In theory, Google Reviews are a great idea. Everyone likes to know what others think about a business they're considering visiting, and Google Place Reviews are just the internet age equivalent of word of mouth; an easy way for people to share experiences and recommend the places they like.
Word of mouth, however, doesn't have quite the same reach as the most used search engine in the world. So where one or two nasty comments didn't really make much of an impact in the past, if they're the first things potential customers see when they type your business name in to Google, they're going to have a huge effect.
Also, people can be held accountable through word of mouth; if you're telling someone your opinion they know that it's you, and they can take any personal biases you may have into account when weighing the fairness of your words. When leaving a review online, though, there is no accountability and no way to confirm that you are who you say you are. It is sadly all too common for businesses to complain of their competitors creating false personas and leaving negative reviews on their Google Place.
Even though this is entirely unfair, it's actually not possible to delete the negative reviews. Google have made it this way to ensure that their reviews remain "a forum for users to share both positive and negative opinions. [They] do not arbitrate disputes and... [they] leave the review up." Again, we can see what Google are trying to do here; the concept of a fair review system, where businesses can't just ignore complaints, is a good one. But when the complaints are unfounded how are you supposed to fight back?
The most common approach is to take the high road and respond in a calm, professional and friendly manner using the Business Owner Response function. No matter what type of language was used or what sort of accusations were made in the review, make sure that you don't resort to rudeness or name calling in your response. Replying in the same negative tone the poster used will only make you look worse.
Reply to the review using the poster's given name, and first up apologise in a way that makes it clear you're acknowledging what they've said but not accepting blame; something along the lines of, 'We're sorry that you feel that way' or 'We were sorry to read your comments' works well.
If you're sure the post isn't from a genuine customer, a good approach is to inform them that you've searched your transaction record, appointments, etc. and haven't been able to locate any evidence of their visit/transaction/etc. This allows other visitors to the page to doubt the credibility of the original post, but still maintains your professional status.
Finally, address their concerns/complaints by inviting them to give you a call or to come in again to speak someone to discuss the matter in detail and come up with a solution. If it was a fake comment then obviously they're not going to do this, and that's the end of it - you've written a clear, concise and professional reply to a nasty review and, in turn, made your business look even better.
Here's an example of how the entire response could read;
Hi Christie,
We were sorry to read your comments, as our staff are extremely helpful and your experience seems very out of character for them. We take our customer's comments very seriously, and as such have reviewed our transaction records to find which staff member it was you dealt with. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to locate any record of you visiting our store. If you could give us a call or come back in to the store, we'd be more than happy to discuss the issue in detail and work with you to form a resolution and ensure it doesn't happen again.
Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment,
The team at Rhye Media.
If the negative reviews persist and you feel that there's no stopping them, it's sadly not an easy process to remove them. These two sites detail how to get a review removed due to slander. Here's Google's official stance on the legal side of things.
In the end, it may be easier to just delete your Google Places page entirely. If you want to do this, there's a particular process you have to follow to make sure that the reviews disappear with the page.
- Log in to your Google Places account.
- Select the listing and click "Delete".
- Choose "Remove this listing from Google Maps".
- "Save changes".
- Select the listing once more and click "Delete".
- Choose "Remove this listing from my Google Places account".
- "Save changes".
And that's it - no more Google Places page, no more negative reviews. The problem with this method, however, is that your business will no longer appear on Google Maps, so if customers want to find their way there they'll have to get the physical address off your websites contact page and manually enter it in themselves. Not a big deal, really, but just something you should be aware of.
Also, there's always the potential for someone else to recreate the page, in which case you'll have to get in touch with Google and probably repeat the process above.
We hope this article has helped you in your quest to deal with negative Google Reviews! If you have any questions, concerns or queries about the Reviews, or anything else, you can get in touch with Rhye Media on Facebook, twitter and Google+. You can also use our online help system if you need any help with your own website, or are interested in having one made for your business. We look forward to hearing from you!