Can we all pretend for a moment that I'm the customer posting, not the biz owner?
So now, this small biz owner has sent me an email asking me to Cease & Desist from making further statements that the business owner deems defamatory and libelous and in addition, has suggested that I seek the advice of an attorney. Now let's pretend that you are the attorney giving advice to the client. What would you tell him that you think is in his best interest to do at this point? Should he update or remove his review and sue me, or leave his review and wait for me to sue?
Question two and I'm linking this thread as an example: https://forum.freeadvice.com/small-claims-courts-24/mobile-rim-service-blotched-job-611853.html
What responsbility did the customer have in paying for a job that he didn't throughly inspect before paying? Surely this lack of responsibility on the customer's part created part of this problem which could have been resolved a while ago had he only "inspected the job" prior to us leaving. Quincy made this statement:
Does really count for nothing because it counted for something on another post?
First, I stand by the statement I made earlier in the small claims thread.
Your customer had the opportunity to inspect the door and its installation at the time it was delivered and installed. Instead of arguing the size and the way it was installed, he chose to pay. That was an implied acceptance of the product and the work.
I visited the websites where the reviews appear but I have decided not to sign into the sites to read them in their entirety. You will want an attorney in your area to personally review what was written, beyond the few sentences of each review that were available for me to read without log in.
Your website is an attractive one and your handcrafted products are beautiful. I noticed that out of 5 possible stars, your business has a 4-and-a-half star rating - the missing one-half star obviously is the result of the one negative review you received that was written by your current customer.
It is unfortunate that you had to run into this particular customer. He appears to be one who would not have been satisfied regardless of what your company did or did not do. He appears to be one who will not be satisfied regardless of what your company now does or does not do. All businesses will eventually have customers like this.
To address one of your questions: The statute of limitations for defamation actions in Georgia is one year. When filing a defamation claim in Georgia, you have one year from the time of publication to file suit. In South Carolina (which is where you would probably want to file suit, to avoid a jurisdictional fight), the statute of limitations is 2 years. Although filing in South Carolina technically provides you with an extra year to file, it is generally smart to file suit based on the state's statute of limitations that is shortest (so, for you, that would be the one year period of time to file in either Georgia or South Carolina).
This is if you decide to go ahead and file a defamation suit and I am not at all sure this would be in your best interest.
I believe your best option is to accept that you have a difficult customer and also accept that, in business, the customer is always right even when the customer is clearly wrong. I think your best course of action is to do what the customer is demanding of you and write him off as quickly as possible. The longer the dispute lasts (and, should you file a defamation claim, it could last months and even years), the worse it stands to be for you and your business.
But, in doing what the customer wants, you might want to ask in return that he post a retraction. You can request that he state that you resolved the matter to his satisfaction. A retraction is going to benefit you far more in the future than a defamation claim that you may not be able to support anyway and which, even if supportable, is going to cost you more than you are apt to gain.
Negative reviews have been shown in studies to cause economic losses to the businesses negatively reviewed so I completely understand your concern. It is a legitimate one. I think that if you responded to the customer's negative review professionally, with facts and not emotion, however, that should be enough for most future customers to ignore the one negative review and rely on the positive reviews when deciding whether to do business with you. I like your proposed response to his review. It states facts, shows you are trying to be reasonable, and it offers a bit of humor, which is a nice touch. If a retraction is eventually made, by the way, that will additionally show customers that you are willing to work with them.
You can sit down with an attorney in your area for a thorough review of all facts but I tend to think that a defamation action is not the way to go. What you decide to do about your problematic customer, however, is ultimately a decision you will have to make after weighing all pros and cons.
Good luck.