# How to respond to a negative review

*Updated 2026-11-13 · https://roovello.com/guides/how-to-respond-to-negative-reviews*

Reply within a day, address the reviewer by name, name the specific problem, say what you are doing about it, and offer a direct way to finish the conversation. Keep it to four or five sentences. You are not writing to the reviewer, who has already decided; you are writing to the hundred people who will read the exchange before choosing you.

## The five parts of a good reply

- Acknowledge: thank them for the detail and say you take it seriously. One sentence.
- Be specific: restate the problem in your own words so readers see you read it. "The crew left the gate open and your dog got out" beats "your concerns".
- Own it: if you were wrong, say so plainly. If you were not, explain once, calmly, without arguing.
- Move it offline: give a name and a direct phone number or email. Do not ask them to call the main line.
- Follow through: if you fix it, come back and add a short note. Readers notice a resolved thread.

## What never to write

- Anything that reveals the customer's private details, including confirming they were a customer when they did not say so.
- Accusations that the review is fake or that the reviewer is a competitor, even if you believe it. Flag it to the platform instead.
- A template. Readers can tell, and it makes every reply look like the first one.
- Legal threats, mentions of defamation, or a demand that the review be removed.
- A discount offer in exchange for changing the review.

## Two examples

Weak: "We're sorry you had a negative experience. Customer satisfaction is our top priority. Please contact us so we can make it right."

Strong: "Thanks for laying this out, Maria. The estimate said $420 and the invoice was $610, and nobody called you before adding the valve. That's on us. I've credited the difference back to your card today, and I'm the one to call if it doesn't show up by Friday: Dan, 555-0142."

## When the review is wrong

Reply once with the facts, without heat, then stop. If the review violates a rule, spam, harassment, a duplicate, or written by a competitor or former employee, flag it with the reason. On RooVello a flagged review stays visible but stops counting toward your score until a moderator decides; if it is removed, the removal carries a reason code and the writer gets one appeal. Business accounts cannot remove or hide reviews directly.

## Replying is free here

Replies on RooVello are free for every business, claimed or not, because a platform that charges for replying is charging you to defend yourself. Your reply appears under the review on your profile, where readers, search engines and AI crawlers see it.

## Frequently asked

### How fast should I reply to a negative review?

Within 24 hours if you can, and within a week at most. A fast, specific reply often changes the reviewer's mind; a slow one looks like damage control to everyone else.

### Should I reply to positive reviews too?

Yes, briefly and specifically. A one-line thank-you that mentions the job shows readers a person is behind the profile. Do not reply to every review with the same sentence.

### Can I ask a reviewer to change their review after I fixed the problem?

You can tell them what you did and leave it to them. Asking directly, or offering something for the change, crosses into the practices the FTC rule prohibits. Most reviewers who get a real fix update the review on their own.

### What if the reviewer was never a customer?

Say so once, calmly, in the reply, and flag the review with that reason. Do not speculate about who they are. A moderator decides; if the review is removed the reason is recorded.

## Related

- https://roovello.com/guides/can-a-business-remove-a-bad-review
- https://roovello.com/guides/how-to-ask-customers-for-reviews
- https://roovello.com/guides/ftc-fake-review-rule-explained
- https://roovello.com/for-businesses