Business owners make a regular practice of using testimonials in their marketing. Many businesses also ask customers to leave reviews on public third-party platforms like Google, Yelp, or Facebook. 

The goal is to capture those positive experiences to help attract more clients and customers. But these public reviews also mean you’re opening yourself up to criticism and negative reviews. 

How should you deal with negative reviews? In this episode, I look at this from a couple of different angles based on questions I’ve been asked before. Can you legally prevent the posting of a negative review, and can you threaten to sue to have one taken down? Let’s dive into it!

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In this episode:

[03:18] - Can you legally prevent someone from leaving you a negative review?

[03:51] - The Consumer Review Fairness Act (CRFA) protects honest consumer assessments. Danielle discusses what used to happen before its enactment in 2016.

[05:18] - What does the Consumer Review Fairness Act cover?

[06:01] - The CRFA does allow you to manage certain types of content in reviews.

[06:50] - What if someone leaves a dishonest review? Instead of fighting to get it taken down, you can try this instead.

[07:01] - Danielle reveals one important thing to note about the CRFA.

[08:19] - Can you take certain actions against someone who posts a negative review on your own platform or website? The CRFA doesn’t cover this, but the FTC has a clear position.

[08:51] - Danielle discusses the recent settlement agreement between the FTC and Fashion Nova that precipitated the FTC’s position.

[10:00] - Can you threaten a lawsuit to remove negative reviews left on a third-party platform? If you’re considering it, keep these things in mind.

[12:17] - Danielle reveals your action steps for today.

 

Links & Resources:

Episode 45: “Using Testimonials”

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