Monday 6 June 2016

Unfair negative reviews hurt! The Nearwater story

Some of you may recall the B&B at St Mawes that featured in the national press. Here it is in the Times...


  "In our seven years of operation this has been the worst start to the season we've had. It is terribly damaging to us."

And the Telegraph...


Here's the review on Google....


Google's T&Cs expressly prohibit writing a review of a business where the reviewer has no first-hand knowledge of the business under review. So we drafted an appeal for Nearwater.

Here's their Google listing today (sorted by 'lowest score')...

  The review has gone, and once Google's algorithm catches up, their score will be back up to their previous unblemished 4.9 (or perhaps even 5.0)




The harmful rich snippet - by 'S' - will also disappear when Google's algorithm refreshes

Lessons for everyone:
  1. Negative reviews hurt businesses; just read Tim Whitaker's comments to the papers
  2. Google would never - corporately - suggest a business 'get friends and family to write reviews' and we have never - and would never - advise a client to do so
  3. Google reviews are appealable, but you must go through the correct procedure - ask us and we will advise - and, if needs be, draft your appeal
  4. You won't be able to appeal a review if it could reasonably be described as 'fair comment' (however unpalatable)
  5. Consult HelpHound immediately. We will use our experience and expertise to advise you on the likelihood of success of any appeal

Update 9 June 2016

This today from the owners: 



And their Google score back where it should be:



 




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