Multiple 1-star reviews from ex-employee and friends

[greg.gbm]

I am managing the Google Business profile for a client and the situation is similar to that of another fellow user (@acharlton).
A dis grunted ex-employee and friends have posted multiple 1-star reviews.
This ex-employee is fully aware of the google community guidelines and has ensured that no inappropriate words of racism, discrimination, conflict of interest, etc are included in these 1-star reviews.
I would go a step further to state that this ex-employee and friends have carefully and deliberately posted multiple 1-star reviews that are devoid of any text.

One such 1-star review has been removed via the google tool that manages google reviews.
However there are still at least 9 1-star reviews that the ex-employee and his friends have posted to the Google Business profile.
I have tried to 'Check the status of a review I’ve already reported and my appeal options' but I'm not sure how to proceed because all the reported reviews are in a state of 'Decision pending' instead of being 'denied'.
I have also waited this out for a full 14 day period so I'm not sure what is the normal waiting period or something has gone wrong.
Thoughts anyone?

 

[Stefan Somborac]

@greg.gbm - If you flagged them, reported them with the review management tool and appealed the decision—and waited 14 days!—you've got one more option: create a post in the community forum. A Product Expert can escalate the case, giving you one more shot at removal.

 

[greg.gbm]

@Stefan Somborac , Thank you for your reply!
With regards to what you wrote;
Yes: I believe I have reported them using the review management tool.
Yes: I definitely have waited a full 14 days (now 15).
No: I have not appealed the decision because I do not see any decision made regarding the reviews that I reported.
I believe I wrote in my post with supporting screenshots that most of the reported reviews are in a state of 'Decision pending' instead of being 'denied'.
Are you saying one can appeal a decision when the reported reviews are in a state of 'Decision pending'?
How should I proceed?
Any thoughts?

 

[Stefan Somborac]

@greg.gbm - You've got hands-on experience with some of what follows. I apologize for the redundancy. I want to illustrate the whole process so it's clear to others who might read this post.

Start by flagging a review from within your Business Profile. Click the icon that looks like a stop sign with an exclamation point to start.

Then, if that doesn't work, move to the Review Management tool.

Within the Review Management tool, in its "default" state, you will see the option to "Report a new review for removal".

Once you report a review, you will also see the option to check the status of your reported reviews.

When you check the status of a report, if you have the option to submit an appeal, you'll find a radio button for that (at the bottom). Note: The screenshot illustrates a case where you can submit an appeal even though the decision is still pending!

After each step (flagging, reporting and appealing), you need to wait at least three days.

Finally, if the review hasn't been taken down after taking all the steps above, you can try reporting it in the community forum. When you create your post in the forum, be sure to include a link to the review and state which part(s) of the Prohibited & restricted content policy you believe it violates.

It goes without saying: don't report a review just because it's negative. You need to be able to illustrate how it violates content policy.

Hope that helps!

 

[greg.gbm]

@Stefan Somborac , Thanks for the clarifications!
I am trying my best to follow what you wrote; but what I see within the Business Profile is different from what you wrote.

You wrote "Click the icon that looks like a stop sign with an exclamation point to start."
I do not see the "icon that looks like a stop sign with an exclamation point".
Instead I see the "icon that looks like 3 dots" and when I click on it are 2 options: Share review and Report review.

*Given that what I see is a clear deviation from your instructions, how should I proceed to flag the review from within the Business Profile?

 

[Stefan Somborac]

Bring up the profile on Google Search and click the read "Read reviews" button. Then you'll see that little stop sign icon.

 

[greg.gbm]

@Stefan Somborac - Thanks for the clear and specific instructions!
I have followed your instructions and located that little stop icon.
Now waiting out the 3 day waiting period.

 

[greg.gbm]

@Stefan Somborac - I have followed your instructions and waited out the 3 day waiting period. The negative reviews by the dis-grunted ex-employee are still not removed.

I noted that you wrote "finally, if the review hasn't been taken down after taking all the steps above, you can try reporting it in the community forum."

Can you provide more details as to what is the URL of the community forum that you are referring to?
Is it a Google community forum or a localsearchforum.com community forum?
How would you navigate to it?

 

[Stefan Somborac]

@greg.gbm - I'm talking about this Google community forum: Google Business Profile Community

Above the video carousel, you'll see a link for "Post a question". Click that to get started.

Or jump straight to it with this link: Sign in - Google Accounts

TIP: You should turn to the community if the standard support channels fail. In your community post, be sure to include the Case ID from your exchange with the support team.