How to respond to a bad review

[zzannezz]

Hi, So I recently had a client who didn’t answer my questions clearly and when they asked for revisions they would tell me a few things to change, then after I delivered, they would come up with new things they wanted to be changed that they never mentioned before.
After completing the order, they left a 2 star review saying that it took too many revisions to get to the finished process and they went to another seller who finished with less revisions. It’s like they expected me to read their mind.
I want to reply to their review to explain my side of the story, but I also want to keep it professional and polite. Any tips on how to respond to this?

[misscrystal]

I believe in honest communication and in this case her experience of the difficulties she encountered with this client need to be shown so people can see what actually happened. I do understand your point of view though. It’s a difference of opinion.

[english_voice]

Put it this way, a response to a negative review is far more about making yourself look fair and reasonable to future potential buyers - and far less about responding to what that one individual buyer actually said about you.

In other words, treat this as an opportunity to say to others reading the review in future “Look, I’m a decent person”. It’s an advertising and PR opportunity for you. Don’t blow it by sounding off and finger pointing at the buyer. That approach is emotional led, and not business led.

[misscrystal]

Put it this way, a response to a negative review is far more about making yourself look fair and reasonable to future potential buyers - and far less about responding to what that one individual buyer actually said about you.

In other words, treat this as an opportunity to say to others reading the review in future “Look, I’m a decent person”. It’s an advertising and PR opportunity for you. Don’t blow it by sounding off and finger pointing at the buyer. That approach is emotional led, and not business led.

making yourself look fair and reasonable to future potential buyers - and far less about responding to what that one individual buyer actually said about you.

I think my response suggestion accomplished that. People want to know why that client said that about her and what her reaction to it and her experience with that client was like so they can see why he might have said that. In this case he left a bad review after being uncommunicative during the process.

Otherwise they think he was right and it was all her fault and she is a lousy seller.

[english_voice]

I believe in honest communication and in this case her experience of the difficulties she encountered with this client need to be shown so people can see what actually happened. I do understand your point of view though. It’s a difference of opinion.

It is difference of opinion, and I think we both accept that. I suspect that neither of us will lose any sleep over it!

The great thing about sharing experience on these forums (and I’m including you and a lot of the other forum regulars) is that we can pick and choose the words of wisdom to fit our own business model.

[lenasemenkova]

I see nothing wrong with explicitly stating that the client had no idea what he wanted (but politely). Implying if you want. Hinting if you must.

It’s one thing when you don’t have sufficient information and think to yourself: “Screw it, I’m going to try and guess”. It’s another thing when your gig description, your mandatory requirements, your subsequent messages specifically ask for things the person willingly and repeatedly ignores, then explicitly gives you consent to “do what you want”. In this scenario, I won’t accept any kind of “this is not what I wanted” and won’t dance around it in an overly apologetic manner.

Here, I’d write something like: “The brief was updated multiple times with new information that wasn’t mentioned It’s unfortunate that this collaboration was unproductive”. Or just write “It was a challenging project to work on.”

I’d probably advise on trying not to get overly emotional because I occasionally see responses that are basically: “I gave you everything, how could you”. It’s a major turn-off for me personally.

[chris_ld]

I also deal with one buyer like this,I gave him 50 revisions and allast they cancel order.

[misscrystal]

I also deal with one buyer like this,I gave him 50 revisions and allast they cancel order.

I gave him 50 revisions and allast they cancel order.

It’s heartbreaking to read things like this happening. I’m so sorry you had this happen. It was probably over a $5 order too.

[Guest gamunu]

in my experience don’t try to do anything just leave it. It’s just another bad day, don’t think about it too much. always act professionally 😊

[grydlynnes]

On 6/7/2020 at 10:47 AM, english_voice said:

I’m simply offering my point of view. When responding to negative reviews, many people respond emotionally (which is understandable as their work has been criticised) and in forensic detail (because they want to communicate their side of the story).

However, someone else (a potential new client) reading the response in future won’t understand the context. But they will understand the ‘fighting talk’ and can interpret that as someone who is a pain to do business with. That is why, in my opinion, it is best to respond with very neutral language along the lines of “Sorry it didn’t work out on this occasion. If you have another project in future, then let’s talk, etc”.

Imagine you run a coffee shop and a customer has left bad feedback online about a stale cake. Do you 1) defend yourself saying something like “our cakes are never stale, how dare you accuse my business of this, and never walk through my door again”.

Or 2) do you say something like “I’m really sorry this was your experience. On investigating your complaint, I have found out a new member of staff didn’t understand that cakes should only be on display for one day. I have spoken to them. Please comeback anytime in the next month and ask for me personally, and I will be happy offer you a free coffee and cake by way of an apology”.

Scenario 1 makes you look like a monster. Who would want to eat and drink in your coffee shop?! Scenario 2 makes you look like a very welcoming, caring business owner.

It’s all public relations.

Well, “responding with very neutral language” could portray the Seller as accepting responsibility for the bad review. If a Buyer left unfair remarks, there’s nothing wrong in telling your side, exactly as it is - neutral language or not. If I were a Buyer and spotted such Seller’s counter response, I’d rather check the frequency of the good reviews he had as well as the quality of his portfolio items to decide wether to patronize or not. If I have such opportunity to respond to Buyer’s negative review, I won’t be diplomatic. 

[misscrystal]

1 ⭐ review: This seller was the absolute worst ever. What I got was beyond awful. Never again. In spite of several revisions it was pure garbage.

seller response: I hope you order again because I want very much to try to make you happy.

😄

[lenasemenkova]

1 ⭐ review: This seller was the absolute worst ever. What I got was beyond awful. Never again. In spite of several revisions it was pure garbage.

seller response: I hope you order again because I want very much to try to make you happy.

😄

As I discovered recently, buyers who leave negative reviews tend to linger on your gig’s page to see how you’ll respond. A response like this would for sure be puzzling for them. I wish I’d gone that route, just for fun.

“Thank you for diversifying my reviews with your contribution, I love that”.

[misscrystal]

As I discovered recently, buyers who leave negative reviews tend to linger on your gig’s page to see how you’ll respond. A response like this would for sure be puzzling for them. I wish I’d gone that route, just for fun.

“Thank you for diversifying my reviews with your contribution, I love that”.

“It’s about time I finally got a bad review!”

[Guest damianalamba]

Sometimes a potential wicked and pompous buyer shows his signs early enough but we don’t usually notice those signs. I have come across wonderful buyers who gave me a 5-star review and also that kind of buyer that you will never satisfy, no matter how hard you try. But I’ve got my own way of dealing with the bad eggs who want to frustrate all my efforts. Prevention they say is better than cure. Instead of falling a victim in the hands of those buyers who have a stone where their hearts are supposed to be, I will show you what you need to do to stay afloat.

1. Be selective in accepting orders. Don’t be desperate for orders, else you will fall into the hands of wrong buyers who have a Doctorate degree in giving negative review even when a job is done well.
2. Before you accept any order, check the reviews of the buyer on his profile. If a buyer has a track record of excellent reviews from many sellers, if he gives you a bad review then it’s your fault and not his.
3. Don’t accept any order that is not within your area of specialization. No matter how much the buyer is willing to pay, don’t. It will save you alot of headache.
4. Never accept to do unlimited reviews. Don’t start what you can’t finish. 1-3 reviews are enough.
   Was this helpful?

[misscrystal]

On 6/10/2020 at 2:56 PM, damianalamba said:

If a buyer has a track record of excellent reviews from many sellers, if he gives you a bad review then it’s your fault and not his.

Not necessarily. They can get a good review as a buyer in spite of being a pain to deal with. They can have ulterior motives for giving a seller a bad review other than having anything to do with what you delivered. 

[Guest damianalamba]

If a buyer has a track record of excellent reviews from many sellers, if he gives you a bad review then it’s your fault and not his.

Not necessarily. They can get a good review as a buyer in spite of being a pain to deal with. They can have ulterior motives for giving a seller a bad review other than having anything to do with what you delivered.

Yes it’s true, but we just need to pray not to enter into the hands of bad buyers.

[farzeen_shareef]

I would suggest you to just explain what you want to say to them in a kind manner.

[Guest damianalamba]

As a seller you must try to be polite but don’t forget that good will always conquer evil. Be nice no matter the attitude of the buyer. it will pay off in your next job.

[Guest nitu_18m]

there is nothing can be done,you did the right thing. Just be polite and move on.

[kholland65]

I think it’s ok to reply. I think the key is to not be antagonistic, but to just be honest about what happened. For example, the only negative review I have was from someone who had completed dictated the way they wanted to do things in a way that is not at all typical in my line of work. They were basically doing my job for me with the instructions they gave, then they didn’t even bother to ask for revisions before deciding to have a friend do it. The final product I still feel was of good quality. So in that response, I basically said just that, that the person had given me these specific instructions to essentially copy their own work, then never asked for revisions.

What this does is allows other buyers to see the obvious problem with the buyer that ultimately caused the issue and them to leave a negative review.

[goldenlily]

1. a response where you are publicly blaming the bad buyer and pointing the finger at them and coming across as a bit annoyed and maybe even a bit feisty.

Or…

2. a response where you simply say “I’m sorry it didn’t work out. Should you have another design requirement in future then let’s chat as it would be good to make you happy”.

That (2) is a bit too neutral of a response if and only if the buyer has the majority of the fault.

I totally agree about this:

For what it’s worth I would advise against posting the phrase “if you had given me more information in the beginning” because that will come back to bite you on the backside. It’s your job as the seller to ensure you have sufficient information to begin with.

But any situation can be turned to support your side of the story, phrased into a positive, polite one, but still, stating where the buyer went wrong.

I would say “I am sorry that it didn’t work out for you. I have sent you several revisions after your remarks and the additional work you’ve requested, and I tried hard to do the best I can to meet your expectations. I wish you well in your future projects.”

Then, blocking him and at the end, you can be more harsh on the review you post on his profile, if you need to be more harsh 🙂

Is there a way to leave a different review on their profile? I don’t see that option. I only see the ability to respond to the review they gave. This is in regards to your suggestion below:

Blockquote

Then, blocking him and at the end, you can be more harsh on the review you post on his profile, if you need to be more harsh 🙂

[teamandromeda]

Hi! Just experienced the same thing. After the delivery was completed I suddenly received comments that he didn´t like it etc, however I send an offer to still change it and add more to satisfy. 

[safe_keeping]

you can also describe your problem in comments

[gurgenbenashvil]

When responding to a bad review on Fiverr:

Stay calm and professional.
Acknowledge the feedback.
Apologize if necessary.
Provide clarification or explanation.
Offer a solution or resolution.
Emphasize commitment to customer satisfaction.
Encourage private communication.