How to respond to a bad Google review

The instinct is to defend yourself. It is the correct instinct in almost every other situation and it is wrong here, because you have misidentified the audience.

The reviewer is one person, they are already unhappy, and almost nothing you write will change their mind. The reply is read by hundreds of people who are deciding whether to call you. That is who you are writing to.

The shape that works

Four short moves, in this order.

Thank them, without sarcasm. "Thanks for taking the time to write this" costs nothing and immediately sets the tone as adult.

State the facts in one neutral sentence. Not a defence, a description. "We attended on the 14th and replaced the valve, and you were charged the quoted 180 pounds." A reader can now see the outline of what happened without having to take anyone's word for the emotional content.

Say what you have done. This is the sentence that converts readers. "I have refunded the callout and we have changed how we confirm parts pricing before starting." Or, if you have not done anything because you do not believe you were wrong: "I have looked back through the job notes and I do not think we got this wrong, but I would rather talk it through than leave it here."

Move it offline. "Give me a ring on 07..., I would like to sort it." Never a form, never an info@ address. A named route, ideally to you.

What to leave out

The word "however". Everything before it is deleted from the reader's mind. So is "but", "unfortunately" and "as I explained at the time".

The customer's private business. Do not mention their medical details, their financial situation, their address, or the fact that they were three months late paying. It may be true, it may even be relevant, and it makes you look dangerous. There is a UK data protection angle to it as well: a review does not entitle you to publish someone's personal information.

A wall of text. Long replies read as guilty. Four sentences beats fourteen.

Anything written within the first hour. Draft it, leave it, and reread it before posting. The version written while angry is always longer, and it always contains the word "however".

A worked example

The review:

Turned up two hours late, then charged more than the quote. Would not use again.

A bad reply:

This is completely unfair. We told you at the time that we were held up on an emergency job, and the extra cost was because YOU asked for an additional radiator to be moved which obviously was not in the original quote. We do our best and reviews like this really hurt small businesses.

Everything in it may be true. It reads as a man shouting.

A good reply:

Thanks for the feedback, and I am sorry about the timing. We were held up on an emergency earlier that morning and I should have called you rather than leaving you waiting, which is on me. The final bill was higher because of the extra radiator we moved on the day, and I can see we never confirmed that price with you in writing first. We do now, on every job. I have credited the difference back to your card. If there is anything still outstanding, ring me on 07000 000000. Ali

Same facts. One of those two businesses gets the next call.

When the review is fake

It happens: a competitor, a mistaken identity, someone who has confused you with another firm.

Report it through the Business Profile manager under the policy it breaches. Expect it to stay. Then reply, briefly and without accusation:

We have no record of a customer by this name and no job matching this description in our diary. If we have got that wrong, please do get in touch, because we would want to put it right. If it has been left on the wrong business by mistake, no hard feelings.

That is confident, it is checkable, and it does not accuse anyone of anything you cannot prove.

The thing that actually protects you

One bad review sitting near the top of a listing with 14 reviews is devastating. The same review buried among 200 is a footnote that makes the other 199 look real.

This is the least discussed benefit of asking every customer, every time: it is insurance. A steady flow of reviews means a bad week never dominates your page, because the bad review is three lines down by the end of the fortnight.

Businesses that only think about reviews after a bad one arrive at the problem too late. The reply is damage limitation. The volume is the defence.