Steps to Remove Negative Pissed Consumer Reviews
PissedConsumer offers a place for, well, pissed consumers to vent about supposedly sketchy businesses. But how to remove PissedConsumer.com posts is the question on most people’s minds.
Pretty much anyone with a valid email address can post a review or reply to an existing post, as long as the poster agrees to PC’s terms-of-service boilerplate. Because these types of sites typically have anonymous handles and little accountability, it’s easy for an erroneous review to be posted for the world to see. So how do you remove PissedConsumer reviews that reflect negatively on you or your business?
How to remove Pissed Consumer reviews permanently
Okay, bad news first: Like requesting a RipOffReport removal, suppressing or removing a bad PissedConsumer review may require a court order. PissedConsumer has immunity under Section 230 of the CDA, or Communications Decency Act, so they don’t have to take the report down. But the good news is, the person who posted the review can request to take it down. This is one of the things that makes PissedConsumer better than RipOffReport.
You might not have to go to court. In order of difficulty, here are three ways to suppress or remove an unhelpful review:
- Reply directly to the post
- Convince the poster to take it down
- Formally request removal from PissedConsumer
1. Reply directly to the post
Anyone, including the subject, can reply to a PissedConsumer post. If the complaint is straightforward and you think the record can be set straight easily, by all means, go this route. Keep in mind that you will be adding content to the post, enhancing its “freshness” which many think causes the post to remain high in search results longer.
However, if the poster seems unbalanced, angry (many are) or wholly indifferent to the truth, approach with caution. You don’t want to get into a war of words, especially in a public forum.
Tip: If you do respond, don’t use the name of your business in the post as it could cause the page to become even more relevant in search results, causing it to rise.
2. Convince the poster to take it down
This requires you to figure out who the poster is—not a slam dunk, given that the default on PissedConsumer is anonymity. Reply to the post with your email address and an offer to “make things right.” Once you’re in contact, you need to convince them—possibly entice them with comped products or services—to take down the post.
3. Formally request removal from PissedConsumer
This is the option that most likely requires a court order. Long story short, PissedConsumer won’t take down a negative review unless compelled to do so by a judge. To get a court order, you need to sue the original poster for defamation or another pertinent tort—consult a lawyer—and win your case.
Easy, right? No. Once you have a signed court order in your hands, mail it to PissedConsumer’s legal department—call to confirm that they get it within a week—and they’ll most likely remove the post.
Choose your words wisely
We’ll close by noting that, as in most things, it’s a good idea to respond calmly to negative press. Getting worked up and lashing out rarely solves anything and usually makes it worse. When your top trending reviews have headlines like “UPS Drivers Are Gross!” and “Petco butchered my poodle”—yes, those are real reviews on PissedConsumer right now—your lack of attention to detail speaks for itself.
So before you lawyer up or type out a scathing response to a negative PC review, do the following:
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Take a deep breath
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Assess the post’s search visibility—is it showing up on Google’s first or second page?
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Assess the post’s popularity on PissedConsumer—did it get a lot of replies or make the “top complaints” board?
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Respond appropriately
While you can’t abide by negative and wholly untrue reviews about your company, you also shouldn’t lose sleep over a half-coherent post that struggles to make it past Google’s third page.
Good luck.
PissedConsumer FAQs
What is PissedConsumer?
PissedConsumer offers a place for, well, pissed consumers to vent about supposedly sketchy businesses. Anyone can post a review or reply, so the level of anonymity tends to give way to erroneous reviews that can wreak havoc on your reputation.
How do you remove PissedConsumer reviews?
Suppressing or removing a bad PissedConsumer review may require a court order. However, the person who posted the review has the option to delete it, so you can try reaching out to the reviewer and try to convince them to take it down.
Should I reply to a PissedConsumer review about my business?
It depends. Replying can sometimes ignite a war between you and the angry consumer. This will refresh the post and make its stronger – the opposite of what you want to do. Sometimes it does help to respond, however. Assess the post and decide on a case-by-case basis.
About the author
Kent Campbell is the chief strategist for Reputation X, an award-winning reputation management agency based in California. Kent has over 15 years of experience with SEO reputation management, Wikipedia editing, review management, and strategy. Kent has helped celebrities, leaders, executives, and marketing professionals improve the way they are seen online. Kent writes about reputation, SEO, Wikipedia, and PR-related topics, and is an expert witness for reputation-related legal matters. You can find Kent’s biography here.
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