With today’s technologies empowering people to voice their opinion anytime and anywhere, consumers are turning to the web to share their experiences. However, is eliminating negative feedback an option?
A US couple has labeled a $65,000 legal battle an “attack on free speech” after being sued over a review they wrote for Yelp.
Matt White posted an online review on Yelp about work carried out by Footprints Floors back in 2013.
The review said in part: “Absolutely horrible experience. …I have 4,000 square feet of sandpaper on the floor and Footprints believes there is nothing wrong. I have shoe prints in the stain, dust, debris and filler trapped under my stain. …The quality of the work is absolutely deplorable.”
According to White the company left him with a staircase that didn’t meet code, with mismatched colours and doors that wouldn’t open.
According to Footprints Floors, the review lost them $625,000 in revenue, after 167 projects fell through following the online comments, which led them to file a defamation lawsuit.
Footprints Floors explained: “We offered to fix all of the problems. [We] personally did everything we could to meet his needs. He still wasn’t satisfied and made online comments that, in our view, were not true. After a drawn-out legal process, the case was settled last month when this client ultimately paid us for the floor we installed.
“This attack hurt our business’s bottom line, yes, but more importantly, it hurt our reputation.”
White, who settled the case for $15,000, but refused to sign a nondisclosure agreement, said that the case actually cost him $65,000 in legal fees.
So, how does this reflect on Footprints Floors? Have they redeemed their reputation, or does the ordeal paint them in a negative light after forcing a customer into silence?
Yelp issued the following statement regarding the situation: “Businesses that choose to sue their customers to silence them rather than address their comments, often bring additional unwanted attention to the original criticism.
“We frequently find that a better course of action, rather than suing your customers, is publicly responding to a critical review in the same forum.”
Eliminating the creation of negative feedback is not an option, says Prelini Udayan-Chiechi, VP Marketing EMEA, Bazaarvoice.
“Yet we still hearing of incidents where brands are “punishing” their customers for sharing online negative experiences,” said Udayan-Chiechi.
“While no brand likes to receive negative feedback or review, any effort to suppress legitimate, lower-rated or negative review content is not only a bad practice, but it’s also a missed opportunity for business owners and brands alike to better understand their customers and deliver the products and services they want.”
Embracing negative feedback allows organisations to gather insight into issues that they may not already be aware of, said Udayan-Chiechi, who argues that the experience could allow brands to make improvements to enhance the experience for their customers.
There is a thin line between redeeming undue damage to reputation and protecting consumer interests. What this case serves to remind us is how powerful online reviews are. With 77% of UK consumers saying they look online before making a purchase, it is easy to see why companies should take the medium very seriously, but is legal action a step too far?
Interesting article. I agree that all businesses should embrace customer feedback both positive and negative. As Bill Gates said, ‘Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning’Yelp don’t help the situation, regularly suppressing positive reviews for businesses and only highlighting the negative ones. Yell, Scoot, 192 & Google represent for more valuable and objective forums for customer reviews.
Great article. All businesses should get as much real customer feedback (good and bad). Then embrace the good and learn + engage with the customer to resolve any issues with the bad reviews. If issues are resolved then try to get the previously unimpressed customer to update their review with a positive (yay they sorted it out response), ideally in the same forum.
Surely Footprints Floors realised that their job was shoddy when they finished it – you risk bad reviews and the consequences of them if you do a half-assed job and don’t immediately make amends.
This case appears to suggest to reviewers: “you might get sued if your review is negative” which is abhorrent.
I agree with freedom of speech just as much as anyone, however thousands of businesses spend huge amounts of money creating awareness and generating business online. Disgruntled clients and ex-staff have the power to easily take down a business because they have an online presence. Is this fair?
If a consumer has issues there are channels of grievance that most developed countries have that were probably in place before the internet was a social tool.
I like the consept of Thankyoulocal.com (launches 4th of July 2015) The wesite is a place that allows you to publish your whole – hearted praises about the businesses and services that have made you feel positivity and pleasure. So this means my compliments dont get mixed with complaints. They actually incourage consumers to send the negitive feedback to the business directly through the website.
Obviously, making damaging public statements against a business has the risk of such an act being illegal. The reason it is illegal is because you could cause harm to others by exercising your right to freedom of speech.