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Google reviews and how to respond to them...

Mike Robbins

Full Sticker
Oct 26, 2011
16
6
First Name
Mike
Hi everybody,

We recently had a negative review from a customer. There is not a shred of truth in her review, but we take our online reputation very seriously.

Here is what she wrote, "Be prepard to be taken advantage of! Especially if you are a female. Purchased used Mercedes off lot. Have been pouring money into repairs only 6 months of having it! Took heafty down payment, and burried it somewhere in loan. Horrific experience! Very shady!! Buyers beware"

I tried to post a review with a response that states, "Dear Honestperson, we at Global Motor Company take our online reputation very seriously. With over 15 years in business and thousands of satisfied customers, this situation that you describe is not reflective of our "Customer First" philosophy and our "Best Business" practices. If this is indeed a valid concern from a real customer, please contact our office and speak directly with our General Manager at 239-332-8066. Often times, we provide service or repairs to our customers at no charge or at cost long after warranty coverage has expired, even if we are under no obligation to do so. We do this in good faith, and our high rate of repeat and referral customers show this. Regarding down payment and financing, state and federal laws are very strict, in which we obligate ourselves to follow on every transaction."

I published the post, but now when you search us on google, the follow-up post does not show. It only shows when I'm logged into google. In other words, we want any consumers reading our reviews to see our follow-up efforts.

Any ideas on what's happening and why our follow-up review is not posting?

Thanks,
Mike
 
Last edited:
Hi Mike,

I did a little detective work and found your Google Places/Maps listing. In order to respond to reviews you've got to claim your location. Go to: Google Places . Under the "Get your business found" click the "Get Started" link. That will run you through the process. If the phone number in the listing is accurate you can do phone verification right away. Otherwise it will take about 2 weeks to get a postcard.

Once you've claimed your business any review response will be public and it will be labeled "Response from owner". You can also add photos, videos, and coupons to your listing.

Pro tip: Do not use your personal Google/Gmail account when you claim your business. Create a separate business profile. That way if you ever want to let someone else go in and respond to reviews for your store, you won't be giving them access to your personal stuff.

Let us know if you hit any snags.
 
If this is indeed a valid concern from a real customer, please contact our office and speak directly with our General Manager at 239-332-8066.
I know you're looking for help in getting the response visible, but if I may: I'm going back and forth on this line, as I understand what you are trying to imply, however the public response to a negative review should really focus in on the other people who will read it and not just the reviewer. I would wordsmith it to be more along the lines of "Our General Manager is really disappointed you did not share this experience and he would love the opportunity to talk to you and help rectify the situation. He can be reached at: 239-332-8066".

My 2 cents for what it's worth,

Chip-
 
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Hi Mike,

I did a little detective work and found your Google Places/Maps listing. In order to respond to reviews you've got to claim your location. Go to: Google Places . Under the "Get your business found" click the "Get Started" link. That will run you through the process. If the phone number in the listing is accurate you can do phone verification right away. Otherwise it will take about 2 weeks to get a postcard.

Once you've claimed your business any review response will be public and it will be labeled "Response from owner". You can also add photos, videos, and coupons to your listing.

Pro tip: Do not use your personal Google/Gmail account when you claim your business. Create a separate business profile. That way if you ever want to let someone else go in and respond to reviews for your store, you won't be giving them access to your personal stuff.

Let us know if you hit any snags.

Thank you Glenn,

My first day here was last Friday and one of the first things I did was register/update our company on Google Places, Yahoo, Manta, etc. I'm waiting for the postcard to come from Google Places as they won't verify/update our Place Page until we've received the postcard. Also, thank you for the tip!