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How to Respond: Someone Posting "Hearsay" Reviews of my Product Online

by JennSpencerIM
5 replies
How would you respond if you found someone/someones posting information about your product online and telling people what was in it/that is wasn't worth the money/that the information could be found free, etc....and those people have NOT purchased the product? They are just saying that they have purchased other products about said topic and didn't find them helpful. Or that they have "heard" people didn't like it.

Beyond asking them to kindly remove the forum post (which was not well received and put up a fight), is there anything legit you can do when someone "reviews" a product they have never purchased? Isn't there some law or regulation against doing this?!?

Thanks in advance!
Jenn
#hearsay #online #posting #product #respond #reviews
  • Profile picture of the author getsmartt
    You Know,....I would probably just add a post to the thread stating that I could find no record of their purchase, and offer them a refund if they would supply their purchase information. When they fail to respond, because they obviously did not buy the product, It should publicly embarass and humiliate them enough to discredit their review. Also, you might try publicly asking for any "specific" information that they found that was not worth the money? again humiliate and embarass...

    JMHO
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  • Profile picture of the author HigherPrThanGod
    Originally Posted by JennSpencerIM View Post

    How would you respond if you found someone/someones posting information about your product online and telling people what was in it/that is wasn't worth the money/that the information could be found free, etc....and those people have NOT purchased the product? They are just saying that they have purchased other products about said topic and didn't find them helpful. Or that they have "heard" people didn't like it.

    Beyond asking them to kindly remove the forum post (which was not well received and put up a fight), is there anything legit you can do when someone "reviews" a product they have never purchased? Isn't there some law or regulation against doing this?!?

    Thanks in advance!
    Jenn
    The FCC or some big government whore did pass some kind internet/blog testimonial crack down for POSITIVE reviews which were bull, but I don't think it dealt with hearsay reviews.

    I like less regulation and more freedom.

    I use hearsay reviews to talk me out of buying programs. I guess it would suck for you though. lol.. I think the key is if the program is truly good I think the positive reviews should largely outweigh the bad ones. Like there might be some people who negative hearsay reviews on Micro Niche Finder but I'll tell you right now that's my favorite piece of software and they pay me nothing (at least on here..) for saying that.

    It should all even out.
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  • Profile picture of the author iVentureBiz
    I'd definitely follow getsmartt's advice... At least making some kind of response shows good faith. The only problem lies in if this people own the forum and can easily delete your post...

    Unfortunately other than that I'm pretty sure there isn't much you can do since freedom of speech is in effect and everyone has the right to state their opinion... The fact they are giving away information that's in the product raises some questions - however unless the information is propriety and is not publicly known trade secrets you MIGHT has a case... provided this person is in your country and you can get them into court.

    Really this is a downside to the internet is that in a lot of cases there isn't anything you can do. Piracy, image smearing...etc. It's just the cost of doing business. Do a google search for any company/product and "sucks" and you're bound to get results.

    The best thing you can do is try to address it directly.
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  • Profile picture of the author oneplusone
    The best thing to do is to rise above it, you have to come across as the voice of authority/maturity in the situation.

    If you are going to respond it is critical you don't come across as confrontational or upset about it.

    You must make it clear you respect everyone's opinion. Then make it clear why your product/service is very good in a mature manner and how it can benefit people.
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  • Profile picture of the author JennSpencerIM
    Thanks all. I was going to do just what getsmartt suggested but comments were closed for the post. I ended up just PMing them to give them refund info. I didn't want to make it a huge issue and cause a fuss...we have tons and tons of positive responses from customers and a super small return percentage. I'm working now to make the testimonials from actual customers better know so its actually been a good thing that I found that in the first place! Just wanted to make sure there wasn't anything I could do to stop false reviews...silly that you can't make false positive reviews but false negative ones are okay!
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