Got a 1 star review on Google today

[joey895]

I'm still out working so I haven't responded yet.

She's upset that I don't service her area. Now the truth is I have no idea if I service her area or not because she didn't call but even if I don't that seems like a crappy reason to give somebody a bad review.

Especially when I do service a huge area, it's a solid hour and a half from one end to the other.

She mentions a map I think she's talking about the map that Google shows that only shows like the block that your address is on.

http://www.google.com/m/place?hq=carpet ... kxdzp6Nrrw

Ps When I do respond will it send her an email letting her know?

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[Charlie Lyman]

That is pretty jacked up. You probably don't want to work for her anyways.
I would respond nicely by saying "I understand that you are upset about being out of our service area. Unfortunately we have to set limitations on where we will drive to so we can service our customers in a timely manner. If you would be willing, I can send a crew over to move your house into our area and then you can be added to our list of satisfied customers. If this does not satisfy your complaining self, then I can find a short pier for you to take a long walk on."

 

[Connor]

A polite business like explanation of why you don't service her area, and even note in your reply that you don't have any recollection of any call from her. People will judge your polite response as much as they do her complaint.

 

[dealtimeman]

As mentioned above, be very careful as you respond. It will make a difference. I Also would like to know if she attempts to contact you after you respond.

 

[jcooper]

Joey,
That blows, what a crappy thing to do. This lady is clueless!


Nice website.

 

[FredC]

Why respond? Why not try and get it removed first? Mark as inappropriate with a note. No basis to review your company and could very well be a competitor.

It would be like me leaving bad reviews for in-n-out cause I can't get them here

 

[dealtimeman]

Actually reading all of it again, I would have to agree with Fred. The review should be removed on the basis that you never provided a service to her to be reviewed.

 

[The Great Oz]

You can try to get it removed but this is one that can work in your favor. I'd recommend a light-hearted response apologizing for being so good that people from far, far away are upset you don't work in their town. Add a "thanks for thinking of us!"

You currently have a Google Places map that shows a 50 mile circle, even out to sea. You can easily customize that to be a more accurate map of the towns in your service area (and skip the ocean) which might be more helpful for you and your customers. And, you get to name the towns so you'll get some SEO benefit as well.

PS: Good for you sticking to your service area. Too many guys chase work too far and end up burning profits driving.

 

[idreadnought]

that is an awesome 1 star review. it shows the customers looking that not all the reviews are good but it also gives you a great chance to counter it with... Im sorry. And That you may know a good carpet cleaner in there are you could refer them too.

 

[Jim Martin]

that is an awesome 1 star review. it shows the customers looking that not all the reviews are good but it also gives you a great chance to counter it with... Im sorry. And That you may know a good carpet cleaner in there are you could refer them too.

I agree...I would just respond something like...." I am sorry that I do not service your area...But I will be happy to see if I can find someone that offers the same quality as you expect from me to help you out"

 

[FredC]

That is what it might show now because its visible..if the customer applies the same analysis..a few more reviews and it wont be visible without the customer having to perform more actions to see it. At that point it only has negative value which would be added to any future negative reviews.

If he had only four reviews and needed that one to be more visible I might say keep it but he has 17 so I don't see any value in it.

Respond to legitimate complaints. Try to get rid of ones that aren't...leave the response as an option if it can't be removed.

 

[jcooper]

Good luck getting google or any site to remove a bad review!

We had a lady give us a bad review for responding to her email with an email(she gave no phone#), went to her junk folder. She never saw it, gave us a neg. review. Said she couldn't get a hold of us! Pick up a phone dumbass! Never did any work for her.

Spent 3 months emailing google with NO response. Had to delete the listing and start over.

I do agree w/everyone, it's actually a somewhat good - bad review.

Trust me, if you wait for google to do something about it, going to be a long(never) time.

 

[FredC]

I've had success getting quite a few reviews removed.....


This one has a few factors that may help it get removed faster.

The person did not use the business and says so.
The reviewer has only posted one review on places.
The grammar is bad.

Can easily be claimed as spam/competitor.

again....attempting removal would be my first choice....if I couldn't then I would respond

 

[Bob Foster]

You can try to get it removed but this is one that can work in your favor. I'd recommend a light-hearted response apologizing for being so good that people from far, far away are upset you don't work in their town. Add a "thanks for thinking of us!"

You currently have a Google Places map that shows a 50 mile circle, even out to sea. You can easily customize that to be a more accurate map of the towns in your service area (and skip the ocean) which might be more helpful for you and your customers. And, you get to name the towns so you'll get some SEO benefit as well.

PS: Good for you sticking to your service area. Too many guys chase work too far and end up burning profits driving.

I agree.

 

[Royal Man]

Just bury it with several 5 star reviews.

Most prospects will see it as ridiculous anyway.

 

[joey895]

Is there any reason I can't flag it in hopes of getting it removed AND respond to it in the meantime? Or would I be locking it in place by responding?

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[FredC]

that would be my fear (locking it)......but I have no idea whether it would happen or not..........

 

[rhino1]

check the review on your mobile phone, it may simply show up as a one star review with no explanation - in that case you need to do something about it quickly

 

[Connor]

No, just reply right away, google doesn't hardly remove anything, unless its an obvious positive review by the owner.

 

[Brian R]

What Yoakum said.

Just leave it, respond to it professionally.

Bury it with other reviews and it will actually help your business.

A 1 star review "ads" to the amount of reviews so it's a better than a worse IMO.


Most people won't read all the reviews anyway.. .Maybe the first few... They might scroll to find a bad one..... and if you have to have a bad one.... That's a good bad one to have.

 

[joey895]

So I sent a request to Google to remove the review and they said this .....

Hello,

Based on the current information, we do not think the review in question
violates Google's product policies, so we will not be removing the review
from Google Maps. If you are a business owner concerned about a review
that you feel to be unfounded, please consult the following page that
explains a feature of Google Places that allows business owners to respond
directly to posted reviews:

I'll be typing up a response to the review this afternoon.

 

[renegade_cowboy]

Its not like its a bad review, anyone with half a brain with think the reviewer is beyond nit picking. I would just apologize for not servicing the area and that you would be more than happy to help find her a more local company she can use. Other viewers will respect that you were trying to help that person out.

 

[Vivers]

This is just retarded! This is what is so scary about the online world. I cant believe Google will not remove it? I do agree that anybody reading it will think this person is and idiot but, I still don't think it is fair at all.

 

[FredC]

You will find you receive a similar canned response if you report a competitor violating the TOS using multiple accounts, po box/ups, etc.

"We have investigated, blah blah blah....owner verified blah blah blah......"

There is a way to get things done....and then there is the way to get canned email responses...........


but...like I said...a response would be my second choice.......

 

[joey895]

Yep, it was clearly canned. They didn't look at anything. I got that response I'd say less than 30 seconds from sending the request.

Fred PM sent.