Redacted Email Screenshot in a Public Reply to a Review

[cameronid]

First off, I'm sorry if this should be in the "General" section instead of "Legal"!

As it's about sharing a redacted screenshot of customer communications, I thought it might be best to get advice from this section.

We (Ltd company) have received a negative review from a customer (Ltd company). The director used their personal Google account to leave the review.
All communication with them was via their work email address.

It relates to a bespoke product order from 2022 where the customer sent us the wrong file and also didn't read the product description properly!
The customer confirmed everything was correct via email. After email confirmation, we send a document for online signature. The customer has to initial specifications and sign off as correct. We only start production once the document has been signed as correct.

The customer was very disgruntled about the situation and continues to blame us.

After about 4 months, they decided to leave a negative review full of statements which were not true.

We emailed the customer asking them to remove the untruthful information. They've revised it stating we've bullied them into it but still left in quite a few of their "most damaging" untrue statements, including a section which states we do not send anything to them before starting production.

I'm considering adding a further public reply to their review with a redacted screenshot (covering their email and any PII).
The screenshot proves what they have refused to remove from their review is untrue.

I wouldn't normally follow up after our initial response. However, some potential customers are contacting us for clarification as a result of seeing this review which is one of the first things they see when they search our company name and the product.
Since the review, we've also seen a drop in sales for this product which sells well all year round. Perhaps it's just a coincidence!

Any advice regarding the legality of us posting a redacted thread of an email between us and another business customer would be very much appreciated!

 

[fisicx]

Have you responded to the review stating the facts? That’s usually a good place to start.

Don’t publish the email contents (even redacted), just tell the story in your response (eg: custom order, confirmed details, review content incorrect etc). Don’t apportion any blame, just state the facts.

 

[Frank the Insurance guy]

I would caution against posting a redacted email. What you should do is simply state the facts - as you have in your post above.

Whilst doing so, you can emphasise the good processes you have in place and that if they had been followed there would not have been any issues (Which will hopefully provide some comfort for those reading reviews before ordering.

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

I think your spending too much time and focus on this review.
Answer with a reply that is respectful and customer orientated taking into consideration the potential customers that will be reading it.

Most companies get bad reviews and you will never be able to control other people views and opinions on your business

 

[Solvelaw]

Look at this way, how do you want to appear to third parties. Have a professional response and say to them they are welcome to use the usual dispute resolution procedures and warn statement maker about making untrue statement which may amount to defamation. I would then follow this up with a cease and desist letter with copy to review site.

 

[PaulSmt]

In response to the negative review, it's best to stick to the facts and explain the situation without apportioning any blame. You can do this by responding to the review with a brief explanation of the scenario, such as the custom order, the confirmation details, and that the review content was incorrect. This is likely to be the most effective way to clear up any confusion and potentially restore customer confidence.