bad review on a site about us

[John333]

Hi All,

 

We run a small company and we have a had a bad review posted about us on ****edconsumer.com

 

The review is clearly not truthful as the details are provably wrong.

 

I've twice lodged an appeal against the complaint via the sites form but have not received a reply.

 

I strongly believe that this review was put there by one of these 'management reputation companies', so that we then have to pay to get it removed.

 

Has anyone else been in this situation and what did you do?

 

Thanks

[renegadeimp]

Could always use court action. But youd need to prove the entry isnt truthful.

[John333]

It would be easy to prove its false.

[unclebulgaria67]

It would be easy to prove its false.

 

Small claims court action I would have thought. BUT before you do that, the site concerned may offer a right of reply, with your companies comments added to the review page. So when people read the review in future they can see that there is doubt that the review is genuine.

 

Also you should be encouraging satisfied customers to place their reviews onto the site, so hopefully these will outweigh this one dodgy review.

[san_d]

Hi All,

 

We run a small company and we have a had a bad review posted about us on ****edconsumer.com

 

I'm sorry but this is part and parcel or running a business and part and parcel of the Internet. Reviews site are manipulated. Why don't you just get on with it?

[unclebulgaria67]

I'm sorry but this is part and parcel or running a business and part and parcel of the Internet. Reviews site are manipulated. Why don't you just get on with it?

 

I suspect they realise that, but if the review is definitely dodgy (not a customer of the business) then they have the right of reply or for it to be removed. These days, a few bad reviews online can kill a small business. If they ended up not being able to feed their family because they did not follow this up, then your advice about just getting on with it, may be misguided.

 

I would suggest that the company concerned looks at the FAQ's on the site concerned and folllows this up in a professional manner.

 

This is taken from the FAQ's.

For Companies and Individuals:

 

 

1. Q: Can we reply to a posting? Can we address the issue raised in the posting?
   

A: Yes. Under each posting made on the website there is an area for comments. A company wishing to engage with a consumer about a topic can submit a comment to original posting. We recommend that a company leave its customer service contact information: phone, name, etc. under the post for the benefit of all consumers who may have similar issues.

 

1. Q: Can a review be removed from our website?
   

A: A post may be removed from our website either by order of a court or by a user complying with our removal procedures discussed above. ****edConsumer may also consider the removal of a posting, should we determine that a user is in violation of our Terms of Service.

[Richyb]

I do SEO and you will find it almost impossible to remove the review. If the site is hosted outside the UK there is little you can do. But plead with the site owner/webmaster to remove the content and state your case as to why.

 

You could contact Google and again state your reasons why this is a miss representation of your business and a false review. They may drop the URL from their index with a bit of luck.

 

As an SEO if we cant get the review taken down, will will outrank the page with good reviews forcing the negative one down to below Page 2+

[orfoster]

I would write a complaint and find the sites privacy statement for their address send it recorded delivery based on the advice above re it being a load of rubbish and include your right to reply, ask for a response within 14 days.

[Thegreenpimpernel]

It's the other way round.

In defamation cases the publisher of the statement has to prove it is true!

There are some notorious companies who have all negative reviews routinely removed by issuing threats of libel proceedings.

Sites, like this one, would need the OP to turn up in court with ireffutable evidence to support the allegation.

[Thegreenpimpernel]

Send a letter threatening court action for trade libel.