs-up on Beltsville Shopper – said Blackwell’s service could be invaluable for local consumers.

‘‘It’s a good way for reaching out to shoppers in communities and telling them where they can find good service,” he said. ‘‘Because sometimes you go to a place not knowing what kind of service to expect.”

Blackwell credits his wife, Lynne Blackwell, for cleaning up any messy copy that might have sneaked onto the blog.

‘‘I’m the critic ... and the editor,” Lynne Blackwell said with a smirk.

Giving everyday customers a forum to vent their complaints or heap their praises on nearby businesses could hold local merchants accountable for their service, Lynne Blackwell said.

‘‘Customers aren’t viewed these days with the same kind of respect as they were in the past. If [business owners] know the consequences, maybe they’ll think twice about treating customers a little better,” she said. ‘‘People have more power than they think.”

E-mail Dennis Carter at dcarter@gazette.net.