Getting 1-star review is extremely frustrating and upsetting, but it’s important to handle them properly.
After getting the negative review, it’s easy to get caught up in it and have the urge of replying straight away. But I’d recommend against doing that straight away because:
- You are probably not in the most professional mindset in that moment and your wording will reflect on that
- You will lock down the negative review and cannot ask the customer to change it afterwards
- Your angry words will be public and may turn off potential customers seeing that
Common Causes For Negative Review
- Damaged Product
- Lost Mail
- Delayed
- Change Of Mind
- Product Not Matching Description
- Product Not Matching Expectation
- Simple Misunderstanding
Although it’s possible, rarely is it the case where the customer is being spiteful just for the sake.
How To Dispute A Negative Review & Get It Removed
There are some situations where a negative review would violate Etsy’s rules. Here are some reasons why a negative review could be removed:
- Contains private information
- Contains racist, obscene, threatening or harassing language
- Contains advertising or spam
If you are confident that the review violates one of these rules, you can contact Etsy by reporting the review. It will take Etsy some time to respond, do NOT reply to the review publicly as that will lock down the review.
To my knowledge, it’s very unlikely that an Etsy review would be removed. So it’s better to deal with it professionally rather than reporting to Etsy and hoping the removal.
Mindset When Communicating With Unhappy Customers
When communicating with unhappy customers, it’s important to take a deep breath and remain calm. It may be better to close Etsy and wait a few hours before you think about how to respond.
Keep in mind that it’s possible to turn the negative review around. I’ve had customers who left 1-star reviews who became long-term loyal customers after I fixed the problem.
Although it may be hard to see in the moment, negative reviews are sometimes opportunities for you to improve your shop. These reviews could point you towards areas in your shop that can be made better. For example, one of the 1-star review I got was about ‘product doesn’t look exactly like the photos’, which pushed me to improve my product photography, and therefore improving the conversion rate of my shop.
Here are a few things to keep in mind:
- Be calm and professional
- Use friendly language and don’t get personal
- Listen to customers and empathise
- Focus on finding a solution for the customer
- Communicate regularly until the issue is fixed
Read the next chapter for my process of handling 1-star review: