How Not To Respond To A Bad Review

By Kyle Reyes

There's not a single business owner out there who likes to see a bad review.

But in what is sure to become a classic lesson on how NOT to respond, a business owner in Midtown Manhattan has found himself...dialing back...his response.

Ron Gordon owns Watch Repair at 280 Madison Avenue in New York.  Matthew Brand says he saw the great reviews on Yelp for the store, so he brought his antique pocket watch in for repair.

Long story short, Brand wasn't pleased that they couldn't fix it...saying they'd have to send it back to the manufacturer.  Brand says after a competing store repaired his watch on site, he left Gordon's shop a two star review on Yelp.

That was in 2013.  Flash forward to last week.  Brand opens his mail...and finds a letter from Gordon's attorney, telling him to take down the review or face a defamation lawsuit.

According to the letter, Brand's review was "misleading and in certain respects false and defamatory of Ron Gordon in his profession, (and) has also appeared on Google and has detrimentally affected his business and sales."

Brand's response?  "That's bullying.  You know, that's saying: 'I have more money than you.  Take down your post.  It's being aggressive, and it's just not right."

Here's the irony.  Gordon is now getting BLASTED on Yelp.  Click here to check it out.  

Retail shops.  Professional services.  Restaurants.  Car dealerships.  Reviews are something each and every industry must deal with.  The question is HOW you respond.  And our team sees poor strategies all over the place.  Owners ignoring reviews...or almost worse - not even knowing about them.

It's one of the reasons why The Silent Partner Marketing helps small businesses deal with negative reviews.  Our reputation management services help you get more positive reviews for your small business and deal with the negative reviews in a way that can actually help your business.

Listen - we get it.  Getting a negative review stinks.  But you can't go around threatening to SUE people who you ticked off to begin with.  Yes, this is America.  Yes, we're filled with ridiculous lawsuits.  But sometimes America fights back.  And wins.  And leaves you yelping in pain.

(Above: The perfect response to a bad review.)

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Written by Kyle Reyes

Kyle Reyes is the President and Creative Director of The Silent Partner Marketing, a boutique marketing firm focused on helping businesses grow in an age of exploding technology.  You can find him on Google+, Facebook and Twitter.  He's the Chuck Norris of marketing.  It's outrageous - we know.  That's kind of the point.