Reply once, in public, calmly and briefly. Say sorry that it fell short, say what you will do, and invite them to ring you so you can sort it out offline. Do not argue, do not name-and-shame and do not post anything you would not read out to the customer's face.
The person you are really writing for is the next customer, who is reading the review and your reply side by side. A level-headed answer can read better than the complaint.
What Google says to do
Google's help page on replies is short and sensible:
- Keep replies professional, polite and short.
- Do not share the reviewer's private information or make personal attacks.
- If the issue is complicated, ask them to contact you by phone or email.
- Acknowledge mistakes you made, but do not accept responsibility for things outside your control.
- Apologise where appropriate, address the reviewer by name, sign off with your name or initials, and reply promptly.
- If the review breaks Google's content policies, report it.
The next reply shows the checklist in use.
Before you reply
- Wait. If it has wound you up, leave it until tomorrow.
- Check the job. Pull up the quote, the messages and the photos. Is it right, partly right or wrong?
- Ring them if you can. A call before the reply often turns the whole thing round. If they change the review, that is up to them. You cannot ask for that in exchange for anything.
- Then reply. Short, specific, polite.
Examples by complaint
Names and businesses are made up.
You turned up late
Late arrival
Price was higher than expected
Price complaint
Quality or finish complaint
Quality complaint
Customer is partly right
Partly fair
Customer is wrong about what happened
Disagree politely
It has no insult, no private detail and no "as anyone can see". It gives the facts and an offer to talk.
No job on record
Can't find the customer
If the reviewer was never a customer and the review makes false claims, report it. See can you delete a Google review.
What not to do
- Do not reply in anger. It stays on the page for years.
- Do not copy and paste the same reply under every bad review. It reads as a script.
- Do not name staff or share the customer's details. Google's guidance rules out private information and personal attacks.
- Do not offer compensation in the reply to change the review. Google's policy prohibits offering free or discounted goods or services in exchange for changing or removing a negative review. If you put something right for a real customer, do it on its own merits.
- Do not ignore it. A bad review with no reply looks like you do not care or are not looking.
Defamation and legal threats
If a review makes serious false claims about you, you can report it to Google and, in extreme cases, take legal advice. Do not threaten anyone in a public reply. This is general information, not legal advice.
The bigger picture
One bad review among many good ones makes the good ones believable. The best defence is a steady supply of new reviews, which comes from asking every customer. See how to get more Google reviews and how to ask for a Google review. For good reviews, use positive review responses.
Plan: A calm draft when you are not feeling calm
On the Local and Complete plans, Mitch drafts a reply to each Google review, including the difficult ones. You can rewrite it and nothing posts until you approve it. See [review requests and replies](/uk/platform/reviews) and [pricing](/uk/pricing).
Sources
Checked 9 October 2026.
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