How to Overcome that dreaded 1 ⭐ Review

[gina_riley2]

One of the things that I read often is what should the seller do with a negative review. Don't feel hopeless, you are your brand;  be proud to stand your ground. Wear that bad review like a badge of honor.

What matters more is not what the scammer (buyer) wrote but how YOU respond. Here are my tips for you newbies:

* Only contact customer support if the review contains profanity. There is very little, if any, chance the review will be removed and this will only add to your frustration.

* Always reply to bad reviews, don't let future buyers only see the scammers point of view.

* Be professional and factual in your reply, take emotions out.

* Good grief, don't apologize if you didn't do anything wrong. 🤦🏻‍♀️  I see so many responses with, "I'm sorry you feel that way." Well, don't be sorry for them.

* Remember, you only get one chance, so write it out. Make sure you are coherent with no spelling or punctuation errors.

* Make sure your response flows well. Don't use Google translate. I won't have a clue what you are saying.

Buyers, like me, are more interested in how YOU, the seller responds.

1. Is the seller professional? Does he use words like, "bro," "dude" or anything along that line?

2. Does the response make sense? Is he rambling? Is he pointing the finger at the buyer?

3. How's his or her writing skill? (Poor writing skills, reflects bad on you. You can hire one of your fellow sellers or a friend that is proficient in English to help you, if you're struggling.)

The is only one way to overcome a bad review is to get good reviews. The only way to get more review is by getting orders. Let the future buyers know that you are a professional. Also, let future scammers know that you won't be pushed around.

Happy holidays, everyone!

 

[kreativzak]

Gina, this is a wonderful piece of writing! You have explained everything clearly and to the point.

I have also noticed that when some buyer leaves a negative review, we have an option to reply to them. It is a good practice to reply in such a way so that you can point out what did not work out for you, or if there was any shortcoming from the buyer. 

Thank you for writing this!

PS: I wonder why this topic has such less views in this forum. This should get lots of views.

 

[gajuseidi]

20 hours ago, gina_riley2 said:

Good grief, don't apologize if you didn't do anything wrong. 🤦🏻‍♀️

That is one of the worst things you can do. I think, being able to articulate your position clearly and confidently as well as knowing how and when to say no are quite important traits to have in general.

21 hours ago, gina_riley2 said:

Don't feel hopeless, you are your brand;  be proud to stand your ground. Wear that bad review like a badge of honor.

Every poor review can be a learning experience if you take your time to analyze the order from the beginning. Two months ago I received two poor reviews on the same day. It was so gut-wrenching I actually felt physically ill. I took some time to cool down, asked for advice on the forum and drafted a response. My response could be seen as harsh, but it was objective and to the point. After this trainwreck of an experience, I tried to analyze these orders further and understand what exactly was the biggest mistake on my part. I've learned that my gig seemed to encourage unrealistic expectations and I was not subtle enough when offering additional extras. I've changed my gig a lot since then and I tend to decline a lot more orders that I know can be problematic.

[mandyzines]

2 hours ago, gajuseidi said:

I tend to decline a lot more orders that I know can be problematic

Would this be after they order, or when they are messaging you but haven't ordered yet?

Edited November 9, 2021 by mandyzines

[theratypist]

32 minutes ago, mandyzines said:

Would this be after they order, or when they are messaging you but haven't ordered yet?

For me, both! But ideally when they are messaging and haven't ordered yet. It saves time from both sides going on gut feeling that it isn't going to work out.

[gajuseidi]

On 11/9/2021 at 7:02 PM, mandyzines said:

Would this be after they order, or when they are messaging you but haven't ordered yet?

Generally, before the order is placed. Some of the red flags can be identified straight away, and some of them after further communication with a potential client. I've learned that in most cases, it's not worth proceeding with a client, who asks for a free sample. They will either try to avoid placing the order in the first place, cancel the order and get their money back, or they will be very demanding, ask for extra work and leave unsatisfactory reviews if the order manages to reach the feedback stage. I just reply to them (to not effect my inbox response rate) and block them.

As @theratypist has mentioned, sometimes you cannot protect yourself from such clients when they place a direct order. These are more difficult cases, but in general, you want to look out for suspicious behaviour straight away when communicating with a potential client.

[zakareya09]

I have completed 5 orders and 4 are good reviews but unfortunately, one buyer give me a one-star rating for miscommunication, Now I can not send buyer requests. Now what I can do? Please suggest me like a junior.

[logoanimator811]

Same Brother , I want to Know What can I Do ?

[jonbaas]

On 4/19/2022 at 2:59 PM, zakareya09 said:

unfortunately, one buyer give me a one-star rating for miscommunication, Now I can not send buyer requests. Now what I can do?

You can deliver future orders that earn positive reviews, or wait 60 days for that 1-star review to be removed from your 60-day metric. 

[olha111]

Thank you for your tips.
Unfortunately, as for now here is no opportunity to reply. The only way for me to stay here is to find an old buyer or a friend to help making the reviews better.

[serhatakgl]

If someone gives me 1 star will it be reflected immediately? So, in order to get the 1 star given to me by the customer, do I have to give a star rating and approve?

[vickieito]

33 minutes ago, serhatakgl said:

If someone gives me 1 star will it be reflected immediately? So, in order to get the 1 star given to me by the customer, do I have to give a star rating and approve?

A buyer has 10 days to leave a review on this order. After the buyer leaves feedback, the seller will be prompted to leave a review on the buyer (in order for the buyer's review to be posted immediately to the seller's profile). Once the buyer's review is visible, the seller can respond to the review. Both of the seller's reviews will post immediately.

If the seller chooses not to leave a review of the buyer, the buyer's review will not show up on the seller's profile for 10 days. When it does show up, the seller will not have a chance to respond to the review.

Note: If the buyer leaves a review right at the 10-day deadline, the seller may not be able to leave a review.

Edited November 17, 2022 by vickieito

[nanoparticles]

In order to see the rating immediately you have to rate the buyer but if you ignore the rating you can see the rating after 10 days and you lose the option to rate him as well.

Also, the moment when the rating is visible your Gig is affected.

 

[miiila]

10 hours ago, vickieito said:

If the seller chooses not to leave a review of the buyer, the buyer's review will not show up on the seller's profile for 10 days. When it does show up, the seller will not have a chance to respond to the review.

Are you sure about this? I think you can still respond to the feedback that the customer left on your profile, just not leave a feedback on the customer's profile. I have the feeling that I have missed leaving feedback myself in a few cases over the years, when there was too much going on, but could still leave a response to the feedback I got, when it auto-popped up after the 10 days. 

[strategist_ceo]

1 hour ago, miiila said:

Are you sure about this? I think you can still respond to the feedback that the customer left on your profile, just not leave a feedback on the customer's profile.

This is exactly the same as what @vickieitosaid.

If you are certain that you will receive a negative review, reflect on your own actions and determine what mistakes you might have made.

[serhatakgl]

Thanks guys.

[vickieito]

On 11/18/2022 at 5:43 AM, miiila said:

Are you sure about this? I think you can still respond to the feedback that the customer left on your profile, just not leave a feedback on the customer's profile. I have the feeling that I have missed leaving feedback myself in a few cases over the years, when there was too much going on, but could still leave a response to the feedback I got, when it auto-popped up after the 10 days. 

 Hi @miiila, You are right (so I stand corrected)! I went back and looked at the ticket I submitted to CS when the 10 days expired. I was shown the buyer's review and was able to respond to the buyer's feedback. What I didn't realize was that Fiverr's system will still ask the seller to leave a buyer's review, even though the 10-day period expired (it will allow you to type in a review but since the 'send' button is grayed out, you can't send it).

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I went back to this order today and it still is showing this view. I can enter in the stars and the text, but can't submit the review since the 'send' button is grayed out. This is weird because this order is 6 months old. You would think this option would disappear after 10 days to avoid confusion.

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Edited November 18, 2022 by vickieito

[miiila]

45 minutes ago, vickieito said:

You would think this option would disappear after 10 days to avoid confusion.

Indeed, that would be better, I tend to waste time on trying to leave feedback in vain, when it's been a while since a "10-days-later feedback" suddenly pops up, especially if it's a regular customer who ordered recently, and I think it's a new feedback, while it was one from 10 days ago...

Edited November 18, 2022 by miiila

[miiila]

5 hours ago, strategist_ceo said:

This is exactly the same as what @vickieitosaid.

If you are certain that you will receive a negative review, reflect on your own actions and determine what mistakes you might have made.

Not quite. It's not about being certain of receiving a negative review, either, it was just a correction regarding a technicality. Sometimes, I forget to leave feedback, and when the customer's 5*-star feedback automatically pops up, 10 days later, I can not leave feedback for the customer, on their profile page, but I can leave a response/comment below their feedback on my profile/Gig page.

Generally, yes, sure, reflect and improve, but you can, and should, still reply to a negative review, if you get one, even if it's past that 10-day window, was all.

Edited November 18, 2022 by miiila

[strategist_ceo]

25 minutes ago, miiila said:

Generally, yes, sure, reflect and improve, but you can, and should, still reply to a negative review, if you get one, even if it's past that 10-day window, was all.

Ah, I see my mistake now. I was reading too fast.

[donnovan86]

So I just received this

The review is from  regular client and he clearly wanted to share a positive review, but due to him checking the work at 1 AM he just closed it with random stars. Obivously this feels very unfair and I can only imagine it affects my ranking. I always go well over what clients ask of me, and obviously this review brought a pretty depressive state because I know reviews are final and if I go to support for this, they would just give me a warning. But it's clearly a mistake, so I have no idea what to do, I replied and stated that it was a mistake, is there anything else I can do guys? Because it feels very demotivating for me...

[filipdevaere]

That is not a nice Christmas present.

[donnovan86]

Just now, filipdevaere said:

That is not a nice Christmas present.

Yeah, it feels like a slap in the face. Clearly the person just put random stars in there to finish the order, he's a repeat client that never had any issues, if anything he praised me in his other reviews so yeah.. I am quite unhappy to see this, espeically knowing that it will affect my ranking and for what... a random review left at 1 AM. 

[sunboatrecords]

@donnovan86 I am very sorry.

This is abusive. And they certainly aren't “random” stars. They had 3 clicks to make, and they all went to 1.

You are a huge seller, you will bounce back.

[vickieito]

@donnovan86 - This makes me really sad!

10 minutes ago, sunboatrecords said:

And they certainly aren't “random” stars. They had 3 clicks to make, and they all went to 1.

I've actually made that mistake before (but caught it before hitting the submit button). It wasn't three clicks - it was one swoop of the mouse - just "hovering" or swooping over the stars can cause it to change from 5 stars to 1 star pretty quick. And this was at 1 AM for me, too. I gave 5 stars, wrote my review, and moved my mouse out of the way and it changed all the stars when I did that. I was really sleepy so I might have nodded off when I moved my mouse (but I know I didn't make three clicks).

Luckily I was awake enough to notice the error and was able to correct the stars before submitting. If I had submitted it with 1-stars, I would have felt really terrible. It's too bad that buyers who make honest mistakes in their review can't ask for Customer Service to change it without risking damage to the seller. Mistakes do happen and a seller shouldn't be penalized for a buyer's mistake.

@donnovan86 - As a seller, I would  tell my Success Manager what happened and share my screenshots with her. She's usually very helpful (even if the mistake can't be corrected).

For you, the private review (which should be positive) should still weigh more heavily than the public one. I can also see that you just recieved a bunch of 5-star reviews. It's good that you are high-volume. Hopefully that will allow you to bounce back faster from this mistake review!