Online Reviews: How to Respond to Fake Reviews

People love to discuss and talk about their favorite things online. People can give reviews about businesses, people and places. Even good businesses attract the wrong kind of people who love to give out negative online reviews. Most of the information given out is fake and it can be infuriating, irritating and damaging to your business. You can respond to fake reviews using these guidelines.

Pausing and processing:

It might feel natural to be defensive when angry at someone who spreads lies about your business but being emotional can backfire on you. That is why you need an hour or a few minutes to blow off steam and then proceed only when you are calm enough to respond with a clear mind. Also always respond positively so that other people can see your response and take your side.

Having the review you taken down from your site:

You can get a false review taken down but there is no assurance that that will happen. It is a he says she says argument in this context so the next best thing is to request the moderators to have the review be assessed and taken down later. Major review sites can deal with the situations easily.

Like many review sites, ComplaintsBoard and rip off report scam cannot verify whether or not consumer complaints are legitimate. Often times individuals filing complaints will use false contact information and pseudonyms.

Responding in public:

Fake reviews hold no water and can easily be researched to prove that they are false. When you see a negative post that is hampering your business, you can make that comment public and make sure other people know that the comment is false. Do not use insults or accuse the reviewer, instead just make sure that you prove that their point is false. You can also invite the reviewer to contact you so that you can resolve the issue over text or call.

The attraction of more positive reviews:

A false or negative review can be bad for your business but when you have more than a hundred glowing reviews, the nasty review looks questionable. That is why it is important to get consistently good reviews on a steady basis so that the false review gets pushed out by your supportive customers. You can also add your contacts so that annoyed customers who put fake reviews can contact you and then change their reviews.

Being transparent to your customers:

When you have a good connection with your customers, then other people will be supportive and back you up when one false review gets attention. You can sort out any mistakes or potential customers from hurting your base by talking to them and clearing out the misconceptions.  There are also many other ways for customers to contact you which you should make available so that by being public towards your customers helps you not only grow your base but also make them feel that you have nothing to hide. This also makes your fan base more loyal to you and will step up to the cause when a fake review gets attention.

In conclusion, one jealous angry customer can’t ruin your company, business or product, provided you know how to respond to online fake reviews. Just be professional and positive.