What to do when you get a bad review

A bad review feels personal, but how you handle it matters more than the review itself. Here is what to do — and what not to do.

1. Don't panic

One bad review among good ones will not ruin your business. Customers expect to see a mix. A business with nothing but five-star reviews looks less believable than one with a few honest complaints and thoughtful replies.

2. Reply calmly and quickly

Other customers will read your response. Keep it short, polite and professional. Say you are sorry they had a bad experience and offer to make it right. Do not argue, do not make excuses, and do not blame the customer — even if they are wrong.

3. Take it offline

After your public reply, reach out privately if you can. A phone call or a direct message lets you solve the problem without an audience. Many unhappy customers will update or remove their review after a real conversation.

4. Don't ask friends to bury it

Asking friends or family to post fake five-star reviews to push the bad one down is review fraud. Google can detect sudden spikes in reviews and may remove them all — good and bad.

5. Learn from it

If the same complaint shows up more than once, there is probably something to fix. A pattern in reviews is free feedback. Use it.

6. Know when to report

Google lets you report reviews that are fake, from someone who was never a customer, or that contain threats or hate speech. You cannot report a review just because you disagree with it. If the review is from a real customer with a real complaint, the right move is to reply and fix the problem.