Customers generally leave online reviews based on the quality of items or services they get from a business. Normally, the review will provide the customer's insight, which will subsequently help potential customers decide whether the product is worth buying or not. In any case, if the review is bogus or slanderous, a business can hire a business litigation attorney in NYC and seek legal action against the reviewer for purposefully posting deceptive or negative reviews.

How do negative reviews affect businesses?

The digital age has buyers reviewing everything about their lives on websites like TripAdvisor, Yelp, Google, and Facebook. This review culture has induced itself so much in us that leaving an online review has become an expected practice after completing a dinner, checking into a hotel, buying clothes from a store, or leaving any doctor's office.

What started out as a harmless practice of trying to make products and services better has become something that organizations have to battle with and figure out how to do so expertly and accurately with the help of law firms NYC. While a complaint about an office receptionist being discourteous may appear as an honest example of free speech to the customer, it can cost the business much more than just that one customer.

85% of buyers trust online reviews as much as recommendations from friends and family. 60% of shoppers say that negative reviews make them not have any desire to buy a product or service. And you may not realize it, but an extra star on Yelp rating can result in an expansion in the business' profit by as much as 9%.

Reviews can be wrecking for an organization's reputation and its objectives. Not only do reviews on sites like Yelp matter, but a basic Google search can easily list all past complaints. The significance of having positive internet reviews has driven many organizations to take all the necessary steps to safeguard their 5-star ratings, to the point of hiring top law firms in NYC and pressing legal charges on the complainer.

Factors that determine whether to sue somebody for a bad review

As an entrepreneur or individual, you can sue someone for pretty much anything, but only if you can prove that your reason is legitimate. All things considered, when it comes to reviews, just because you're right doesn't imply that you'll find success after suing the bad customer. There are also different implications in the court of general assessment. The following are a couple of reasons a business can refer to for a claim:

1. Defamation of character
2. Libel
3. Slander
4. Intentional interference with business expectancy
5. Infringement of privacy rights
6. Breaking a contract

"Slander versus Negative Review"

Slander can be portrayed as a misleading statement presented as a reality, which ends up damaging the reputation of an individual, business, or entity. For example, if a statement made by a customer is misleading and a business loses clients because of that bogus claim, it very well might be viewed as slander. Defamation can be viewed as libel or slander, and it tends to be hurtful to any business.

On the other hand, a negative review is a bad opinion that is presented as a poor experience of a client with an organization's products or services. Negative reviews may either be decent constructive criticism offering advice on improvements or terrible negative reviews, which are mostly a customer’s anger talking. For example, a legit and fair review of a product explains what problems the product has and how they suffered because of it.

Kinds of Defamation

There are two kinds of defamation — libel and slander.

Libel: Libel is any bogus or slanderous assertion expressed in a written form, or through pictures, signs, print, or some other specialized technique presented in physical form.

Slander: Slander is any false or abusive assertion made orally, most commonly through speeches.

What Needs To Be Shown To Prove Defamation?

To prove defamation against your business, hire top law firms in New York and show the following key components:

1. The defendant has stated a bogus complaint and is claiming it to be genuine.
2. The defendant has spread these bogus assertions to an outsider party.
3. The assertion is unprivileged or non-classified.
4. The defamatory assertion has brought damage, injury, or different misfortunes to the business (the offended party).

Suing for a Bad Review

In many states, reviews are safeguarded under the First Amendment Act or Anti-SLAPP rule. So remember, before you can sue for a negative survey, you ought to decide whether the review would qualify as libel or slander or whether it would be safeguarded by free speech under the First Amendment Act.

How to prove defamation?

To sue for a negative review, your business attorney NYC will first have to prove that the claim qualifies as slander. This requires that the assertion fall under the following reasons:

1. It was a misleading statement
2. It was distributed to an outsider (someone other than the person who brought the case).
3. It was offered as an expression of reality, instead of an opinion.
4. It harmed the reputation of the criticized party.
5. It was anything but a favored or classified review.

Potential Damages from Negative Reviews

The following damages might be presented in a defamation lawsuit by a business lawyer NYC:

1. Genuine or compensatory harm for actual lost profit caused by erroneous articulation or criticism
2. Non-financial harms to act as pay for the organization's harmed reputation
3. Alleviating damages to lessen the loss endured by the organization
4. The corrective harm is to additionally rebuff the reviewer.

How to write a business review

The main reason for lawsuits over online reviews is that the reviews are essentially false. While everyone has the right to express their opinions, while reviewing anything online, you must carefully pick your language while composing reviews to avoid writing anything that may be false. So, before you write a review, answer the following questions in your head first:

1. What did you truly encounter?
2. What is your perspective?
3. Might it be said that you are being fair to the organization or person?
4. What suggestions might you make to improve the experience?
5. Who is truly liable for this experience?
6. Are there any significant details that you've forgotten about?
7. Could you back your claims and cases with evidence?
8. Are your opinions constructive criticism or hateful speech?

Anyone wanting to review a business must always keep in mind that while writing a review, words and expressions can easily be misunderstood, or taken out of context, particularly when someone's feelings get hurt. Remember that as long as the review depends on reality and an individual’s perspective, it will not qualify for a lawsuit and you won't need any lawyers in New York City to save you.