Before the rise of the internet, unhappy customers would express their displeasure with a product or experience in person or they may have shared their opinions with family and friends. However now, unhappy customers have the ability to write a negative review online which will be visible for all to see.
On the flip side, businesses rely on positive online reviews to help sell their products or services. Whether good or bad, reviews for a business can have a lasting impact. In fact, here are a few statistics related to online business reviews, according to a recent Trustpilot survey:
- At least 89% of consumers check online reviews as part of their online buying process.
- 49% of consumers consider positive reviews one of their top three purchase influences.
- 62% of consumers also say they would stop using platforms that were censoring reviews.
Businesses should encourage customer reviews but also have guidelines in place so that only actual customers are the ones leaving reviews and that all reviews only reflect actual experiences. With that said, false and defamatory online reviews are becoming more and more common. These types of reviews can cause signifiant harm to the reputation of a business, so it’s important to know how to deal with them.
Dealing with Online Defamatory Reviews
If your business has received reviews that may be defamatory, here are a few tips for dealing with them:
1.) First, consider what the reviewer is saying to understand their position. Are they only stating facts? If so, they have a right to do so. However, if they are making false statements to paint your business in a negative light and discourage others from becoming customers or clients, this is defamation, which is against the law.
2.) If the reviewer has made false statements about your business, make sure to save screenshots and any other pertinent information in case you need it for subsequent legal action.
3.) If defamatory statements about your business were made on a social media platform such as Facebook or TikTok, report the defamatory review to the platform itself. They often have policies on such things and may remove it for you.
4.) If you believe the review to be false and defamatory and if you also believe it is causing harm to the reputation of your business, obtaining legal advice is recommended. An attorney can advise on cases of defamation and can also seek damages if the defamatory review(s) has resulted in lost business and income.
Legal Help for Defamatory Reviews
If your business has been targeted by defamatory reviews, the good news is that there are options for legal recourse. Hiring an attorney who is well-versed in defamation law is the best course of action. By hiring an attorney with experience in defamation law, a business can often quickly and efficiently deal with defamatory reviews. In the case of reviewers who refuse to cooperate and remove their defamatory reviews, your attorney can sue to recoup monetary losses incurred as a result of the false reviews.