Rip-Off Report and Musick Loss Management, Inc | Important Info. For Business .

While working with Musick Loss Management, Inc. I found this excellent article about Rip-Off Report. It examines the legal aspects of dealing with this site and others like it. This is a must read for every small and medium sized business!

RIP-OFF REPORT:

“It is no secret that RipOff Report has been widely and universally accused of promulgating defamatory content and then extorting money from the victims of the very libel it publishes. This business model has made RipOff Report the subject of many lawsuits.” SOURCE: http://www.seomoz.org/blog/the-anatomy-of-a-ripoff-report-lawsuit

Online Complaints and Bad Reviews | Big Trouble for Small Business Part I

Online Complaints and Bad Reviews | Big Trouble for Small Business Part I


The Digital Scarlett Letter

Is your business being trashed by a bad online review? Is the complaint false? Do you suspect a competitor or former employee is behind it? Does the bad review come up on the first page of Google’s search results for your company name? You may feel like strangling someone but don't! Count to 10 and step away from the computer.

Mr. Angry Pants and The Self Fulfilling Prophecy

If your business has nothing to hide then the last thing you want to do is overreact and confirm that you really are a jerk. Conduct yourself with dignity and behave as if prospective clients or customers are watching ... because they are!

WHAT NOT TO DO...
Below we've included select quotes from a rebuttal we saw posted on a customer complaint site. Although an extreme example of total stupidity, the internet is full of business responses gone wrong. The author of this post claims to be a former service manager who is very passionate about the auto repair business in question. What we know for sure about George is that he can’t spell, loves the caps lock, has a mouth like a truck driver and would probably benefit from an anger management program or sedative. The names of places have been changed because we don’t want George pissed at us!

Title: "CHEAP AND CHRONIC COMPLAINERS NEVER SEIZE , DO THEY??"

“DEAR OWNER
IF YOUR BROTHER IN LAW WAS A MECHANIC , WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU TAKE YOUR CAR TO HIM IN THE FIRST PLACE TO GET IT FIXED??MAYBE BECAUSE HE WAS A BACK ALLEY MECANIC AND YOU WERE AFRAID HE WOULD F** IT UP??”

“AND IF YOU WERE SUCH AN INFORMED AND QUALITY CONCERNED CONSUMER , WHY THE FUCK DIDN'T YOU TAKE YOUR CAR TO THE DEALER WHERE YOU MOST LIKELY WOULD HAVE GOTTEN A HIGHER PRICE QUOTE AND WOULD NOT PIPPED A SQUEAK.”

AN EDUCATED CONSUMER AND NOT A PISS-A** CONSTANT COMPLAINER THAT COMPARES APPLES TO ORNAGES AND SCREAMS BLOODY MURDER TO MUSK HIS INABILITY TO FUNCTION AS AN EDUCATED HUMAN BEING, WOULD HAVE ASKED FOR AN ESTIMATE AND THEN COMPARED THE TOTAL WORK (WITH BLANK BRAND PARTS) TO OTHER FACILITIES (LIKE DEALERS OR CHAIN REPAIR SHIOPS) …“

BUT NO. YOU THOUGHT BY CALLING YOUR BACK ALLEY MECHANIC IN-LAW AND GETTING PARTS FROM PEP BLANK OR AUTOBLANK AND DOING THE JOB YOURSELF IS COMPARABLE TO WHAT THE REPAIR FACILITIES LIKE BLANK'S SHOULD CHARGE. GROW THE F* UP…”

“TO WRAP-UP… THE CUSTOMER ALWAYS WAS AND I AM SURE STILL IS THE N#1 PRIORITY AT BLANKS'S AND KNOWING HOW THE OWNERS WERE ALWAYS READY TO TAKE OUR HEADS OFF(ALL STORE MANAGERS) IF WE DID NOT TAKE CARE THE CUSTOMERS, I FIND THIS PERSONS STORY A FICTION ONE.

-GEORGE”

All I have to say is… DON’T BE THAT GUY! PLEASE, DON’T BE THAT GUY!

Call Katz Recruiters, Chicago for help! 630.269.3725

Reputation Management for Scumbags?

No thanks! Before I gloated over having buried a Rip Off Report for our client, I should have better explained where I stand on working with scumbags. I won't do it. I have no interest in cleaning up after a company that behaves badly. Our client in this case had 1 rip off report and no complaints with the BBB. We spent considerable time with our client, company employees and customers and were confident that this rip off report was unfairly ruining his online reputation. If you do enough business someone is bound to get upset at some point in time. Why should that one person have the power to put a permanent digital scarlet letter on that company? If you are in business and treat people wrong, the world will hear about it online and reputation management will cost more than it would to change your ways! Call Katz Recruiters to find out more about reputation management 630.269.3723

Reputation Management | Removing Bad Review | Rip Off Report | Post 3

Organic Ranking Systems, Chicago 630.269.3725
Update: I was ready to drink champagne two nights ago when to my surprise I searched Google for my client's company name (as I do obsessively throughout the day) and there was no rip off report! The SEO gods had answered my prayers. My client and I spoke later on and basically he called me his hero. My mother-in-law has instilled in me an irrational impulse toward superstition so I said hamsa hamsa hamsa, kine hora while simultaneously knocking on wood under a horseshoe. At 6am the next morning I checked Google again and...


Stay tuned for the next installment to hear more about my struggle for justice against the digital scarlet letter... review sites that abuse their power and shame good businesses!

Rachael@katzrecruiters.com

Defend Your Reputation Online! | Musick Loss Management Fights Back

Rip Off Report: IMMORAL ACTS AGAINST Musick Loss Management, Inc. Public Adjustment Company from Mark Musick on Vimeo.

Remove Rip Off Reports| How to Manage Your Online Reputation

Organic Ranking Systems | Lessons Learned About Rip Off Report | Post 1

I first encountered Rip Off Report while working with a client who wanted to do something about a bad review his company received online. Since I have successfully dealt with reputation management issues in the past, I assumed that this one would be no different. I was wrong. Rip Off Report is a site with serious authority. My client had a static website and no information on the web about his company. For three years the only thing that would come up on a Google search for his company name was Rip Off Report.

This is a company who has loyal customers and zero complaints against it with the Better Business Bureau. I knew that using social media marketing tools and outputting good content that represents what the company is all about was not going to be enough to bury Rip Off. Oh, I should mention that my client first looked into Rip Off Report's policy on removing false and damaging reports. It is shocking but a business can only defend itself with a rebuttal (which is not a good idea because like in my client's case this meant that now rip off report ranked number one and number two when searched on Google) or pay to join Rip Off Report's own Corporate Advocacy Program where the business owner must accept responsibility, reimburse the customer and pay Rip Off an unknown but supposedly steep fee. Doesn't this seem like extortion? It certainly isn't ethical but it is legal.

I consulted a colleague of mine who's opinion on ethical matters I trust very much, Lynn Brewer. You know Ms. Brewer as "The Enron Whistleblower". She is also the author of books including; Confessions of an Enron Executive: A Whistleblower's Story, Managing Risks for Corporate Integrity: How to Survive an Ethical Misconduct Disaster and many others. Lynn commented about our situation with Rip Off Report,

"Sadly, opinion has replaced fact which can cause great distress. I know that there is Freedom of Speech but there are plenty of court cases beginning to create some precedence for “cyberbulling”. I would agree that this appears to be “extortion”. I would contact the Attorney General of the state where ripoffreport.com is located."

She also recommended a book by Daniel Solove, titled “The future of reputation: gossip, rumor, and privacy on the internet”.

Stay tuned for a review of "The future of reputation: gossip, rumor, and privacy on the internet" and for the solution to our Rip Off Report problem.

Chicago Rip Off Report | Social Media Marketing | Reputation Management