Facebook Business ratings policies

Hello everyone!

My name is Adam and i live in Eastern Ky..


I am the owner of a small HVAC business and we have a FB page as well for it.

The reason i am here is that when i searched on Yahoo for a FB forum, this place popped up. I am hoping someone could help me here, or at least maybe point me to someone real i can speak with about this matter i am about to tell you about.

Anyway, a few days ago, i get a notification that someone rated our business page.. I went and checked and to my horrific surprise it was a 2.0 star rating!!!! I figured at first it was someone whom didn't know anything about how to rate a business or someone that had accidentally hit 2 instead of 5 so i waited.. Hey.. Accidents happen...

After about a hour or so i messaged the woman to ask why she had given my business such a low rating that took us from 5 star down to 4.6....... No response..... I knew she had read it because the messenger shows "read" when they read it on their messenger. Finally i told her that her rating makes my business look bad, and that her rating basically is a way of her saying our work is sub par, basically a way of saying we aren't good or we don't know what we are doing. A slanderous thing whether some may agree or not. A negative response is the same as any slanderous / liable comment or act in that you cause or make someone lose revenue due to an action you create.

Anyway, i told her that if she did not show a receipt proving we had worked for her, then she has no right to rate us and furthermore that only a real customer of ours has any right to say anything against us....I also told her we would report her and may pursue litigation due to her actions. Needless to say she finally replied with some garbage about us supposedly working for her kid, and said i was threatening her! I guess by saying i could pursue litigation i suppose? I told her i didn't know whom her "kid" was and that only they would have a right to say anything if there was any truth to what she was saying...

Anyway, she made a post upon her profile about a "company" but didn't name anyone because she knows she would be in deep at that point if she did. Anyway, i went to my attorney and he is writing a cease and desist letter demanding her remove or amend her rating immediately and cease from any further slanderous or liable act.

The entire reason i came here is because Facebook is basically useless.. They literally allow any moron to come along and completely wipe out a respectable hard working business and their reputation with basically a click. They only way they will intervene is if someone gives a review with their rating. Heck, this woman claimed i was threatening her on our own ratings area on our FB page in a comment and FB still hasn't did anything about her!

Am i in the twilight zone? What is wrong with these people?

The woman has been asked numerous time to provide a simple copy of her receipt but refuses or doesn't say anything. Then she comes on the same place she gave us a bad rating and makes comments saying we are threatening her and how she plans to tell some story against us. It is obvious that this woman is confused or may have some sort of personal issue. I know for a fact we have never done any work for her. Small Town.

My question is how can Facebook allow such things to businesses? By their way of ratings, a person with a vendetta in say Florida, could destroy a business in say... New York for doing nothing more than existing! Their ratings anyway...

I know i may come off silly as it pertains to our ratings.. I took pride in having a 5 star rating and took pride in all of the feedback and positive ratings real customers left. It helps when you see people talking good about a company and allows new customers to have trust. Especially in rural towns and small areas where basically everyone knows each other.

Doesn't this make FB guilty as the person whom is committing the damage to a company by allowing them to commit activity like this knowing for a fact they are wrong? So far the woman has falsely gave us a bad rating, made up some crazy allegations of "threatening, and basically makes threats herself saying how she planned to "tell some story".

I don't know what to do... All i know is that someone is gonna pay for any loss of revenue my business is encountering due to this ignorant womans actions and stupidity!

All help is appreciated! I have tried reporting her comment as well as writing to FB with no avail. What do you do in cases like this? Litigate? Surely this cannot be the only option? I tried to upload some screenshots but it said they were too big...

Errrrrr, i just don't wanna have to sue this woman but at the same time wish FB could just remove her rating and life goes on.. Would save a bunch of money and time.