10 Ways to Respond to Negative Reviews + 10 Killer Templates!

Updated: 17th November, 2023 As a business owner, you’re no stranger to the concept of negative reviews. No matter how perfect or streamlined you think your business process is, you can still get some negative reviews.  A negative review can happen regardless of your quality of work, but that doesn’t mean that you should be […]

Updated: 17th November, 2023

As a business owner, you’re no stranger to the concept of negative reviews. No matter how perfect or streamlined you think your business process is, you can still get some negative reviews. 

A negative review can happen regardless of your quality of work, but that doesn’t mean that you should be rude to your customers or start playing the blame game.

There are some effective ways to respond to negative reviews that can not only solve your problem but can even turn a negative review into a positive review. 

Our professional team of reputation management experts from Trust Analytica has written this article to help you deal with negative customer feedback. Our experts will also be sharing with you 10 killer negative review response templates so make sure you read this article until the end.

Benefits of Negative Reviews

Negative reviews are not all bad. If you see negative reviews as an optimist, you will understand that negative reviews are an opportunity to improve the online reputation of your online business. Here are some powerful benefits of negative reviews:

1. Customers often suspiciously perceive companies with all 5-star review ratings and positive reviews as they seem fake to most online users. According to a study, online shoppers trust websites that also have some negative reviews along with a lot of positive reviews.
2. A negative review is an opportunity for you to show other customers that you care about every customer and you are willing to compensate customers if things don’t go as planned. 
3. A response to a negative review also educates other online customers about what could go wrong and how your online business can compensate the customer for their loss. 

How to Respond to Negative Reviews

Our experts understand that getting negative online reviews is not a pretty sight. Business owners get angry, defensive, and annoyed just as if someone has personally attacked them. However, you dont need to be 

Why Responding to Reviews is Important 

Responding to negative reviews is vital to managing the online reputation of a business. If a negative review is left unresponded then it gives an impression that it was all your fault and you haven’t done anything to help or compensate the person who left that review.

Unresponded negative reviews also give an impression that you dont care about your customers’ feedback. Therefore it’s always important to respond to negative reviews as fast as possible. But how exactly respond to these reviews and what to say? Well, our experts have all the answers. Keep reading to know everything! 

10 Negative Review Response Templates

When it comes to responding to negative reviews, there are usually only two types of responses:

• You are responsible for a problem and you are willing to compensate the customer.
• You are not the one responsible for the problem and you had no control over what happened with the customer.

We have also added another response template in which you can ask the reviewer to give more details about their negative experience as the review itself was too vague.

• Negative Review Response Template Number 1

This negative review response template is suitable when you are the one responsible for the problem

Hello [Customer Name],

I’m [your name], [job title/role]. Thank you for taking the time to review. 

We are sorry for what happened and we take complete responsibility for your loss. We pride ourselves because of our excellent customer support and problems like this happen once in a blue moon.

We have personally reached out to you at your email that was provided at the time of purchase. We want to learn more about what really happened and then we will compensate you accordingly

Thanks again for letting us know,

[Your Name]

• Negative Review Response Template Number 2

This negative review response template is most relevant when you are responsible for the problem + you are also offering a discount to compensate.

Hello [Customer Name],

I’m [your name], [your job title]. We are glad you took the time to give us your valuable feedback and we are so sorry for what happened.

We pride ourselves because of our state-of-the-art customer service but we dropped the ball in the following instance. 

We have sent you an e-voucher that will help you get an extra 15% off on your entire cart for your next order. We will also reimburse you for your loss with this order as well.

We sincerely apologize for what happened and we assure you that such issues won’t ever bother you again.

Thanks very much,

[Your Name]

• Negative Review Response Template Number 3

This negative review response template is relevant when you are NOT responsible for the issue/problem

Hello [Customer Name],

I’m [your name], [your job title]. Thank you so much for taking the time to give feedback about your experience.

We completely understand your problem and we are sorry for your experience, however, this was not our fault.

We delivered your product to the courier service right on time and the delay in delivery is the fault of the courier service. We also contacted the courier service and they assured us that your product will be delivered to you as soon as possible.

We have reached out to you personally at your email address. Please explain your experience and we will do whatever is in our power to compensate you.

Thanks again for letting us know,

[Your Name]

• Negative Review Response Template Number 4

This negative review response template is relevant when you are NOT responsible for the issue/problem and you are still offering a discount.

Hello [Customer Name],

I am [your name], [your job title]. Thank you so much for taking the time to give feedback about your experience.

We acknowledge your bad experience and we are sorry that you had to face this situation. However, after investigating what happened I came to know that it wasn’t our fault and the fault lies with one of the third-party suppliers who work with us.

Still, I sincerely apologize for your bad experience and would like to compensate you with a gift voucher (already sent to you through email) 

Thanks again for letting us know,

[Your Name]

• Negative Review Response Template 5

When You Need Further Clarification on the Issue Before Responding

Hello [Name],

I’m [your name] and I work as [your job title] for [your business]. Thank you so much for taking the time to give us your feedback.

I am sorry that you had to face this issue. I did not understand your concern through your feedback, could you please reach out to me @ [insert business email] and elaborate on this issue?

I assure you that I will do everything in my power to resolve your problem.

Thank you so much, and I look forward to hearing from you!

[Your Name]

• Negative Review Response Template Number 6

Followup after resolving the issue behind a negative review and asking for a positive review

Dear [Customer Name],

I was told by a team member that your issue has been completely resolved and you have been compensated accordingly.

I am glad that I was able to help you in this matter. I was hoping you could edit your review or tell other customers by sharing your most recent experience with us.

A business like ours heavily relies on customer feedback to generate sales and conversion. Therefore, I would be pleased if you could find the time to help us in this matter.

Thank you so much, and I look forward to hearing from you!

[Your Name]

• Negative Review Response Template Number 6

Followup to check if the reason behind the negative review was resolved

Dear [Customer Name],

I was told by a team member that your issue has been completely resolved and you have been compensated accordingly.

I am just checking to make sure that all your issues have been resolved and there is nothing else that still bothers you.

A business like ours heavily relies on customer feedback to generate sales and conversion therefore we always make sure that all our customers are happy doing business with us.

Thank you so much and happy shopping, 

[Your Name]

• Negative Review Response Template Number 8

General negative review response template

Hello [Customer Name],

I’m [your name], [your job title]. We are glad you took the time to give us your valuable feedback and we are so sorry for what happened.

We pride ourselves because of our state-of-the-art customer service but we dropped the ball in the following instance. 

We have sent you an e-voucher that will help you get an extra 15% off on your entire cart for your next order. We will also reimburse you for your loss with this order as well.

We sincerely apologize for what happened and we assure you that such issues won’t ever bother you again.

Thanks very much,

[Your Name]

• Negative Review Response Template Number 9

Negative review response template when it is the fault of the reviewer

Hello [Customer Name],

I’m [your name], [your job title]. Thank you so much for taking the time to give feedback about your experience.

We completely understand your problem and we are sorry for your experience, however, this was not our fault.

We delivered your product to the courier service right on time and the delay in delivery is the fault of the courier service. We also contacted the courier service and they assured us that your product will be delivered to you as soon as possible.

We have reached out to you personally at your email address. Please explain your experience and we will do whatever is in our power to compensate you.

Thanks again for letting us know,

[Your Name]

• Negative Review Response Template Number 10

Negative review response template when it is the fault of your company

Hello [Customer Name],

I’m [your name], [job title/role]. Thank you for taking the time to review. 

We are sorry for what happened and we take complete responsibility for your loss. We pride ourselves because of our excellent customers support and problems like this happen once in a blue moon. 

We have personally reached out to you at your email that was provided at the time of purchase. We want to learn more about what really happened and then we will compensate you accordingly

Thanks again for letting us know,

[Your Name]

How to Respond to Negative Reviews – With Examples

Here is how you can effectively respond to negative reviews and turn a negative review into a happy customer testimonial. 

• Acknowledge The Customer’s Complaint

• Apologize & Empathize

• Explain Yourself if Needed

• Take Responsibility

• Take The Discussion Offline

• Make It Right

Step 1: Acknowledge The Customer’s Complaint

Always start your negative review response by acknowledging the issue at hand. Even if you think that you are not at fault you still need to acknowledge that the issue exists and start by thanking the reviewer for reaching out to you.

Step 2: Apologize & Empathize

There is no point in acknowledging the issue if you are not going to apologize to your customer for their bad experience. It doesn’t matter who is at fault, you need to understand that your response will be seen by all the other customers as well. Therefore it is important to sound professional.

Be the first one to apologize to the customer to calm them and show everyone how much you care about each customer. 

You can try saying:

“We apologize that you had to go through all that. We set a high service standard for ourselves and are truly sorry to hear that standard was not met in your case”.

Step 3: Explain Yourself if Needed

There are times when an apology is more than enough to address a situation. Even so, there may also be instances where you’ll need to provide more information to clear up a misunderstanding. Here’s an example of an in-depth explanation that follows an apology:

“Our entire team apologizes for the miscommunication that took place when scheduling your service appointment. We experienced a serious technical issue with our scheduling software, which caused us to lose valuable information about our upcoming appointments. As a result, we did not meet our scheduled service window at your home.

Step 4: Take Responsibility

Compensating a reviewer for his/her bad experience publicly gives a message to all other customers that you are willing to bear a loss if something goes out of the way. It’s a gesture that is guaranteed to boost your sales and also build trust between you and other customers.

Step 5: Take The Discussion Offline

If the reviewer is very angry and you think that talking to them publicly will only do more harm than good then you need to take the conversation online. 

Ask the reviewer that you dont completely understand their concern and provide an email address where they can come and explain themselves. Only reply to them in the review section after their complaint/issue has been resolved and they are ready to edit/change their review.

Step 6: Make It Right

Do whatever is in your power to make the reviewer happy again and once the issue is resolved to request them to edit their review. A Google My Business Review can be edited by the reviewer without any problem therefore if it was a Google review then it can be edited.

How Can Trust Analytica Help You?

Responding to each negative review and then following up with the reviewer through email to resolve their problem is easier said than done. It is certainly a very hectic task to keep a record of all your reviews across all your social media platforms.

Trust Analytica is an AI-based reputation management tool that can help you manage all your customer reviews through a single-user dashboard. With the power of AI in your hands, you can easily boost the online reputation of your business by playing smart not hard. 

Subscribe to one of our packages today and reap all the benefits of this amazing reputation management tool.

FAQs

How do I respond to a negative review on Google templates?

While responding to a negative Google review always remember to be polite and never be rude to your customer. Always ask your customers why they are upset and what could be dont to make them happy again. 

What is the best way to respond to a negative review?

The best way to respond to a negative review is to be polite and apologetic to the reviewer. Politely ask the reviewer about his/her concern and reassure them that the issue will be resolved and they will be compensated accordingly.

How do you respond to a negative review of a restaurant?

Always be polite and apologetic to the reviewer because of the bad experience they had. Politely ask them for the problem and compensate them accordingly if it was your fault was yours.

How do you respond to a professionally rude email template?

Understand that if the sender of the email was rude then it was not a professional email. Remember to always be polite and empathetic with all your online customers and make sure you provide a great customer experience to everyone.