It's a fact of human nature that we are more likely to use an Internet forum to post a negative opinion rather than a positive one, and those looking for a specific service such as a physician or what college class to take often depend on those opinions when deciding which provider to patronize. Those with fewer negative opinions enjoy greater patronage.
Recently, many professional service providers have begun including a stipulation in their contracts that clients will refrain from posting online complaints about how the service is delivered. One instance made headlines when a New York dental patient sued his dentist for attempting to fine him thousands of dollars after he posted complaints on sites such as Yelp and DoctorBase, in violation of the terms of the contract he signed while in agony from a tooth infection. One of the terms of the contract stated that the dentist owned the copyright to any negative online statements.
The company that created the contracts containing those stipulations has since retired them and told its members to stop using them, but service providers are continuing to look for ways to gag negative sentiment and they are receiving assistance (for a fee) from firms such as defendmyname.com who search for those posts and either pressure the rating site for removal on the grounds of defamation or try to push them out of view. The sites, though, are refusing to remove negative comments that otherwise are within the Terms of Service.
It seems to me that if a service provider hears of an online complaint, it should be treated as an opportunity to make it right instead of causing the customer further agony (in this case a patient claimed that, after grossly overcharging him for dental work , the dentist was charging $100/day for copyright infringement). In my view, the system would work better for all involved if the admins or moderators on the sites escalated the comments to the service providers and let them take corrective action directly with the customer. To avoid HIPPA or other privacy restrictions, the issue could be resolved outside of the forum, with a service provider posting a message on the site such as: "We value your business. Please contact us directly by phone or email and we will work to resolve your issue."
No matter what a company does about negative press from customers, consumers should make it a point to read what they are signing and if they don't agree, either get it amended by the office manager or seek a different provider.
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