Answering reviews: what to say to a 1-star review
A 1-star review stings. Your first instinct is to defend yourself. Wait. Your reply is not really for the person who wrote the review: it is for every future customer who reads it.
A calm, kind reply under a bad review often reassures people more than a page of perfect 5-star ones. And Google says replying to reviews shows you value feedback and can help your business stand out.
The four-step reply
- 1
Thank them
Use their first name. They took the time to tell you.
- 2
Say sorry
For how it felt, not as a debate about who was right.
- 3
One calm fact
Only if it matters, in one sentence. No blame.
- 4
Take it offline
A name and a number or email, so they can reach you.
Three replies you can adapt
Hi Sipho, thank you for telling us, and I'm sorry we arrived two hours late. That is not the service we want to give. I'd like to put it right: please call me, Anna, on 082 000 0000.
Hi Karen, thank you for your feedback, and I'm sorry the final price came as a surprise. Call-outs after 6pm carry an after-hours fee, and we should have said so clearly when you booked. I'd like to talk it through: please email me at anna@example.co.za.
Hi Mark, thank you for taking the time to write. I'm sorry you had a bad experience. We can't find your booking under this name, and we'd really like to understand what happened. Please contact me, Anna, on 082 000 0000.
Names, numbers and email are examples. Use your own, and change the words so they sound like you.
Do and don't
Do
- Reply within a day or two
- Keep it short: three or four sentences
- Sign with a real name
- Fix the cause, so the next customer has a better day
- Ask your happy customers for reviews, so one bad one is a small part of the picture
Don't
- Argue, or prove them wrong in public
- Share private details: what they bought, what they paid, their address
- Paste the same reply under every review
- Offer anything in return for changing or removing the review
- Reply while you are still angry
What if the review is not genuine?
If a review is spam, offensive, or clearly not about a real experience with your business, you can report it to Google for removal. Google decides, and it can take a while. In the meantime, reply calmly, like the third example above: readers see your reply, not your report.
Make replying quick
The hardest part is finding the right words when you are busy and annoyed. In Witty Worx, Your reviews lists every Google review, shows which ones still need an answer, and writes a reply in your own voice for you to check, change and copy to Google. You stay in charge of every word.