Advice on answering negative review

[SocialSpark]

My client is a doctor's office. They had a patient call for an appt. who hadn't been seen in 18 months. The office manager wouldn't give her an appt because she had an outstanding bill which had been turned over to collections. Although she was rude and demanding, she offered to pay part of the bill, but since it had already been turned over to collections it was out of the office's hands. The woman cussed her and another person out over the phone, then left a 1 star review with her name, followed by 2 1 star reviews with other names within minutes. Her review says:

Worst of the worst. This office only cares about profit and has many oening cases against them for not helping people or educating them in prioer care and diet.. Revolving door here, they want you in and out and won't answer any questions. Extortion and unprofessionalism is there mission statement. I strongly suggest seeking care elsewhere.

Since she's complaining about them only caring about profit, the office staff obviously wants to mention the outstanding bill in their response, but I'm not sure that's a good idea (even though it's true). Since she suggested the office has some kind of "cases" against them (which they don't), should that be mentioned?

Can this review or the others be reported? Considering they are accusing them of extortion, I feel like it's harassment, but it doesn't attack a specific individual.

I'm interested to hear any suggestions as to how my client should handle this (aside from getting more 5 star reviews, of course!)

 

[keyserholiday]

Google doesn’t take sides in review disputes. Reply to the review in a polite and professional manner asking the reviewer to contact the business to discuss this matter.

You can flag the review, but A. There is a backlog on review cases and B. Google won’t remove the review.

If they did write other reviews, you can ask for help in the forum after you have flagged and escalated the reviews for removal.

 

[SocialSpark]

Thank you. This is the reply they told me they want to post, what do you think about it?

We apologize for your negative experience. [Business Name] always
works toward providing excellent care and treating our patients with kindness and respect.
We appreciate the same in return and do not allow the mis-treatment of our staff.

What category should I flag them under? Neither name is a patient. One review just says "Horrible office staff and doctors that don't care at all." and the other says nothing.
How do I "escalate" them for removal?

 

[fisicx]

Thank you. This is the reply they told me they want to post, what do you think about it?

Yuk. Corporate speak and totally lacking in any sort of empathy. It almost reinforces the original review.

Maybe something like this:

"Thank you for your review we are sorry that we were unable to meet your needs. Whilst we do try to help wherever possible we are a business with bills to pay. This means we often need to prioritize those patients who are up to date with all their payments. If you would like to contact us we can discuss how best to proceed with your follow up care and diet."