A company has threatened a few people with legal action if they don’t remove their 1-star review.
How can I report this to Google? Will Google do anything?
https://goo.gl/maps/c27nVVAJABQW3rH96
https://goo.gl/maps/tPwdYnD2QLHm6rE5A
https://goo.gl/maps/SwhCPGwtY76fZVQj7
Besides, I suspect that this company uses people to ask for good review.
I reviewed a dental clinic where the I had a third molar extraction surgery. The oral and maxillofacial surgery produced two nerve lesions and still, left a dental remanescent and I will most likely have to undergo another surgery, so I was not satisfied at all with them.
Problem is: my review, which was negative, but still, polite, and did not tell lies or offended anyone, was repeatedly removed from Google.
The clinic’s owner found her way to 5-stars: a group of friends who denounce reviews as innapropriate.
If someone can manipulate Google to obtain 5-stars like she did, 5 stars are not worth a penny.
I hate Google for that. It can not happen.
@MaoTouYing I think in this case you need to refer to your local law. Most of the time these companies would not have any legal grounds with their threats, but then again I’m not an expert in this area, and different countries have their own ways of handling these kind of cases.
As long as the 1-star review actually reflects on the situation, the reviewer shouldn’t get into any trouble.
in my opinion, in this kind of situation, the least thing that Google could (or should?) is ban the ownership of this POI/delisting it, only if there’s proof that the threat to reviewer is real.
Feels sorry for what happened to you, @MaoTouYing
Hi @MaoTouYing ,
Thanks for reaching out!
If you happen to stumble upon fraud caused by a business, please use this form to submit a complaint for the fraudulent activity on Google Maps.
For further assistance, please contact Google My Business Help Community directly.
More useful tips about this topic can be found in the How to identify and report fraud on Google Maps article.
Thank you @MashaPS !
I think this is not classified as fraud; this is a real company.
I think this company is gating review. That is, 5-star reviews are welcomed but 1-star reviews are requested to be removed and threatened with legal action if not removed.
Thank you, @iorikun301
Yes, there is proof that this company emailed me to ask me remove my review.
And, there is proof of a lawyer’s letter. This lawyer’s letter was sent by courier and put 3 persons’ addresses as recipients. This lawyer claims that he is the lawyer of this company.
Thank you, @iyudhi !
I agree with you. I just think that this company is gating review and maybe Google can do something about it.
Dear @MaoTouYing ,
As @MashaPS has already told you, you should take this up with the GMB team. Since this property management business is a claimed business, we know that the GMB team can take action when it feels fit to do so.
Like Local Guides, members of the Google My Business program (aka claimed businesses) can also get suspended!
When you express your suspicion that they buy or solicit positive reviews, please mention the many 5 star reviews by people with one single review on their account to show for (often a sign for fake reviews).
Best wishes and I hope you find a replacement company soon and vote with your feet. 
JeroenM
When writing very negative reviews you can protect yourself by not drawing conclusions that arevany broader than what you have experienced. Don’t write: This company disregards customers needs. But you can write: I experienced that this company is disregarding my needs as a customer.
The first can be challenged in court and you could lose. The second only reflect your opinion and that can not be easily challenged. But for the readers of the review the point gets across perfectly well.
Cheers
Hello @claudianpaiva ,
I am sorry for what you are experiencing.
If you happen to stumble upon fraud caused by a business, please use this form to submit a complaint about the fraudulent activity on Google Maps.
For further assistance, please contact Google My Business Help Community directly.
Please note that a similar topic was discussed here, that is why to keep Connect organized I will merge your post to it. You can take a look at the conversation and benefit from it.
Txs for your answer!
I’m afraid this form does not attend the fraudulent content I’ve stumbled upon: “complaint is not related to fraudulent activity on the name, phone number, or URL of the business, we will not be able to review your complaint”.
My complaint is about fraudulent flagging of a legit review.
I have 2 million views of my photos in Google, 500 reviews… now I’m disappointed with Google. Why should I work for free to keep Google as a seal of approval if the product does not qualify as so, since anyone can keep 5-stars by fraud and Google does not open a channel of communication to denounce this behavior?
In my case, I did write to reflect only my opinion and the owner of the dental clinic found her way to 5-stars by using friends and relatives (same surname) who have reviewed the dental clinic to flag my review as innapropriate.
She did tell me to remove my review, to think about her breadwinning business, and as I didn’t remove it, she managed to have it removed repeatedly.
She is wrong, but Google does not give me a channel to discuss the case, to denounce the fraud! How can I continue to work for free to Google, as it does not represent a seal of approval, but a dumb algorithm that does not give a damn about fraud?