Scruples: Responding to Negative Online Reviews

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“Can you review this for me?” Paradox asked, handing Ethox a short, typed paragraph.

Ethox surveyed the sentences with a knowing smile. “Wow. You must really be angry. What’s going on?”

“Our law firm handled an employment discrimination case for a client, Dee,” Paradox growled. “Dee set us up for failure. The employer kept poking holes in Dee’s story. Then Dee became totally uncooperative.

“Finally, we settled the case. We thought it was a good settlement. At first, Dee agreed. Then Dee turned on us, tried to back out of the settlement, and—when we advised that wasn’t possible—demanded we waive our fee.

“We refused,” Paradox wrapped up the story. “Dee took us to fee arbitration and we won. Then Dee posted negative reviews on a bunch of websites. Most of what Dee is saying is total garbage.”