Dealing with Malicious Online Feedback

[david_heckman]

<p>I am interested to learn what ideas or approaches are out there to deal with malicious feedback from a single individual RE: my business. I am dealing with a person that feels I snubbed and has been posting very ugly feedback about me on multiple customer feedback channels like Yelp, Google, Wedding Bee, etc. They have also created fictitious accounts on these sites to log multiple complaints. <br /><br />I can take my lumps when they are legitimate, but this is just mean-hearted.<br>

The reason; this customer was upset at the cost of electronic copies of their pictures and expected I would give them discounts. I was doing a Groupon promotion trying to increase my market footprint where I'd do a 1 hour shoot and then give a free 8x10 print in hopes that they'd buy more prints and refer their friends. When I said no, they began logging multiple negative reviews - this was six months ago. Recently, the customer has now taken to revisiting her posts so that the comment date are updated to look like its a new post.<br>

At this point, I wish I had just given the the files, but all water under the bridge.<br>

What ideas are there on how to deal with these type of people or situations? I know we'll always have them around so I'd like to have a plan for the next time I stumble across one.<br>

<br />Thanks!<br />Dave</p>

[bob_sunley]

<p>Capture screenshots, and maybe talk to your lawyer. And, don't use Groupon or any of the other similar services.</p>

 

[daverhaas]

<p>plus 1 to the screen shots - and lawyer - </p>

<p>There are ways that the sites can tell who is leaving the feedback and revisiting it - by IP address which (unless they are spoofing) is unique to every internet connection. </p>

<p>People sometimes think that the internet gives them a degree of anonymity and that there is no way to find out who is doing what. And because of that they say or write things which they would never say or do in person or over the phone. </p>

<p>Back to the root cause - if your offer was clear (and didn't include any discounts) then you have nothing to be ashamed of - If on the other hand, your offer was confusing or somehow implied a discount or images on cd for a discount, then the customer may have a valid complaint. That is not to say that not offering a discount on a cd of images gives the customer a right to bash you multiple times on multiple sites. </p>

<p>Dave</p>

[david_heckman]

<p>Thanks for the quick responses. I believe I was very clear, but it is amazing what folks will believe they're entitled to if it's not specifically denied in the fine print. Careful with the hot coffee, it may be hot.</p>

 

[lex_jenkins]

Dealing with a disgruntled individual who's using sock puppets is tricky. My short version advice: Calmly and briefly refute their assertions with facts and a brief summation of your efforts to resolve the problem. Don't rant, don't belabor the issue, don't make it personal, and do avoid sounding like the victim.

 

The long version...

 

Unless you own the website or have admin access, you can't know for certain whether it's a single person using multiple aliases or sock puppets to give the illusion of a bunch of disgruntled clients. Even the site owners or administrators may not be able to determine this. Some ISPs rotate among dozens of IPs in the same general region. My DSL does this every time I reset the modem or the power goes out for more than a few seconds. And they may use free proxies for each sock puppet post. So publicly accusing someone of using sock puppets without solid evidence may only make you sound paranoid.

 

Most web savvy people can spot sock puppets easily anyway. If you see obvious indicators - unique phrasing, misspellings or grammatical errors - sure, point 'em out for future reference.

 

Likewise, if you spot the same individual using multiple aliases or sock puppets on multiple sites, you might consider linking to each, so anyone interested in researching it can see for themselves and decide whether the multiple complaints are credible. But generally it's best to remain somewhat detached and trust savvy readers to recognize the sock puppet game when they see it.

 

Occasionally a diehard person who specializes in being disgruntled will enlist a family member or friend in their crusade. This makes it even tougher to refute and claim it's all sock puppets. This sounds like the person you described, if he/she came back months later to renew the complaints. People like that tend to be permanently disgruntled about everything in life and have probably done the same thing to other businesses or individuals. Perpetually disgruntled people get more mileage per unit of venom and bile than normal folks. You can't outlast them at that game, so don't play their game.

 

As for folks who don't see those indicators or don't agree that it's obviously one person using multiple accounts, or a crusade by one paranoid client and a family member or friend... there's nothing you can do to persuade them without sounding as kooky as your disgruntled client. Sometimes you just have to let it go.

[john_macpherson]

<p>Just get your own family member to add a post to any site that the venom and bile gets posted saying:</p>

<p><em>"Whoa disgruntled poster, don't know what kind of person you must be, but David was the nicest, kindest, most generous guy, and one of the best photographers we've ever used. He was recommended to me by a load of folks who all said he was the best one in town. You must be some kind of really unhappy person or have issues. Shame it didn't work out for you. You might be miserable, but I bet the photos of you were fantastic!"</em><br>

<em><br /></em><br>

Or you can just ignore it!</p>

[george_ghio]

<p>John MacPherson has a point that has been known to work, but if you really want to follow this line then you can up the game by also posting a link to the offending posts on your site with a neutral comment along the lines of "Sad really". This sort of harassment only works if the victim reacts in a manner that gratifies the ego of the tormenter. If you treat as if it were a joke on the perpetrator they loose the reason for the harassment.<br>

Basic psychology 101.<br>

Been there and done that. Used to follow renewable energy newsgroups and had made an enemy who went so far as to put up a web site which was supposed to be by me. Flattering really, to think that he spent so much time and money in an effort to discredit me. In the end though, he disgraced himself so badly that he had to change the name he posts under. I don't think I have ever had so much fun as watching that guy self-destruct.<br>

Still if you have no evidence that this persons posts are hurting your business it is probably best to just ignore them.</p>

[lauren_s.]

<p>Unless you have multiple negative reviews by other people, most savvy clients are going to see that one negative and think "weirdo" or ignore it as a fluke because you have so much other positive feedback.</p>

<p>Also, I've seen similar situations where the the owner/business in questions calmly refutes the crazy person's claims very successfully. As long as you dont get into any whining, excuses, or name-calling, you'll come out on top. I would post the same response to every place they wrote a negative review, rather than linking to all their crazy reviews in your post (that would make you look a little crazy). By doing this, it shows that you care about your work and that you try to make everyone happy, but sometimes you cant (case in point).</p>

[walter_strong5]

<p>There is an online service, I've forgotten the name, that specializes in these kinds of situations. A little creative googling should turn it up.</p>

[nate_delucca]

<p>I think it's called "Reputation Management". I don't know much about it but it sounds like it could help.</p>