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2nd June 2011
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How to deal with bad and untrue online reviews
12th February 2011
There is nothing worse than reading a bad review of your accommodation when you know it is wrong and may even have been posted with deliberate malice to harm your business.
Most review websites make sure that they cover their back by publishing their 'terms of use' to try and exclude them from any liability. But the law states that these 'limitation clauses' are only really valid if they are 'reasonable'. And being 'reasonable' means them taking steps to monitor the site content and react to feedback.
Recently a group action was taken against a review website claiming that they should take more responsibility for the reviews on their site.
Some operators will remove reviews if you can justify, usually with detailed reasons, why they should and others give you the chance to respond.
If you are able to identify the reviewer and can prove that you have suffered financial losses as a direct result of an untrue review you could consider a civil action for damages. You can try asking the operator for details of the reviewer and can even seek an injunction to get it if you have lost out financially because of it. There is even a case for suggesting that the site operator could also seek damages from the reviewer themselves for breaching the site's terms and conditions!
On a more extreme level if the posting is so unacceptable or offensive as to be a criminal offence your should contact the police.
SO
1) Check just what action you can take.
2) Ask the site to remove the review or add your own considered impartial response.
3) Contact the operator to get confirmation of the identity of the rogue reviewer, considering a formal legal approach if you think matter warrants it.
4) If you have enough evidence write to the reviewer and if issue still remains unresolved think about a legal claim for damages.
The best way of reducing the influence of poor reviews to give your guests brilliant service and then encourage them to write reviews about it!