Most tradies will eventually receive a review they consider unfair. A small number will receive one they believe is genuinely false: the customer never engaged them, the work described didn’t happen, or the review was posted by someone with a personal grudge unrelated to a real job. The instinct is to fire off a furious response, threaten legal action, or pressure the platform into an instant takedown. None of those moves usually work, and several of them make the situation worse. There is a calmer, more effective path that platforms and regulators recognise, and that resolves more disputes than people expect.
Here’s how to dispute a review you genuinely believe is false in Australia, what evidence you’ll need, and the order of moves that gives you the best chance of getting it removed.
Be honest with yourself first
The first step is the hardest: separate “this review is unfair” from “this review is false.” Unfair reviews are part of the trade. The customer’s experience of the job didn’t match yours. The customer was difficult and remembered it differently. The customer wasn’t quite the right fit and decided to express that publicly. None of those make the review false. False reviews involve specific factual claims that didn’t happen. If you can’t point to a specific factual claim that is provably wrong, you have an unfair review, not a false one. Treat it accordingly.
Identify the specific false claims
If you do believe the review contains false statements, list them precisely. “The reviewer claims I left the site on day three without finishing, but the messages and the invoice show the job was completed and signed off on day two.” Each false claim should be paired with the evidence that contradicts it. The platform’s review team and any later regulator wants to see this kind of specificity. “The review is unfair” is not a takedown reason. “These four specific factual claims are wrong, and here is the evidence” is.
Use the platform’s complaint process first
Every reputable review platform, Reviewey included, has a structured complaint or dispute process for reviews. Use it. Submit the dispute through the platform’s official channel, with the specific claims you say are false and the evidence to support each one. Don’t email random staff. Don’t post a public reply demanding the review be removed. The platform’s process is designed to handle exactly this situation, and it creates a record. If the platform decides not to act, you can still escalate, but the platform process is the first formal step.
Identify the customer if possible
One of the strongest pieces of evidence is whether the reviewer was actually a customer of yours. If you have no record of the customer, no quote, no invoice, no message thread, no job at the address described, that is a powerful reason for the platform to assess the review under its no-real-engagement policy. On platforms tied to verified jobs, like Reviewey, the connection between review and job is clearer than on open platforms. Use whatever you can: dates, addresses, communication logs, and your own job records.
Send a calm public response
While the platform assesses your dispute, it is worth posting a calm public response. Don’t argue every point. Don’t call the customer a liar (which can itself be defamatory, see the related guide). Address the substantive factual claim with a measured correction. “We’ve reviewed our records and don’t have any record of a job at the address described in this review. We’ve raised this with the platform under their dispute process.” That kind of response signals to future readers that the review is contested and that you’ve handled it professionally.
If the platform finds the review legitimate
Sometimes the platform investigates and concludes that the reviewer was a real customer and the review reflects their genuine experience, even if you disagree. That is a different problem. At that point, you no longer have a removable false review. You have a negative review that you have to handle on the front end: a calm public reply, a focus on accumulating more positive reviews, and a willingness to learn what specifically went wrong on that job. Treating an unfavourable review as continuing to be “fake” once the platform has assessed otherwise weakens your credibility.
Consider a concerns notice
If you genuinely believe the review is false and damaging, and the platform has not acted, the next step under Australian defamation law is to send the reviewer a concerns notice. The notice identifies the publication, the imputations you say are defamatory, and what you’re requesting (typically takedown, correction or apology). Templates are available from most state law institutes and from the LawCover guidance. The notice is a formal step but it is not court action. Many disputes resolve at the concerns notice stage without ever proceeding to litigation.
When litigation is on the table
Defamation litigation is a serious step. The serious harm threshold introduced in recent reforms means many smaller cases won’t make it to a successful judgment. Costs run quickly. Even when you win, recovery from a private individual reviewer is often limited. Lawyers will give you a more accurate assessment of whether your specific situation is worth pursuing. Most experienced defamation practitioners will tell you that the right time to litigate is rare, and the right time to litigate over a single online review is rarer.
What to avoid throughout
Don’t post angry replies. Don’t accuse the reviewer of crimes you can’t prove. Don’t try to identify them publicly or pressure their employer. Don’t enlist your other customers to mass-flag the review or post counter-reviews of the reviewer’s own business. All of these tactics either backfire publicly or create defamation exposure for you. The discipline of staying inside the formal process is what eventually gets the review removed when removal is genuinely warranted.
Disputing a review you genuinely believe is false is a structured process: identify the specific false claims, gather evidence, use the platform’s official channel, post a calm public response, send a concerns notice if needed, and reserve litigation for the rare cases where it is genuinely warranted. The tradies who handle this well do not win every dispute, but they preserve their reputation and their legal position throughout. The ones who lash out usually make the original review look better by comparison.