Is a local restaurant franchise owner down-ranking competitors to promote himself?

Recently it was brought to my attention that someone has been going around leaving bad reviews on Google for all the restaurants in town, EXCEPT for one — the user, named “T Mad”, left a glowing 5-star review for — wait for it — Teriyaki Madness. Hmm, could “T Mad” be short for “Teriyaki Madness”?

For the record I don’t know who the person behind the “T Mad” account is, or whether or not they are the owner of the local Teriyaki Madness franchise. That said, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to make the connection here. If true, this is some really disgusting behavior by one business owner fraudulently downgrading his competitors just to make himself (or herself) look better.

I looked at all the reviews left by “T Mad”. Of all the restaurants located in Pahrump, NV, they gave 8 1-star reviews, and 9 2-star reviews. Only two restaurants managed to get 3-stars: Mister Tater’s Tater Shack (now closed) and Domino’s Pizza. There are no 4-star reviews, and as I mentioned just one 5-star review for… Teriyaki Madness.

See for yourself:

Maybe “T Mad” is just the toughest restaurant critic ever and Teriyaki Madness just really is that amazing. Or maybe something shady is going on here. What do you think?

Do you know who “T Mad” is? Please contact us with any information as we will continue to investigate this.