A Toronto sandwich shop is the most recent in the city to be attacked with 1-star reviews on Google.

This issue has been a rising trend; people leave unfairly negative reviews online, greatly affecting local businesses.

Phancy's Bodega shared their story on social media, explaining that they were receiving damaging and unfair reviews that significantly affected their Google Review rating, which has typically sat at 4.8 stars out of 5. 

The attack began around 1 p.m. on March 27. The establishment received a string of 1-star reviews, many with duplicate names.

The comments were typically very vague and slanderous, one simply stating "Delivery" with no other context. By 5 p.m. they received approximately 30 negative reviews, dropping their rating to 3.6.  

It's alleged that a food courier received a negative review from a staff member at Phancy's, and coordinated the attack with fellow couriers.

Since this happened, however, many of the negative reviews have been removed. 

Phancy's Bodega reached out to their followers on social media, asking for support to combat the negative reviews. Head chef and owner of Phancy's Bodega, Meagan Bowden, told blogTO "luckily we have an amazing community and also received a flush of 5-star reviews."

5-star reviews left by customers after the incident.

Bowden, expressed the stress bad reviews online can cause, urging people to consider the impact their reviews have.

"Customers, couriers, and even restaurants need to keep in mind that giving anyone a bad rating due to a small annoyance or inconvenience, as insignificant as it may seem to you at the time, can severely affect the person on the other end of it."

Phancy's Bodega is now back to having a stellar 4.9 rating on Google.

Despite the frustration faced, Bowden’s takeaway from this ordeal is that "we all just need to be kinder to each other."