Fake or Unfair Negative Business Reviews - Sutton Laurence King Lawyers Melbourne

Fight Fake Or Unfair Negative Business Reviews

Unfair business reviews can be damaging to your business, so it’s important to find a way to address negative feedback without compromising your brand’s integrity. Our guidance can help.

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Protect your Online Reputation from Fake Reviews

The Emotional Toll: More Than Just Words on a Screen

For small business owners, their business isn’t just a job—it’s a passion and a dream brought to life. Negative reviews, especially unjustified ones, aren’t simply critiques of a product or service. They often feel like personal attacks. This emotional response is understandable. When you pour your heart and soul into your business, it becomes a reflection of yourself. Unfair reviews can lead to sleepless nights, anxiety, and doubts about your business’s future, which can take a toll on mental health.

The Financial Repercussions: A Ripple Effect on Revenue

Negative reviews don’t just affect feelings, they can hurt the bottom line. Studies show that even one bad review can drive away potential customers. For a small business, where every customer counts, this can be especially damaging. Fewer customers lead to lower sales, which makes it harder to cover costs, invest in growth, or maintain service levels. In severe cases, it can even threaten the business’s survival.

Get guidance on the best strategies to legally remove bad reviews

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The Importance of a Positive Online Reputation
In today’s world, most consumers rely on online reviews to make buying decisions. Maintaining a positive online reputation isn’t just helpful—it’s crucial. Good reviews attract new customers and build trust. On the flip side, negative reviews, especially false or unfair ones, can erode trust and drive away potential business.
For small businesses, the stakes are even higher. Negative reviews aren’t just annoying—they can directly threaten the business’s future and success.
We can help you use the law to remove unfair reviews

Take the Right Legal Action Against False Reviews

Fake or unfair reviews can damage your brand's reputation and drag down your online visibility. Don't let online bullies win. Take steps to protect your business. Get expert legal advice on how to best protect your business and defend your reputation.

You have a limited time to take action about a negative review.

You also need to take the right action.

There are several legal avenues for removing fake or unfair business reviews. These include defamation, injurious falsehood, contractual interference, and misleading and deceptive conduct. Each of these avenues offers a different approach to tackling the issue, depending on the nature of the review and the specific circumstances of your business.

Defamation

Defamation involves a where a false statement is published and causes serious harm to a person’s reputation or business. For sole traders and small businesses, defamation law can be used to remove false or unfair reviews. However, larger businesses are restricted from making defamation claims under Australian law.

Injurious Falsehood

Injurious falsehood is similar to defamation but requires proof of actual financial loss caused by the false statement. This route is often more suitable for businesses as it focuses on the financial or economic harm done by the false review, rather than just reputational damage. There is no restriction on larger companies making injurious falsehood claims.

Contractual Interference

Sometimes, false reviews can be seen as an interference with contractual relations. This occurs when the reviewer’s actions intentionally disrupt the business relationships you have, causing you loss. Legal action in such cases requires proving that the reviewer’s conduct directly led to a breach or termination of business contracts.

Misleading and Deceptive Conduct

Under the Australian Consumer Law, businesses are protected from conduct that is misleading or deceptive, or likely to mislead or deceive. This can include false reviews that paint an untrue picture of your business. However, the conduct needs to have been undertaken “in trade and commerce” so this tends to apply when a competitor is attacking your business with fake reviews.

Each option has its complexities and requirements, but we can help you effectively address and remove false and unfair reviews.

Protect your business from unfair reviews

Having a firm understanding of what constitutes a false review and where legal action is often the most effective solution can help ensure your business reputation remains intact.