How do I handle this?

Problem with false information hurting sales

[WebFusion]

I have an interesting problem, and am wondering the best way to proceed.

We operate a small affiliate program with our business, and have done so successfully (and without complaint) for quite awhile.

Recently, I was alerted to an affiliate prgram "review" site that had posted a negative review about our site/program.

Specifcally, this person had a problem from some reason signing up for our program, and posted a review that said our contact/sigup forms do not work (they work fine -it is some kind of browser issue).

That in itself would be no big deal. However the "review" page that he posted his comments on carries the title in the search engines of "Affiliates Scam, Fraud complaints and comments of [oursite.com].

This has caused it to come up as the #3 SERP when searching for our company name (which many customers do). Now, we obviously have not "scammed" or defrauded anyone (we've been BBB members for over 3 years without a single compaint) simply because this person was unable to sign up for our program.

The issue here is, when someone searches for our company, they see in big bold letters the words "Affiliates Scam, Fraud complaints" associated with our company. This is hurting sales (it was actually brought to our attention by a customer).

Ordinarily, I would just let my lawyer handle this with a cease & desist, but this person is located in BELARUS.

I've already tried emailing him, and he simply responded with "your forms still don't work" (not that I would approve him anyway ;-)

What are my options?

[jdMorgan]

Did you ask about his browser/OS configuration? In addition to trying to get rid of the negative review about your site, you should also find out about this "browser issue" because if your forms don't work for him, they may not work for others, and that *can* be seen as a legitimate complaint. If you can't get an answer from him, then a round of browser compatibility testing would seem to be in order.

Who is in Belarus, the review web site operator or the complainant? If you can contact the site operator, you have a legitimate complaint against the site in that it lumps site operability problems in with scams and fraud; that's simply not fair. So think in terms of separating the technical problem (forms) from the public relations problem, and address both.

Jim

[WebFusion]

Actually, we've already done quite a bit of testing across all platforms, without a hitch.

The website operater/person commenting are one and the same (it's just a small one-man run site).

The issue is the terminology. I have no problem with the fact that he posted a review on his site stating he had problems with our signup/contact forms. The issue is the wording he's used (i.e. scam and fraud compaints).

I've tried "reasoning" with the person and asked he simply remove the offensive language, but he has refused, as he somehow feels "wronged" by the fact that he is unable to signup for our program.

Both the site and the operator are located in Belarus.

[Raymond]

If you search "Microsoft products" on Google, you'll find 2 very negative listings about Microsoft on the first page and tons and tons more on the rest of the google search page.

My point is, someone, somewhere will hate your business for no apparent reason. Freedom of speech. You can't really do anything about it, especially on the internet.

[raymond4unc]

Bad news coverage is better than none, someone has said. I know I would look just "to see" how bad you were and would understand if something didn't jump out at me, it was at least 50/50 someone was just having a bad day over you had a bad product.

[DaveAtIFG]

A few friends could post some comments or send some email about how much they like your affiliate program I suppose... ;)

[chicagohh]

You could try building enough sites optimized for your name that you shove the bad review site off the front page.

It shouldn't be that difficult and with all the extra sites posting glowing reviews you may end up with more business.

[ytswy]

Are you sure that the actual server is located in Belarus?

I don't imagine there's too many Belarussian hosting companies - if he is with one then your only options that I can see are the Belarus legal system, or taking the issue up with Google.

[Zigire]

Webfusion: The only thing I can think of by looking at the form on your site (wasn't too difficult to find) - that may cause I problem - is the JavaScript checks?