For some people, their own worst critics are themselves; for others, it is anonymous people onsocial networks like Facebook, Twitter, or review sites like Yelp.
We live in an age where access to the Internet makes it easy for anyone to vent, post public complaints, and even retaliate against a business by creating smear campaigns that sometimes go viral. People with an axe to grind (pr simply too much time on their hands) may even go so far as to create a yourcompanynamesucks.com website.
Yelp is a good example of a very public forum where people can, and often do, say anything they want about a business and, for the most part, get away with it.
Steps To Take To Fight Back Against Bad Yelp Reviews
Angry people who post nasty missives about their experience with a company often do so anonymously and there is little a business owner can do aside from addressing the comments as best possible, shutting down the ability to post additional comments in a thread, or, in certain cases, tracking down the unhappy poster and trying to resolve the problem directly.
I do not recommend trying to track down everyone who simply shares a negative opinion about your business; it is a waste of time, but every once in a while it may be necessary to help repair some social media damage.
Opinion vs. Libel: All Business Owners Should Understand the Difference
Many retailers now immediately attempt to contact anyone that posts a negative comment asking \»what can we do to get you to change your review?”
If you are actively engaging your negative commenters, it is important to understand there is a difference between posting an opinion and stating something as fact. It is fine to ask someone how you can improve their experience to get them to change their opinion, but you cannot take legal action against someone for posting their opinion.
Responding to someone with fake threats simply for sharing their opinion is not a good way to build your business brand, and threatening someone with legal action simply for sharing their opinion puts your business in the class of debt collectors who use bully and scare tactics to control people (not recommended.)
Libel and Libel Law Basics
- Defamation, Slander and Libel 101 — The Basics
- To Sue, or Not to Sue: Defamation Costs Versus Benefits
When approaching someone who gives you a bad rating or review your goal should be to make them like you enough to change their negative review or opinion to give you a more favorable rating — not to retaliate against them. The best way to do that is to acknowledge their feelings, try to understand the problem for their point of view, and offer a solution – not a counterattack.
A Good Example of the Wrong Way To Deal With Customer Complaints
Here is an example of a terrible company I dealt with and what not to do when negotiating with an unhappy consumer to get a better review.
In 2012, I saw an ad online for an expensive camera being sold for two hundred dollars less than anyone else was advertising it for. My son really wanted this camera and had saved a portion of the money but he needed my help. So I checked out the company, saw many positive reviews and proceeded to buy the camera.
At checkout, I was prompted to accept shipping insurance (I was not given a choice) or the camera would not be shipped. The insurance cost $200. By the time you added the camera price, insurance, and shipping costs, it would have cost more than had I paid full price somewhere else.
Naturally, I canceled the order and posted my own review warning folks of the insurance clause that only appeared at the very end of checkout. Within 15 minutes my phone rang (this site, like many sites, required users to create an account and give a phone number before being able to make a purchase.)
The caller claimed to be from the camera company and was concerned about my negative review. He asked what he could do to get me to change my review. I said he could sell me the camera at the advertised price.
The caller stayed firm on the price and said he could reduce insurance costs but still would not ship without $150 in insurance otherwise, if it arrived damaged I would be at fault and could not return it if it was damaged. Needless to say, this was not true, and, as a legal writer, I was more than happy to point out the many ways in which he was violatingconsumer protection laws.
Bottom line: I got the camera at the advertised price without having to buy the ‘mandatory’ insurance, and it arrived safely via UPS. I kept my end of the bargain and changed my review – to include the story of our phone conversation that was not only invasive but fairly hostile. I should not have to haggle to get an advertised price, and, in this case, there was not even any consumer-beware fine print, it was an insurance upsell scam only made apparent at the end of checkout.
Had the company genuinely tried to right their wrong, or, had at least been pleasant and (even mock) concerned about my interests instead of only being concerned with my bad review, I would have change my review to something more favorable. Instead, I was brutally honest, but at least I did not make a \»yourcompanysucks\» website. I have better things to do than deal with hostile companies.
