As a business owner, how do you deal with being attacked on the internet and what kind of suggestions do you have?

First of all, does it matter?  Often it doesn't, but if it does, be calm, professional and factual.  If the attack is unwarranted, there are usually facts to refute whatever was said. If the attack was warranted, welcome it and use it as an area where you can improve - even thank them for the heads-up.  Never attack back.  Put yourself in the shoes of your audience.  Normally, these dog fights are uninteresting and more often than not, alienate them from anyone involved.

Like all small business owners, the first time we experienced this we felt hurt, surprised and frankly offended. Truth be told, we cannot please everyone and if you think you will, the devastation from a bad review will set you back. 

We consider any mention, good, bad or indifferent (advertising). People researching through the internet that read reviews and or posts are smart people. When you have a negative review or comment, a smart client will be able to read through the post. We typically respond to all reviews and comments, however, there have been a handful of comments that simply did not deem a response and frankly not responding increased the traffic to our website and added clients. Not saying it works every time but people are smart, we need to give them credit for it.

On the other hand, someone that believes a negative review or comment without even meeting us is not someone we would be interested in doing business with anyway. Why? Because they proved they are swayed by the wind and nothing we said or did would make them happy anyway. 

So, rather than dread those reviews, take them with a grain of salt. If you did do something wrong - fix it. If you did not and the client was still not happy, thank them and move on.

Blessings

It depends upon who is attacking us.

For example, if it is a dissatisfied customer, we apologize and offer to work with them to make things right.  If the customer is unwilling to do such or is unreasonable in their requirements (instead of working together), then we thank them for letting us know where we need to improve and hope they will consider using us again, in the future, allowing us time to rectify the situation.

I have been attacked by a competitor.  I posted an ad on Craigslist and Backpage, some years ago.  My ad clearly stated I only worked on commercial computers and for businesses, not residential.  I was attacked by a technician who charged a flat rate for every computer repair, blind to the client situation and who supported pirated software.

In this case, the attacks came on those platforms as well as on Facebook.  I simply refused to take the bait. I asked for the name of the client I allegedly destroyed, which he refused to provide. At which point, a friend on my FB page told him that without a simple client name or description of the situation, there was no way for him to validate his claims.  And I have not heard from him, since.  I  also no longer advertise my services on Craigslist or Backpage, anymore.

Dave unfortunately in this age we live in their will always be someone who wants to smear your name.

If you have done everything right and you know that the job is correct than that’s all you can do. Some folks no matter what you do will hide behind a computer and lash out for no reason other than they can. All I can say is creat as many good reviews as possible and they will drown out the few bad ones that will come your way. It’s just part of the business that we are in. 

That is a really good question. I have only has one instance where I had something written that I felt was not a fair representation. I contacted the person direct and talked with them about it.Which then they went back and changed there remarks. We try very hard to make sure that the customer is taken care of, but you can not please everybody. I agree with Darlene. 

I've never been attacked on the internet that I  can remember.

Always do your best to follow through with contracts and keep a good relationship with your customers in person or over the net. 

Everyonehas something to say whether it be positive or not. We all do not have the same mind set no matter what field we're working in, but over the years on business, no matter how well you treat your customers, there will always be that one person you cannot please. 

I would talk about the issue in person if possible to justify your case. Miscommunication is usually what develops into a bad situation and destroys customers trust.

Try your best to solve the issue.

Have a good reputation management company push down the posts you have to the 2nd and 4th pages of whatever search it is in and then no one will ever see it. It costs a pretty penny but is worth everything.

These days nearly everyone gets attacked online. If by "attacked" you mean getting a bad review, you should know that it is nearly impossible to have a negative review removed unless you can prove that the reviewer violated the review site's terms of service. A reputation management firm cannot simply have it removed. Reputation management firms can only help you change the ratio of positive to negatives reviews. For every bad review, they try to generate 8-10 new good reviews. In terms of star reviews, they shoot for a 4.5/5-star average because most consumers are wary of any entity that gets 5/5 stars. 

Dear Mr Snell 

sorry to hear about your ordeal but it is a old school attack doesn't really work anymore but this used to be a scan they would keep doing this and try to drive your client base down and then try to black mail you to pay and they would take down or pretend to be a company that could take it down over night for a large coast but this trick doesn't work very well anymore and like the rest of these lovely lady's and gentle men said write some really nice reply's to all there nasty comments  and it will come to a end soon or later don't answer to any company add that is sent directly to your business email that saying they can take it down over night they are the ones putting them up and they get money once they will keep coming back that's the hole idea of this scam there is ways to add a comment section to people how only have done business with section in your own web site this will help rebuild confidence in your company again just talk to your local developer they don't cost much to add one of these tools to your website best of luck and have a great day

sincerely timmy  

I have never had that happen to me, thank God, BUT if it were to happen, I would immediately have a client post a rave review! IF  I had done something wrong, I would make it right, of course!