Called me and asked me to take down bad review

[TotalTired]

Just has a slightly intimidating call, disguised as finding out more facts, regarding a very honest review I wrote for my dentist which involved my kids. An incident happened yesterday and I wrote about it. I mentioned a lot of positives along with the incident.

practice manager just called me saying they will speak to the person. She then said will I please take it down as it doesn’t look good on the clinic. I told her it was 100% the truth and I stand by it. She said she wants me to take it down as it affects the surgery, I told her I will think about it.

aibu - take it down - yes
not being unreasonable don’t take down - no

OP, your review is perfectly reasonable. My dentist prides herself about the practice being a calm and welcoming one, especially to nervous patients (of any age!). All her receptionists (2 women, 1 man) are lovely and welcoming (she's our family dentist, has been for over 10 years now) and it's mainly because of her practice's philosophy that our own young DC haven't grown up with fear of the dentist, because, me? I'm flipping terrified! And I didn't want to pass that on to the DC.

The receptionist the OP is describing will - single-handedly - contribute to a whole new load of children being scared of the dentist. I'm amazed she's allowed to still be employed in that capacity, tbh.

Hopefully, eventually, the practice manager will do something about it, OP, but in the meantime, vote with your feet (and your wallet, if you can afford to).

If you are leaving the dentist anyway I would leave the review up on principle.

It was a factual and balanced review.

It is really unprofessional to ask someone to remove a review unless it says something that isn't true. Clearly they know all too well that it is true so they should try actually doing something about their receptionist if it bothers them.

I wouldn't take it down.

Valuable feed back which they are already aware of.

If you are contacted again I would do a follow up about being hassled to remove it.

Once you have written the truth, it is their issue to sort out.

There’s a middle ground between scathing reviews that are inflammatory and put on social media and gushing one liners. I think more people should leave reviews. All I ever heard about my dentist was how great they were with nervous patients, and how much cheaper they were than others in the area. Nobody said it was an unprofessional Kip where the dentist nicked my gum a number of times and decided to try and level off my teeth without asking!!! Told someone I know and guess what? ‘I thiought everyone knew that place wasn’t great?’ was the reply. So I left a diplomatic review saying the place wasn’t quite as modern and I had a few issues with the dentist. I kind of hope I stopped someone going by doing that

Yes I bet Americans would have no problem letting it be known the customer service was left wanting. Why are posters on here expecting the OP to be a ‘people pleaser’ and not make a fuss when it’s usually so frowned upon on here.

I wanted to leave a bad review about my former dentist but I wasn't brave enough. She was just horrible. Really rude and aggressive and everything she did hurt so much. On my last visit, she yelled at me and I was so upset I sat and cried in the waiting room and just thought that I deserve better than this.

I was terrified to start a new dentist, but my dentist is just so lovely and kind. He would never treat a patient like that.

I think your review sounds honest. It's really not ok for the receptionist to treat patients like that. If the practice accepts children, she needs to suck it up and be kind!

Definitely don't take it down! It needs to be there as a warning and how will she ever stop if her bad reviews keep vanishing.
It's a fair and overall review and I would appreciate that so I can be prepared for a grumpy gatekeeper.

I wouldn't remove it.

Suggest to them they solve the problem rather than try to stop people from highlighting it.

If they are getting multiple negative reviews about their receptionist, and it's giving the practice a bad name... surely the logical thing to do is retrain or fire the receptionist as they're not doing the job properly!

Not silence the people complaining!

I would ask why you need to take down an accurate review. Have they offered an apology.
You don’t shout at a crying child

I didn't vote because as said when not knowing what the complaint was about it's a bit difficult to say.

Not sure there's any need for the Oh my god! bit in your post before the OK here it is. People were only asking what the reason was
but.....

Based on your complaint I'd say no, don't take it down. You've explained to the manager that in your opinion the receptionists manner towards patients could be a bit better therefore instead of asking you to remove the review her time should be spent on giving the receptionist a lesson in customer service.
Although if a receptionist from anywhere was "Very aggressive" towards my child for no apparent reason I'd be calling for her to be dismissed quick sharpish.

You definitely shouldn’t take down the review. It’s a factual account of what happened. If you can’t speak the truth, what’s the point of a review? That receptionist sounds awful, and shouldn’t be in that job.

Don't take it down, it's factual! They need to get rid of the receptionist if she's making the clinic look bad. YOU'RE not making them look bad, SHE is. How awful when people are feeling at their most nervous, that they get treated like that.
I've had it when having my babies, smear tests.. no people skills when it's a job that requires them in abundance.

Front of house is no where for an aggressive person. Her behaviour was unnacceptable no matter what thr situation. I wouldn’t take it down.

Tell her you'll remove it when you have proven evidence that the situation has been dealt with as, until then, you're not willing to let another child be spoken to like yours was.

If I read that review I would assume youre the type of person who is always complaining about rudeness in others who is actually startlingly rude themselves and can't ever see it.

Keep the review on !!! If they know receptionist is a cow that’s their problem not yours xx

Don't be ridiculous yourself. A Terrified child won't always cry in the way you think is OK. they may well be hysterical. Other people's reaction is not the frightened child's problem.

In what world does shouting aggressively at a child reassure them?

Some people get very, very shirty about reviews. I gave a 3 star review for a local cafe, saying it was noisy so not a good place for a business meeting, and that the coffee was rather expensive. I got a nasty reply and was banned!

Your review is fine and should stay on. V odd that the manager won't addressee the issue (rude receptionist), especially as others have made same remarks!

If they ring you again, I would say that if they don't stop then you will write another review saying that they tried to make you take down your review and that they acknowledge that the receptionist is a problem and that other people have complained but that they aren't prepared to do anything about it.

Definitely this, shouldnt have posted without reporting and giving them to investigate and correct....YABVU

It's understandable to be shirty about that, unless they specifically advertise as being a good place for a business meeting.

Ive used the same dental practice for almost 30 years. The receptionist has seen my kids grow up, fitted in emergency appointment when DH has had an abcess and when I broke a tooth, we've known when she was off work for a serious illness and told her how pleased we were to see her back at work when she recovered. Yes I've spoken to her when I paid also when I've made appointments and when the hygienist was on maternity leave and I asked if she'd heard if the baby had arrived and when our dentist retired we discussed who we could move to in the practice.

Lots of contact when you see someone regularly for 30 years.

You'd make that assumption based on one review? That's quite an imagination you have.

OP, I would leave the review up but amend to include the conversation with the practice manager (if that's an option). At least it shows they take feedback on board.