It’s a tense situation. Just by initiating the conversation by messaging the customer about the review, and saying that you are happy to help them to be satisfied with the order, would break the mould and alleviate the tension.
State that you are open to communication and the customer can get in touch with you easily could also soften the situation.
Ask for more details of the situation if they haven’t provided enough details so you can come up with a plan to help them.
“But it wasn’t my fault!” you may say.
Yes, sometimes even if it’s not your fault, a quick apology could calm down the customer. Doing so let them know you are on their side and trying to help.
And don’t say ‘but’ after the apology. Be specific about the situation, for example, “I’m sorry to hear that the necklace is larger than you expected.”
Empathising with the unhappy customer is also important. This lets customer know that you truly understand their frustration. For example, “I apologise for the shipping delay you experienced. I’ve experienced the same problem myself and I understand that a delay around Christmas time can be very frustrating.”
Keep in mind that the negative review is a way for customers to say that they want the situation fixed.
As a seller, you should focus on finding possible solutions for your unhappy customers. Keep in mind to be friendly an helpful. And use unambiguous wording when stating the possible solutions.
Some common solutions are:
Be generous and clear with your offer, but know your bottom line. Given that you price your products properly, you should be able to offer discounts, replacements, or refund. But don’t get threatened to send customers 5 extra items that they did not order.
For example, “I’m happy to resend a new piece to you. You wouldn’t need to send back the original one. Or if you’d like, I can give you a full refund instead.”
But sometimes, the item is big or more valuable. In that case, explain that to the customer when you are presenting your offers.
“I’ll do my best to fix this for you. As you know, this item is very large in size. It would be difficult to send you a new one. I also understand that it would not be fair to ask you to send back the original one. Because of that, I’m more than happy to offer you a 50% discount on this item.”
After the customer agrees with the solution, follow through with what you’ve promised. Let them know the action you’ll take:
“Thank you for letting me fix the situation. I’ll send you a new piece tomorrow, and I’ll let you know when it’s sent.” or “I’ll send you a full refund right away. Thank you for your understanding and patience.”
If the solution involves your customer’s actions, state clearly the process. For example: “Please let me know when you have posted the original piece in the mail. The return shipping may take about 1-2 weeks. I will let you know as soon as I receive it. Thank you again!”
After the solution is done/delivered, follow up with your customer and check whether they have received the refund, replacement, etc.
Reassure your customer that you are always happy to help by saying “if there are any problems in the future, feel free to contact me and I’m happy to help.” Or, “I hope you are happy with the new piece you received. Thank you again for shopping with me.”
This message can be combined with a request of a review adjustment:
In some cases, after going through all the steps above, the customer will change the negative review to a more positive one without prompting. From my experience, usually they will change it to a 4-star review.
Otherwise you can ask them for a review adjustment. However, be very careful to not to ask for a positive review explicitly and violate the Etsy rules of review extortion:
“A seller offers a buyer additional goods, services, or compensation in exchange for a positive review.”
You can ask by saying that you are a small business and that customer satisfaction is very important to your shop. “As a small business, your satisfaction and feedback is very important. If after this (refund/replacement of product/discount), you feel more happier about your purchase, a revision of your feedback would be greatly appreciated.”
Keep in mind that this step should be done after doing the above step and/or the customer is not responsive.
Replying to the review will lock it down. So even if the customer changes their mind and wants to edit the rating, they wouldn’t be able to.
The time frame that you can reply to a review is 100 days after the review is posted or last edited.
As this response is public, it is actually an opportunity to show future customers you can handle an unfortunate situation in a professional way. Be positive and personable in your reply. Keep your reply objective and avoid blaming the customer.
Here’s a possible response template:
“Hi (customer’s name), sorry about the (problem). It’s a rare incident as product quality is very important to me. Even more important is that every customer is happy with their orders from (your shop name).
Because of the (problem), I’ve offered (fixes you offered) to (customer name). (More details about the fix if necessary). If in the rare case of a similar situation happening again, I’ll be more than happy to help.”