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How do you handle bad reviews and/or disgruntled customers? 😤

Hi Seller Community 🌎 

 

 

 

How do you handle bad reviews or disgruntled customers?

 

Let's be honest, it can't always be sunshine and roses! ☀️ 🌹 

 

We look forward to reading your replies 🤓

️ Isabelle | she/her
Seller Community & Super Seller Program Manager | Square, Inc.
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If these reviews of a different store are on Yelp or google, you are able to go in and report them as not being for the right store. 
When we opened we checked the regulations for what is allowed to be posted as a review on Yelp because we had a similar issue, and if it has nothing to do with your store, a customer complaining about something other than their personal experience with your products/ services, or anything that has to with personal stuff about employees or people is not allowed to be posted. You can report those, and ask a couple close friends or family to report them for review and they can be taken down. 

An example would be someone left us a review about a milkshake they got from us.( which we don’t offer so that would be a different shop)

A customer complaining about a conversation they overheard a different table having that they didn’t agree with.(which has nothing to do with the service we offer)

 

Hopefully you can get some of those reviews for the wrong shop down to help your rating be a bit higher!

Lovewell Tea & Coffee//
Ventura, Ca


https://www.lovewellteaandcoffee.com/
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I try to be understandable putting me in the situation and think what exactly would I want the situation to go always thinking positive cause negative doesn't lead to progress. 

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Like @JUYBoutique20 said, if it's a legitimate complaint, I try to rectify it. I will send them a private message apologizing and offering a free service. I try not to message publicly because then everyone will give a bad review hoping for a free service 😂 We always take the bad reviews seriously and discuss them immediately as a team to come up with ways to improve what we are doing. It's important to realize that only a small percent of your customers will post reviews, so there may be others that feel the same way. 

 

Then there are the fake reviews, I ignore them. Clearly a competitor is struggling. I don't remember Paul McCartney coming into the store with his banjo. Why is he so upset?! 🤣

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I handle things exactly like this.  Bad reviews can be a great way to learn and improve things. But, some people just like to complain.  About anything.  In that case, I usually listen and thank them and then choose not to keep them as clients if I see it a repeat habit.  

Doran

Esthetician
Haute Beauty Guide
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Admit you oversight fast. If wrong. But first say. Let me look into this.

Samuel Turner
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I run a carpet cleaning business and I have about 137 five star reviews with just a few negative reviews. On this one job I explained to a customer that the carpets need to be replace and I will try my best to clean them. Her boyfriend wasn't happy and left me a bad review. I refunded back their money to have the review removed. I have a few negative reviews from customers who refuse to have me come back to fix the problem. No matter what business you have you will get a few negative reviews. Just try to do your best and fix the problem to avoid negative reviews if possible

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I wouldn't refund to get a negative review removed. If their carpets are tiiiiiiiired in your professionally opinion, then that's your opinion. You cleaned their carpet which is what you charged them for. Your opinion was free (and likely warranted).

 

Don't discount yourself, @21Carpet!

Lenore
LenJo Bakes in Kitchener, ON
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It's so reassuring to read everyone responses to this -- one thing I value about this community how it continually reminds me that I'm not in this small business adventure alone! We do a lot of the same things everyone has already mentioned -- quickly and openly addressing legitimate complaints, doing what we can to "make it right." We pride ourselves on going above-and-beyond for our customers, but are also learning how to distinguish between when there was truly a problem and when someone just wants to vent (often, it really has more to do with them than it does with us). It's definitely a journey to learn not to take all feedback personally -- just because one person didn't like their burrito doesn't mean we're total failures, haha. (And yet, sometimes there is also legitimate feedback we need to hear and improve upon.)

 

During the pandemic, I realized I was really holding on to negative feedback and internalizing it in a super draining way, so I started a new practice where, for any negative review we receive, I leave a positive 5-star review for another local small business. Putting positivity in the world in that way has been surprisingly therapeutic -- it feels like neutralizing the negativity in a way, and has helped me move past it more quickly.

 

Since we don't receive many negative reviews (thank goodness!), I've expanded that practice and now I dedicate a few minutes each week to leave one or two 5-star reviews to local places that I've visited recently (or when I travel). It's been really fun and helps me focus on the good and encouraging other people, instead of always worrying about what review is coming next for us. 

Michelle Savage
Co-Founder & President
Savage Goods | @savagegoods | savagegoods.com
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It depends on the validity of the review, I'll own up to mistakes but I had to get a review removed recently because the lady blamed us for her getting a parking ticket. Like don't park illegally. 

 

I always believe reviews need to be taken with a HUGE grain of salt, We've been open 11 years and our yelp has 29 reviews, 4 of which are negative. Out of those 4, 1 is complaining about prices (we are ultra competitive), 1 complained about science (Her balloon deflated in the cold), 1 wasn't even the customer, and the last was when we were super short staffed during covid.

 

4 negative reviews and 25 positive reviews over 11 years and hundreds of thousands of customers shows why review sites are flawed. Happy customers just come back and don't say anything so reviews get skewed heavily in favor of the constant complainers that have more time than sense. 


Maybe I only have 4 bad reviews because I always try to put the customer first and deal with issues as the arise, I just feel like the review bomb places because you had a bad experience is spiteful and I wish people that do that would just talk to the business.

 

Rant out of the way I'll only respond to reviews when there are issues that need to be addressed, petty ones complaining about prices I don't bother dignifying with a response. 

www.PartyManiaBethesda.com
Please Require Customers to pick time/date at checkout for Square online. Thanks!
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The first thing I do when less than joyous feedback comes in is review the client's appointment/purchase history. Then, after examining what they purchased, I create a list of solutions before contacting them. 

BUT, NO MATTER WHAT, I CONTACT THEM WITHIN 24 HOURS.

Sometimes, clients are unhappy due to mismanaged expectations. In this case, I will redirect the conversation to our agreement and ask how I can support them in returning to the forward-moving course of action.

In other situations, clients may be experienced buyer's remorse causing them to relay less than positive feedback to reverse the purchase. In these moments, I believe the conversation is about reminding the client why they invested and, in some instances, offering an alternate course of action to help them recommit to the process.

When we talk about online reviews and posts, I believe responding to all feedback, good and bad, is imperative. Positive review responses will include SEO triggering and identifying data about my business. Reviews with three or fewer stars will not contain identifying information and will have an apology, a request to connect in person or over the phone, and some rectifying solution. I believe negative review responses are more for those researching your business than for the person you are replying to.

Also, I believe discussing fake/false negative comments/reviews in this very digital world is essential. Therefore, when I receive an inaccurate comment/review, I will reply by saying just that and then offer them an exclusive offer to come and experience my products and services. 

The main point is to respond. Stay Positive. Keep Going!

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Relate with the customer, ask questions to fully understand the situation, involve them in the solution.

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First and foremost, if the complaint is warranted, you need to own it...

 

In person  we try to defuse the situation (warranted or unwarranted) using non confrontational language. And sometimes, you just need to call folks out for being unreasonable.

 

Online is a different matter. Firstly we always express our regret that the customer was not satisfied but then generally address the gap in expectation. When responding to online reviews, our primary concern is the third party reader rather than the reviewer.  We address any untruths by stating facts (order timestamps etc), we admit when we're wrong, and what me may have done better.

 

We've learned that, while satisfying in the short term, taking someone to task for a poor review generally never ends well..

 

When you're business is new, every review has a big impact (good or bad) on your overall rating and sadly there is a portion of society that seem to take great pleasure in using this in a negative way.. Over time as you collect more reviews, those individuals have less influence, and therefore generally disappear into the woodwork.

It's still very important however to keep an close eye on reviews because if there is a change in sentiment, there's usually a reason.

 

Bruce

Bruce Wilson
Owner | Vigneron | Distiller
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" When responding to online reviews, our primary concern is the third party reader rather than the reviewer. " - @lawnbrook

It's exactly this! The person who went online to tear you a new one is likely not going to change their mind no matter WHAT you say! You're responding to the person who is reading your response after filtering your reviews from "lowest to highest".

Lenore
LenJo Bakes in Kitchener, ON
Let's connect on Instagram!
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I reply to every review, good or bad. Thankfully, we have had way more good than bad. I try to learn from the bad to fix any issue that occurs.

 

Being a gift shop with a craft beer & wine bar is a retail concept that is new to most people. We take this even further by sending a thank you note through square messenger when their contact information is available. Denyse, our customer service person, customizes each note for the customer. With square messenger, this allows the conversation to begin between the customer and us. Our feedback and return statistics show that this sets us apart from other retail establishments!

 

Rusty Sutton
The Green Monkey LLC
www.greenmonkeyraleigh.com
FB: greenmonkeyraleigh
IG: greenmonkeyraleigh
Twitter: @greenmonkeyshop
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I take it all with a grain of salt and we do our best to try and give the customer what they want- if we fall short- then we give a discount, a coupon or something. I usually ask "what would Nordstrom Do". and do that. Nordstrom is famous for their service- and while a lot of times we're giving in when we are in the right, the mantra is do we want peace or do we wanna be right. The good thing s, it doesn't happen too often.

Dina
Co-Owner Amityville Apothecary
www.shopamityvilleapothecary.com
Instagram | TikTok @AmityvilleApothecary

Podcast: Apothecary After Dark (YouTube & Spotify)
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I want peace *and* I want to be right, @DLRosenberg 😂

Lenore
LenJo Bakes in Kitchener, ON
Let's connect on Instagram!
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First off some people are just bonkers!  You will get random reviews that have no basis in reality.  Like the review "I am done with this place." That was the entire review.  I call those drive by shootings because these people never respond to questions about their review.  Secondly, Google has the worst star system for ratings and gives businesses very poor control over review content.  We try to drive traffic to our restaurant website rather than Google by having great pictures, customer reviews on our website (that we control) and providing easy ordering.  If you are doing all that, then lets look at other negative reviews.  If it's valid, acknowledge it fix the issue so it won't happen again, if possible. Always be as transparent as possible.  If it's out of your control don't sweat it.  Many of those who leave bad reviews are just miserable people.  Don't take abuse from a customer ever, especially if it's targeting your staff.  I occasionally tell people, "Don't come back".  Finally, focus on pleasing the customers who are fans of your business and ask them for feedback.  Don't let 99% of the good reviews be undone by a small number of bad ones. 

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I am first going to agree with and second most of what has been said.  After all, if your method of handling this sort of thing works for you personally and for your business, who am I to argue?!  Having said that……

 

  1. I first consider what was said, how it was said, so that I can try to get an idea of where the person is coming from.
  2. If it is obviously our mistake, we own it, apologize if warranted, and offer solution(s).
  3. We look at and change our internal procedures, recipes, etc, if so needed.  We’ll even inform the customer (and the others reading it) that we have done so and appreciate their input.
  4. If the customer could have fixed the problem by approaching us personally at the time, BUT INSTEAD chose to hide behind the anonymity of their keyboard at home, then I consider the problem entirely theirs.  Often I will say so.  We have always either refunded money or replaced product if something was not to the customer’s liking — no matter what, no questions asked.  Heck, we even replace dropped ice creams free of charge while also cleaning up their mess happily!  But we do not tolerate or condone people who are what we term “keyboard cowards” or “social media terrorists.  If they won’t speak up and call it to our attention when we can actually remedy the problem, that is entirely on them.
  5. As has been said, no one but no one goes after our employees online.  Of course, if the employee did something stupid we will acknowledge that and take appropriate measures privately with the employee.  But no one is allowed to abuse our employees and we will respond accordingly.
  6. In this age of everyone being an expert on everything, we do not suffer fools gladly.  If someone obviously does not know what they are talking about, we have and will continue to say so.  It’s a sad commentary on our current connected age that people who “stayed at a Holiday Inn Express” last night all of a sudden feel like their opinions are more important than the facts.
  7. Lastly, we sometimes just let negative comments pass on by, especially if the OP’s comments are so off base and so uninformed that everyone else will see them for what they are.  Some rabbit holes should not be gone down. LOL

Just my two-cents worth!  I’ve thoroughly enjoyed reading the experiences of others on this post!

Chip

If my answer resolves your issue, please take a minute to mark it as Best Answer. That helps people who find this thread in the future.

Piper’s Ice Cream Bar, Covington KY USA
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“Take what you like, take what works, leave the rest!”
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Bad reviews are just that bad reviews, I attempt to resolve any issues as positive and reasonable as possible.  However, you will have those who are not looking for a resolution, rather want to be combative or argumentative. For those clients who have issues with the jars or bottle, I will try to accommodate and assist with an replacement.  I try to treat my clients the way I would like to be treated. and I do my best each time, ultimately you win some and lose some, but the ones that are positive clients are worth my efforts.  You can't please everyone.

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I agree 100% I always try and make it right with my clients if they write a bad review so that way they know that I care about what they think. I always respond back to there review and wait for them To answer back, When I do this they always change there mind and rethink that bad review. So far I have only gotten one bad review but in the end you can make everyone happy there is always going to be that one person that is never satisfied. 

Amanda Duffy
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I respond to all of our reviews. If it's a good review, usually just a quick thanks! If it's a not so good review I typically talk to my team about it, see if they remember the situation. I formulate my response based on trying to respect their opinion but also by trying to gently correct them if needed, or by offering a solution if it is something we need to correct. I want other customers reading our reviews to see that we do care about their opinions and also want them to have a good experience! It's tough with animals involved though as a lot of our "bad" reviews are something like, "all of the cats were sleeping" or "none of the cats wanted to interact". They're CATS! You are in their home, they are not here to "entertain" you. 

Leah
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