Subscribe
Derogatory Customer Feedback Online: Should Your Company Delete It?
I received a reader question a little while ago related to the freedom customers have in leaving public feedback about a company, and how a company should treat derogatory comments when they have the ability to delete them. While the question specifically asks about Facebook accounts, it equally applies to company websites, blogs, and other social media tools where you have the ability to censor comments.
Assuming someone puts a derogatory or perceived derogatory comment on your Facebook page (and you are a company), do you take it down to address it, or do you leave it up there with a note that you will be contacting them if you know how to get in touch?
First, I’m happy to see that the question wasn’t a case of simply censoring negative comments, but still being willing to address them even if removed.
More to the point, I have to say there’s no clear cut answer for this one. There are a few things to consider:
1. Does the poster want an actual, and personal, solution to the problem or are they bitching just to bitch?
My philosophy is this: bitch to your heart’s content as long as there’s a real problem, but be prepared to take credit for your comments. If they aren’t giving you any option to contact them (no phone number, email address, or even a Web link where you could find that), then they don’t want a personal solution that badly. Does that mean you should delete anything that’s anonymous? I don’t think so. But there’s a real difference between an anonymous comment laying out a reasonable suggestion or exposing a real customer issue with your product or company that could be addressed for every customer’s sake and an anonymous comment that’s unnecessarily heated because someone was posting-while-pissed.
2. Is the language inappropriate for your site (or profile)?
What’s considered tolerable language for one audience may be completely inappropriate for another. If you don’t want to allow swearing on your incoming comments, that’s fine. But make that clear up front in a comment policy, so there’s no question as to why something may have been removed. If you don’t have such a policy in place, you run a bigger risk of it stifling conversations with other customers if they worry you’re simply going to delete anything you don’t agree with.
3. Is it libelous?
While I’m all for free speech, there’s no place for libel. Your company certainly shouldn’t feel required to host it or support it by allowing it to stay in your comments just because you don’t want to be known for overly censoring feedback.
4. Is it really a derogatory comment?
I don’t think it’s acceptable for any company to censor comments just because they don’t agree with what was said. I’d be careful about limiting the scope of what the company considers inappropriate, so as not to turn away potentially valuable constructive criticisms (look at it this way - it’s free market research).
There are cases where deleting feedback may be the most appropriate course of action, but remember that there are consequences. If you’re overly liberal in using your delete button, you’re going to turn some potentially mild and constructive situations into much more heated ones. Would you rather encourage a wide range of honest feedback on your profile page or website, or would you rather have an oddly peachy view there, but even more venomous attacks on the major consumer reporting websites which quite possibly reach more of your potential customers than your Facebook profile does? I’d choose the former. One of the greatest things your company can do for its reputation, especially online, is to be responsive to customer feedback. As long as you don’t choose to turn a blind eye to anything and everything that’s critical of your company, you’ll put yourself in a better position to do just that.
For Further Enlightenment
There are very few reasons to delete a negative comment outside of obvious intent to do harm. If there is any merit to the complaint, it should be addressed.
The most common obstacle people have in these situations is a lack of empathy for their customers. It doesn’t matter if facts are being misconstrued or there’s a lack of understanding. The only thing that matters is the market’s perception of what’s real. Once you have a handle on that, you can use facts to better explain things to bring their perception in line with reality (if in fact that’s the problem. But most people start their responses with “You are wrong becuz…” which only leads to a battle of egos.
Starting off a response with, “I am sorry you feel or see things that way” is more likely going to open the door to a meeting of the minds. And a far less painful resolution to the complaint.
And lastly, if there’s one complainer, there are many more who simply walked away without complaining and much less likely to return. Be thankful for the complainer because you otherwise may be completely unaware of the damage being done by your company, messaging, staff and/or product.
I think it depends if it is an isolated incident or a flawed business model. If it is minor and isolated it might be good to show the community how a business resolves issues. If it is continuous slandering it might just be a flawed business model that needs to be visited.
[...] Jennifer Mattern at the Naked PR Blog listed a few suggestions as to when it might be OK for a company to remove comments in her post, “Derogatory Customer Feedback Online: Should Your Company Delete It?” [...]
I am working on the website of a local security company. One of the techniques salesman use at competing companies is to seed Citysearch and similar sites with anonymous but completely false and ugly reviews. We also have the case of a former employee who was fired and now posts damaging comments on review pages. How do I combat that?
While I understand you can’t please everyone all the time, false reviews are impacting this client’s business. We are testing a follow up program. After 90 days if a new client posts an online review, either good or bad, that’s not anonymous and sends us the link, they can receive a $25 Visa Gift Card.
As far as negative reviews, they’re often just a fact of life. One of the groups I used to work with was authors. The fear some of them have of negative reviews is astounding, but the facts are simple… not everyone is going to like what they write, and not everyone is going to like your client’s company.
If the comments are essentially an effort to sabotage (from the competition) or they’re libelous and doing real damage, then talking to an attorney might be the only effective way to go. But when it comes to the competition, you’d probably need some real evidence before any site is going to give up user data showing that’s who it is (and it’s very unlikely that they would without a court order to do so).
From strictly a PR perspective the company has to choose whether to ignore or engage. That decision has to be made on a case-by-case basis. My preference in cases like these would be to focus on the positive. If there are that many negative reviews that it’s doing the company harm I’d ask the company “where are all of the POSITIVE reviews to counteract them?” If they’re not getting many, then there’s probably a real problem there. They could improve in some area. They need to focus on the positive aspects of their business and work to get exposure, reviews, etc. built around those things. If people aren’t spreading the word in a good way, you (and the client) should be wondering “why?”
I would absolutely not “buy” reviews though, negative or positive, especially with the new FTC guidelines regarding this same kind of compensation for reviews. If these review sites are covered (and I won’t speak to that), then your customers would have to disclose that they’d receive a gift card when they post those reviews. That disclosure (while necessary) could cast doubt on the validity of those positive reviews — not something you want readers wondering. If they don’t disclose, your client could end up fined (review the guidelines with a lawyer to clarify and find out how they apply to your client specifically — I’m not one, and won’t give actual legal advice).