You supply the facts — we won't invent them. This doesn't read the review or guess what happened. It's published under your name, in public, permanently, about a real person, so the details have to come from the one who was there. What it does is put them in the order that works, and stop you writing the sentence you'd regret.
Strongest possible reply. Say what changed — it tells every future reader the complaint was heard.
This is what makes a reply read as real. A generic reply and no reply look about the same to somebody deciding whether to come in.
Your draft
Edit it freely — it's a starting point, not an answer. The checks below run on whatever is in the box, including your own wording.
Nothing flagged.Read it out loud once before you post it. If it sounds like a person, it's ready.
Five rules worth more than any template
Never argue about the facts in public
You may be completely right. It does not matter — a stranger reading it sees a business contradicting a customer, and they identify with the customer. Take the disagreement to a private conversation, or let it go.
Never mention money, refunds or free things
It teaches every reader that a public complaint is worth something. Offer to put it right; agree what that means privately.
Never use their private details
Don't mention their order, their address, their health, or that you recognise them, unless they put it in the review themselves. It reads as a threat even when it isn't meant as one.
Never reply while you're angry
Write it, leave it an hour, read it again. This single habit prevents nearly every reply a business regrets.
Reply to the good ones too
It takes ten seconds, it is the cheapest possible signal that someone is home, and a page where only the complaints have replies looks worse than one with no replies at all.
One thing no one can do
- Nobody can delete a genuine review — not us, not an agency, not anyone who calls you offering to. Platforms will remove ones that break their rules (fake, abusive, or about a different business), and you can report those yourself for free.
- The reliable way to improve a rating is more recent honest reviews, which means asking happy customers at the moment they're happy. Slow, unglamorous, and the only thing that works. Here are the words, and how to get the link.
We draft these for you every month
New review comes in, you get a draft to approve or ignore. Part of the $99, along with the website and the listings.
Check my business first