Responding to a negative review example
Every global or local business (even the ones with shiny star ratings) receives customer complaints once in a while. That shouldn’t discourage you because it’s a situation you CAN handle. Show
Believe it or not, any type of customer feedback is healthy for your business. And, responding to customers’ complaints is one of the most effective online review management strategies out there. Handling positive testimonials from your happy customers is far easier, I know. FYI: You can embed Google reviews widget automatically with EmbedReviews platform. Start a free trial and display your Google reviews now. Generate & embed your Google Reviews.Try EmbedReviews, generate Facebook and Google reviews, and display social media reviews widgets on your website. Automatically and in seconds. All PRO features | Cancel any time. But let’s see how you can respond to negative reviews and get some response templates adapted to your industry. Why respond to negative reviews?Your negative customer reviews require the same (and even more) attention as your positive reviews. Here’s why:
6 steps for responding to negative feedback1. Don’t lose your cool. I know that reading a negative online review can upset you, and it’s normal. But try not to look at it as a personal attack. It’s just an upset customer that didn’t receive the expected output (and it’s not always your fault). Instead, stay calm and try to understand what’s really going on. 2. Personalize the response. In the first place, it’s very important to mention their name. Let your customer know that you’re not just copy-pasting the response, but you’re truly dedicated to the problem. Everyone wants to feel acknowledged and heard. Give that to your customers, especially to those with negative experiences. 3. Thank them for the feedback. No matter what kind of feedback you’re receiving, you should always thank. You have to show appreciation to the person who took a moment to let you know about their experience so you as a business owner or general manager can make better and improved decisions in the future. 4. Apologize and sympathize. Showing sympathy to your unhappy customers can help a lot. Don’t run away from the problem, but instead, take responsibility and apologize for what happened. Even if it’s not (completely), your fault doesn’t put the blame on them. Let them know that you’re aware of the issue they’re facing, and you understand the caused “damage.” 5. Stick to the issue. Don’t run away from the problem your customer’s facing. Stick to the main problem they have and what’s in the review. Don’t try to change the subject because that’ll upset the customer even more. And you certainly don’t want that. 6. Ask for a second chance. An apology without changed behavior is nothing, remember? Offer to make things right. Ask your reviewer how you can make things better. You can ask for their phone number or other contact information and take the conversation offline and try to make things right. A simple phone call can help more than you think. Industry-specific response examples and templatesI know how difficult finding the right response can be. That’s why we prepared these review response templates so you can use them and prove to your customers that you do care about maintaining high standards. Response templates for restaurantsFood complaints: Got my meal pal today. It was a falafel salad. The falafel was dry and small, and it was just a bunch of dry lettuce. I couldn’t eat it. Thank you for your feedback, [Customer Name]. Service and staff complaints: Pretty rude staff, especially the host and hostess. Super smug and seem delighted to turn you away even when you try reserving weeks in advance. Even 2 weeks out, apparently, there is no room unless you want to eat lunch at 3 pm. They act as if they had a Michelin star and that their food is enough to keep them in business. I can’t wait to see this yuppy unoriginal trash close down in a year, like every other one in NYC before it. Thank you for your feedback, [Customer Name]. Atmosphere complaints: Food is great; the atmosphere isn’t. We were there on a Monday evening, and it was very crowded with loud music playing. While we could barely speak with each other, the waitress decided to turn the music up even more until it felt like in a club at 3 AM. It was a very unpleasant dining experience. Thank you for your feedback, [Customer Name]. Response templates for healthcareCustomer service complaints: Horrible dental office. Management has no co-relation with the front desk. FRONT DESK people are rude since the opening. Worse customer service. They messed my insurance copayment information; they charged me co-payment where my insurance cover full. I’m sorry to hear about your experience, [Customer Name]. I appreciate you reaching out and am sorry to learn that our customer service has fallen short of the level you deserve. Organization and communication complaints: I first began coming here because of their amazing reviews. Unfortunately, my experiences have been overwhelmingly negative. I was billed more than $2,600 dollars, the vast majority of which I did not consent to and were never carried out. Dear [Customer Name], we are sorry to hear that you have had such a negative experience. Not respecting appointment review: I’m a long-time patient of this hospital; every time I come in, I have to wait over an hour to get seen. What’s the point of making an appointment and coming in on time? I was late 15 minutes before, and the doctor didn’t see me. But today I came on time. My appointment was at 3:20 PM, it is now 4:20, and I still haven’t seen the doctor. The staff is nice, and the new renovations look good, but I didn’t leave work early to wait an hour to be seen. Thank you for taking the time to share your experience with us, [Customer Name]. I’m sorry that you had a long wait today, and I appreciate your patience. Response templates for fashion brandsDelivery and communication complaints: Lit did not send me an item for which I paid and did not bother to tell me either before I received my order of garments, presents for my fiancé, in the box when the garments were received, or after I received the order. I do not appreciate their unfair, deceptive, and duplicitous behavior and recommend that no one shop on their e-commerce site. [Customer Name], I’m sorry to hear you had an unpleasant experience with your purchase. We are a small team, and we only have so many hours in the day. If there was any confusion about our process or if you didn’t receive what you were expecting, please let us know! Store ambient complaints: Don’t try calling. The phone rings off the hook and no one picks up. And the dressing rooms with no mirrors make it feel like a Dollar Store. Even Target has mirrors and a better waiting system for dressing rooms. If you’re looking to get customers back into stores to save retail, this is not the way to do it. Hi [Customer Name], thanks for your feedback. We’re sorry to hear you had a less than ideal experience with our store and dressing rooms. I’m not sure if we can get any mirrors installed in the dressing room, but we’ll pass on your feedback to our retail team, so they know what customers are looking for when they visit our stores. And I’m sure we’re going to solve the mirror problem! Response templates for real-estateComplaints about the listing: I have sent Dan multiple emails about a specific unit that is listed online as available, and every time I ask him if that SPECIFIC unit is still available, he changes the subject and tries to get me interested in other apartments. I have flat out asked him, “Is X unit still available?” and he sends a non-responsive email. I think the unit is listed as a bait and switch to get business, which is certainly a deceptive business practice. I’m sorry to hear that you feel this way, [Customer Name]. As you know, we have a large inventory of [Company Name], and it’s possible the unit in question has been rented or is otherwise unavailable for your needs. In order to better assist you, please provide me with the property address so I can assure myself that it’s still available – if not, I’ll be happy to help find something else for you which meets your criteria. Response template 9. Communication complaints: Paid a broker fee and the guy never showed on move-in day. We had no keys and no one was there. Called Bulfinch who still hasn’t called back. Hi [Customer Name], I’m sorry to hear about your experience and that you were let down by our broker. We take this very seriously and have taken steps to ensure this doesn’t happen again. Complaints about not being transparent: The apartment I moved into ended up having tons of issues forcing me to hire a lawyer to terminate the lease early. In my opinion, the agent should have been more meticulous about the condition of the unit when conducting the viewing. [Customer Name], I’m sorry to hear about the issues you’ve faced with your new apartment. It sounds like it has been a difficult time for you, and we want to do what we can to help. Response templates for travel companiesResponsiveness and professionalism complaints: Ryan is the worst travel agent! My calls are never answered or returned. Ryan is not helpful. People look somewhere else for travel services. Dear [Customer Name], Customer service complaints: Asma is extremely rude. She seems to not care about your travel plans once you pay her. Do yourself a favor and request a different agent. Hi [Customer Name], I’m really sorry to hear that you’ve had a less than stellar experience with our customer service team. We pride ourselves on providing the best possible service, and it sounds like we missed the mark this time around. Response templates for SaaS companiesUnprofessional HR team complaints: Very bad hiring process and unprofessional HR team. Being a software company, you should hire some good recruiting professionals, and even none of the hr team member doesn’t have polishing skills what questions have to ask from the candidate for various tech roles. Please educate your hr team first and then hire others. Thank you for your candid feedback [Customer Name]. Unprofessional behavior: Unprofessional company. We outsourced a project to them due to an internal resource crunch. They are started contacting our clients and dealing with them. Do not consider these guys for your project. They have do not act like professionals. Hi [Customer Name], thank you for reaching out to us about your project. Complaints about lack of skills: Worst service. They don’t have any skilled persons. Don’t deliver items in Time. They’ll take all the working Hardware Components and replace them with serviced ones or old ones and charge for them also. Completely Money Minded. Don’t approach them for any kind of Service, either Hardware or Software. The Worst Service. If there is an award for Worst management is to be given I’ll suggest this company’s name. These i***** don’t deserve Ratings also. Hi [Customer Name], I’m sorry to hear about your experience with us. It sounds like you had a frustrating time, and we want to do everything we can to make it right for you. Response templates for wellness & spaUnprofessional service complaints: I was there for a full spa treatment with my friend (with a birthday gift card), and we both were treated very badly, and the staff was refusing to give us the whole spa treatment (as soon as they saw we had a gift card and we were not usual clients). The whole spa treatment was supposed to last at least 45 minutes, and it lasted just 25 minutes. We have never felt so humiliated before. Thank you for taking the time to share your experience [Customer Name]. I am sorry that it was not a positive one, and I sincerely regret any negative feelings or embarrassment you may have experienced. Complaints about poor conditions: Exceptionally poor conditions and very confusing and not suitable areas for relaxing within the spa. They have a fee for towels, swimming caps, and slippers, but they didn’t have clean ones available to provide us with which was very disappointing. Overall, the whole spa center is dirty and disorganized, and I definitely wouldn’t return and won’t recommend it to anyone looking for quality and proper relaxation. Thank you for taking the time to review your experience at [Company Name]. I’m sorry to hear that your visit didn’t meet our standards and we’re grateful for the feedback! We want to make sure all our guests have a relaxing, enjoyable time in both of our locations. Response templates for car dealershipsTransparency complaints: Don’t go there if you want a quality car. It’s obvious they are hiding things because it doesn’t take that long, to tell the truth. Hi [Customer Name]. We’re sorry to hear you had a negative experience with us. We want every customer’s experience to be the best possible, and we work hard to make sure that happens. It sounds like you may have been misled by our staff or another dealership which is not what we would like for anyone who visits [Company Name]. Our goal is for everyone who comes in contact with us to feel valued and respected, so if you could please call me at [Company Phone Number], I’d love the opportunity to discuss your concerns further with you. Low organization skills and hidden charges: Worst Experience I ever had. I booked an appointment for checking out Honda CRV and also confirmed the same with the lady called Claudia 3-4 times before going there but I was shocked to find out after reaching there that they didn’t have the car in their inventory at all! Hi [Customer Name], I’m sorry to hear about your experience with [Company Name]. This is a tough one, and we’re very sorry that you had this unfortunate experience. Response templates for legal companiesService quality complaints: This law firm did a poor job during this pandemic in terms of quality of services and responsiveness. I fired the attorney assigned to my case today after she yelled at me over the phone, refused to look at any evidence I had to offer, and did not conduct an intake to know that her actions were not in line with my goals as a client. I think most folks would be better off representing themselves than trusting this law firm to not care, be disrespectful, and cause potentially more damage than help. They act like they’re all just working there for free… [Customer Name], thank you for your feedback. I am sorry to hear that our attorney was not able to meet your expectations, and I apologize again for her behavior. We take this seriously and will be addressing the incident with her directly. Responsiveness complaints: I never got a return call after three messages left have to go through some kind of astronomical process to get any kind of services here. Hi J[Customer Name], we’re sorry to hear that you were not able to get a return call after three messages were left. We take your feedback very seriously and I’ve passed this on to our reception team so they can make sure that all of their agents are aware of the importance of returning calls in a timely manner. Communication and relationship complaints: They have no patience with people w t.b.i. And create so much stress that you cannot get the words out fast enough that they shut u down, leaving u dishearted, lost, and depressed, not worth the effort to dial them. [Customer Name], I’m sorry to hear that you’ve had a negative experience with our organization. Our employees are trained to be patient and understanding when working with people who have TBI-related communication issues. We want to help make sure your voice is heard and we encourage you to reach out directly so that we can learn more about how we might better serve you in the future. Response templates for financial companiesCommunication and staff behavior: For a staffing firm, extremely rude on the phone. Many individuals apply to a staffing firm to see if there are possibilities. I was treated very rudely. As a past executive recruiter and HR professional, I would tend to refer individuals to another firm. This is only an indication of how they will treat you if employed by them. Response template: Thanks for sharing your experience [Customer Name]; I’m sorry to hear you had a negative impression of our company. We are currently in the process of making some changes to how we work with candidates and clients so that we can deliver on what people want from us. Working quality complaints: This was the worst experience I have ever had renting in Boston. All they are interested in is keeping your money. I had a cockroach-infested apartment, and it was against their policy to call an exterminator!!! They keep your security deposit over damage from a previous tenant. They enter your apartment without receiving permission as well! I highly recommend you do not rent from them!!! Thank you for your feedback, [Customer Name]. I am sorry to hear that you had such a terrible experience with our company and would like to help make it right. Complaints about miscommunication and unprofessional working: I had a real bad experience with these guys where I was jerked around for months with conflicting messages being given. My mortgage broker was great to work with, but the underwriters wouldn’t give a clear message. It shouldn’t take months to either approve or deny a refi request. Very disappointed in the way I was treated by these guys and will never go back. Thank you for taking the time to review our services, [Customer Name]. I am sorry to hear that your experience was less than desirable and that we were not able to meet your needs. Responding to a negative home service reviewHidden costs and price complaints: Showed up outside of the specified time window and quoted me a price 50-100% higher than the highest price they said it would be over the phone. I was then charged a $90 service fee for telling me something I already knew (that the hot water heater needed to be replaced). The technician was courteous and knowledgeable, but I would not recommend it unless you want to overpay. Thank you for your review [Customer Name]. I’m sorry to hear about the experience you had with our technician. Misleading complaints: He tried to solicit business other than what he was called for. Then quoted a ridiculous price to see if he could figure out why the faucet was leaking. I’m sorry to hear you had a bad experience with [Company Name], [Customer Name]. I would like to know more about what happened so that I can provide an appropriate response for you and other potential customers. Please get in touch with me at [Company Email] or by phone at [Company Phone Number], and we’ll discuss this further. Response template Responding to a negative education center reviewTutors quality complaints: This place hires a bunch of people who give you really weak advice. The tutors don’t know what they are talking about and don’t follow through. If you want real advice and tutoring as a BU student, do not work for them or take any of their services. It’s a bunch of fakes who staff here. Hi [Customer Name], thank you for your feedback. I’m sorry to hear that our team did not meet your expectations and that you felt we were not able to provide the level of service needed. We take all reviews seriously and will use this as an opportunity to improve our services in the future. Thank you again for taking the time to share your experience with us! Response template Overpromising and underdelivering: My daughter’s ACT score didn’t improve as they promised. She actually did better without their help. They have mostly students teaching students instead of certified teachers—more commercial than service. Hi [Customer Name], thanks for taking the time to write a review. I’m sorry to hear your daughter’s experience wasn’t what you were hoping for and that she did better on her [Test / ACT] without our help. Discrimination complaints: It is a place where people are discriminated against; they select according to the secretary’s liking. I tried to enroll my child for more than 5 months, and I simply did not process the application because I was married and sent me to a public school. Thank you for taking the time to share your experience, [Customer Name]. We sincerely apologize that we were not able to enroll your child in our program due to a misunderstanding about your marital status. We are committed to providing educational opportunities for all children and ensuring they have access regardless of race, religion, gender identity, or sexual orientation. Bottom lineKeep in mind that your online reputation is shaped not only by what your customers are saying about you – but also by how you respond to that. This gives you control over how potential customers see your brand. I hope you find the response templates you were looking for. So don’t forget to let us know if these possible responses helped you out! How do you politely respond to a bad review?Tips for responding to customer reviews. Say thank you.. Respond in a timely manner.. Stay professional and courteous.. Understand your customer's experience with your business.. Apologize when appropriate.. Offer to talk it over if a customer has a complaint.. Show that you're authentic and genuine by signing your name or initials.. How do you answer how do you respond to negative feedback?How to respond to negative feedback. Address the customer by their name. It's just a little trick, and you may think that there's no need to do this. ... . Apologize to the customer. ... . Sympathize with the customer's problem. ... . Say you're solving the problem. ... . Offer a gift. ... . Ask the customer to change the review. ... . Accept negative reviews.. How do you respond to a negative employee review?6 do's and don'ts of responding to negative employee reviews. Pay attention to postings. ... . Don't confront a suspected employee. ... . Consult a neutral third party. ... . Investigate and take appropriate action. ... . Don't salt your reviews. ... . Change your attitude about negative reviews.. What is an example of a response to a review?“Thank you so much for taking the time to leave us feedback.” “Is there anything we can do to improve?” “We hope to see you again soon!” “We're really grateful and appreciate you taking the time to share your rating with us.” |