Small Businesses Targets of 'Complaint Removal' Scams
In the past, it was very difficult for local businesses to be mentioned in any newspaper. With the exception of restaurants, public criticism of local establishments were far and few in between. However, with the advent of the internet, almost anyone can say negative things about any business whether that be the neighborhood grocery store, your auto mechanic or the electronics shop. However, that is not to say that all of the reviews posted in the internet are legitimate. Some are cheap shots aimed at sullying the reputation of a business. This is unfair but, with how easy it is to post comments in the internet, a common occurrence.
Instead of being outraged right away, which is the natural response of any average reasonable entrepreneur, it is better to take things in stride. Try to respond to the ad as best as you can by clearly stating how you have always done your best as a business to mitigate any customer dissatisfaction and how you are strengthening your campaign towards providing better service or higher quality goods. And if this does not work, then be consoled by the fact that readers are always thinking that these reviews are one-sided at best.
One thing definitely that businesses should not rush into is suing customers who have posted these negative reviews. Although this might be something difficult to do but there has been a long history of businesses filing lawsuits against consumer review sites. However, this step is often ineffective and for two reasons: first off, often times the lawsuit does not prosper because the critics are only exercising their freedom to expression and second, all the buzz about the lawsuit only generates more bad publicity for the business.
What’s more terrible in this entire scenario is the fact that there are some questionable people who claim that they can make unfavorable reviews vanish in an instant. They trick small businesses into hiring their services and in the end nothing really happens to the posts anyway. Before any small business hands in any money, they should first consider that a lot of review sites have a policy which forbids them from removing complaints and negative reviews. At the same time, no self-respecting review site will ever take bribes. It’s sad to think that there are individuals who are taking advantage of the already pressing and troubling predicament that these small businesses have found themselves in.
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