Social business do or don’t? Suing customers for negative online posts
- 19 Comment
Last night I was on Fox Chicago News to discuss an investigative report regarding the use of social media. A Chicago-based plastic surgeon, upset about negative remarks made about him on Yelp and Citysearch, identified the posters via their IP addresses. The physician then sued three of them for $100,000 each for making false and defamatory statements. He can’t go after Yelp or Citysearch because they are protected by a federal law that does not allow websites to be sued over third-party postings.
This is not the first time a physician has sued for defamation because of unflattering or negative online comments. At the time this post was published, none have won. While I obviously don’t have all the facts, it doesn’t appear as though the physician (or a spokesperson) responded to any of the negative (or positive) online comments. It seems the most recent communication between the physician and former patients has taken place through the legal system.
Let’s take a step back and examine this from a public relations perspective. If this physician was your client and you identified the negative online comments, how would you advise he respond?
SCENARIO 1: If you agree with the decision to sue the consumers for defamation, why?
SCENARIO 2: If you think the suing the consumers wasn’t the right decision, what would you advise? Why?
SCENARIO 3: Do nothing. Say nothing.
SCENARIO 4: Make amends with the patients. Figure out what went wrong and fix it.
OTHER: Insert your own ending.
Let us know if you think this is a “do” or “don’t” in the comments.
You can view the segment, here:
19 Comments on this post
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Justin Goldsborough said:
Nice job on the segment, Sarah. I’d say I fall somewhere between scenarios 2 and 4 with a large jump over scenario 3. Suing makes you look guilty. Maybe it shouldn’t, but it does.
I advise brands regularly to listen in order to find opportunities to engage on a positive of customer service matter, but also to clear up misconceptions. People remember what they see online, even if they don’t take it to heart, the brain has a funny way of shooting that information to the forefront when the topic comes up later.
I don’t remember the exact examples, but Shel Holtz said at Blogworld that there have been some defamation cases against physicians lately where the legal costs to save their name ended up far outweighing the time it might have cost them to admit wrongdoing and try to fix the problem. We are a forgiving society. But people usually have to admit they’re wrong and try to make amends to be forgiven.
November 16th, 2010 at 6:09 pm -
PRsarahevans said:
I feel the same way about the guilt, Justin!
November 16th, 2010 at 6:10 pm -
Mark Van Baale said:
Sarah,
I remember you mentioned last night this particular case with this physician on Twitter and asked for thoughts from everyone. I would go with scenario 4. It is obvious that the patients had bad experiences with this physician and they have took to Yelp and Citysearch to express their viewpoints. Is it right how they have went about doing this? Not sure, however, they must not have got a response from the physician in question, so they felt they had to go to a public forum to air their thoughts.
In this case, I would suggest the physician take time to meet with these patients and try to make amends. If this does not go anywhere, then the physician can at least respond to the comments on Yelp and Citysearch by mentioning he tried to make amends.
November 16th, 2010 at 6:21 pm -
Nikki Stephan said:
Hi Sarah – I’m with Justin. We definitely are a forgiving society. The best thing individuals and companies can do when they receive negative reviews or commentary online is admit to the mistake (if they actually made a mistake), apologize and when feasible, individually reach out to the people who are upset and do what they can to make amends. Doing nothing is the worst possible option!
I’ll be interested to see what happens with this particular case.
November 16th, 2010 at 11:40 pm -
Printable Coupons said:
“If you make customers unhappy in the physical world, they might each tell 6 friends. If you make customers unhappy on the Internet, they can each tell 6,000 friends.”- JEFF BEZOS.
internet is a powerful media. one wrong move and it could destroy you.
November 17th, 2010 at 1:30 am -
Kairi said:
Suing definitely makes him look guilty. I’d advise him to be ready to get confronted publicly, and try to focus on speaking about the known risks of having plastic surgery. Also offer to retouch/redo all blotched surgeries free of charge. It’s only obvious that you have to pay for the mistakes that drowned your image and potentially your business. To build it back up, you have to gain the trust back.
Some years ago, I would have never heard of this Chicago plastic surgeon. This news would have been either Illinois local news or maybe nationwide, but a person in Estonia would have not heard of this. Now, thanks to social media, I know all about the guy to watch out for (for example). This guy’s problem is now international, not local.
November 17th, 2010 at 5:02 am -
car battery said:
Good segment. I think in some cases, the opinions of the consumers come off sounding so genuine that many tend to take them as real facts. And this can harm the physician(s) in question so they might have some sort of a case. So like you said, it’s imperative that the consumers themselves try to make it clear while posting that it’s their opinion or they ‘think’ something is a certain way rather than stating it as fact.
November 17th, 2010 at 6:12 am -
Miah Evans said:
Great post! I think it’s important for businesses to be on the look-out for negative comments and see what the audience is thinking. Suing? Maybe it’s a stretch. Depending on the severity of the negative comment, instead of suing, it may be a better idea for the business to release an official statement or response which “comes clean” about the issue at hand and tell what they are doing to alleviate any problems. Transparency is key!
November 17th, 2010 at 3:13 pm -
sell textbooks said:
I am actually quite surprised that the guy felt the need to sue. I am sure he still gets clients and I doubt a few bad remarks would ruin his business.
November 17th, 2010 at 4:27 pm -
Mike Ware said:
I’m a mix of 2 and 4. I work for a professional association representing physicians and spend about half my time on the road talking with them. This is an issue that is coming up more often. I always suggest they look at these comments as an opportunity to:
1. Engage the patient and make it right. This will often turn an unhappy patient into an advocate.
2. Improve – If they or their staff are coming off as insentitive, for example, online ratings are a good way to find out.
November 17th, 2010 at 6:39 pm -
Cheap SSL said:
Right on the money, thanks for this post! I find sometimes that people are different in person than their “online persona” and it’s always a bummer – and a red flag. We do business with people, not products. Thanks for sharing this ideal perspective
November 18th, 2010 at 7:38 am -
sell textbooks said:
I agree with you Cheap SSL. People are different on the net than in real life.
November 18th, 2010 at 3:28 pm -
Vip Araç Kiralama said:
“If you make customers unhappy in the physical world, they might each tell 6 friends. If you make customers unhappy on the Internet, they can each tell 6,000 friends.”- JEFF BEZOS…
Thanks thanks thanks.s…November 20th, 2010 at 7:26 am -
PRsarahevans said:
Right on!
November 24th, 2010 at 1:04 pm -
hz mehdi said:
generally people avoid to say what they want to say if they angry in real life. But on internet, people feels themselves free. millions of website accepting comments. Especially social website like facebook can be end of a company in a short time.
November 28th, 2010 at 8:10 pm -
hz mehdi said:
i want to give an example. A company which produce minced chicken machines. For advertising their machines they made a promotion video. But it is perfectly a disaster. Facebook debated this company.Watch this! facebook.com/video/video.php?v=116286021765886
November 28th, 2010 at 9:18 pm -
hz mehdi said:
If there is a negative post or comment on social media about companies we cant accuse one of them before inspect two side. Why customers write this kind of negative comments ? There must be a reason. Before suing consumers, companies must check them and figure out what went wrong.
November 28th, 2010 at 9:28 pm -
Web Development said:
Social media is powerful platform. Good statement of JEFF BEZOS. Try to convert negative feedback to positive.
November 29th, 2010 at 5:37 am
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