Before replying to a review about a particular visit, find out who was working, ask them what happened and check the records. Reply from what you learned, not from what usually happens.

A confident reply that gets the day wrong

A review describes one particular visit: a long wait, a mistake with the order, a staff member who seemed not to care. Within a day there is a reply from the business.

The reply is polite and firm. It explains how things are always done, what the staff are trained to do, and why the reviewer's account cannot be right.

It was written by someone who was not there. The people who were, including the reviewer and everyone else waiting that day, know the reply is wrong.

Replies like this are common, and the problem is not the tone. They are written from the policy rather than from the day itself.

Who writes the replies

The third is furthest from the facts. An agency's only sources are the review and the website, so its replies fall back on what the business says about itself.

How the facts go wrong

Someone who was not there fills the gaps with what normally happens. The food normally comes out hot, so it did. The staff are normally friendly, so they were.

The reply then contradicts the reviewer's experience head on. To the reviewer, that reads as being called a liar, however courteous the words.

Other readers see something worse: a business that does not know what happens on its own premises. And the staff who worked that shift read the reply too, and learn that nobody asked them.

What to find out first

Start with the date and time the review describes. Many reviews give them, and the posting date narrows down the rest.

Then check the schedule to see who was working. That one step points straight to the people who know.

Ask about anything unusual that day, and look at what the till or booking system recorded.

Equipment that failed, a delivery that came late and someone who called in sick explain most bad evenings. None of them appear in a review.

Asking staff without putting them on trial

The point of the conversation is an accurate reply, not blame. Say so at the start.

Ask open questions about the shift before showing the review: how did that evening go, was anything going wrong. People describe a bad evening more honestly when they are not defending themselves against a specific accusation.

Then show the review and ask what they remember. A staff member who expects to be blamed will shade the story, and the reply will be wrong in a new way.

A worked example

A family-run fish and chips shop has a dozen seats and a takeout counter on a suburban high street.

On a Saturday in June a customer reviewed it: a forty-minute wait, greasy fish, and a cashier who shrugged when asked how much longer.

The owner, who had spent the evening at a family event, replied the next morning. The fish is cooked to order, the reply said, staff are trained to be helpful, and waits like that do not happen.

On Monday the shift manager told him what had. One of the two fryers had stopped holding its temperature at six, so the team cooked everything in small batches on the other, and a second cashier had called in sick.

Oil that is not hot enough soaks into batter, which explained the greasy fish. The queue had run out the door all evening.

The owner edited his reply. It now thanks the reviewer, says plainly that a fryer failed that night and the wait should have been explained at the counter, and invites them back to ask for him by name.

The fryer was repaired that week, and staff now tell people at the counter how long the wait is whenever a fryer is down.

Correcting a reply that is already up

If a wrong reply is already up, edit it with what you have since learned. Say plainly that you have spoken with the team who was working, and what they told you.

Take the responsibility as the business. The reviewer was served by your shop, not by one cashier, and a correction that shifts the blame onto an employee swaps one problem for another.

A shift log makes this quick

Most of the digging can be avoided with a two-minute habit. At closing, whoever ran the shift notes anything that went wrong: equipment, staffing, complaints, refunds.

Whoever replies to reviews reads the log for that day before writing anything. If the log is silent and the review is serious, they ask the person who wrote it.

The same log helps an agency or head office. Give them access, or a person to ask, so their replies start from the shift and not from the website.

A holding reply when facts take time

Sometimes the person who was working is away for a few days. If the review is drawing attention meanwhile, a short holding reply is reasonable.

Thank the reviewer and say you are checking with the team who worked that evening. Then replace it with the full reply once you know, rather than letting the holding line stand for weeks.

The counter-case

Not every review needs this. Comments about prices, parking, the menu or a written policy can be answered by whoever knows the policy, wherever they were that day.

Short positive reviews need nothing more than thanks, and an owner who works every shift is often the person who was there anyway.

For any review describing a particular visit by someone else's account, though, check with the people who were working before you reply.

Before the next reply

  1. Note the date and time described.
  2. Check who was working then.
  3. Ask them what happened.
  4. Look at the records for that day.
  5. Write from what you found, not from policy.
  6. Never name staff in a public reply.
  7. Keep a short log at every closing.

Step three is the one most often skipped, because it means a slightly awkward conversation. It is also the only step that tells you what actually happened.

Keeping the tone right once the facts are known is covered in a review response that was itself the problem.

Frequently asked questions

Why do review replies get the facts wrong?

Because they are often written by someone who was not there, who fills the gaps with what normally happens rather than what happened that day.

Who usually writes review replies?

The owner at home, a marketing person, an outside agency, head office or a manager from a different shift. The further from the incident, the likelier the reply is wrong.

What should I check before replying?

The date and time described, who was working, the records for that day such as orders and refunds, and anything unusual, like equipment failures or staff shortages.

How do I ask staff without blaming them?

Say the aim is an accurate reply, ask open questions about the shift before showing the review, and never name staff in the public reply.

Can I fix a reply that was wrong?

Yes. Google and Facebook let you edit it. Say you have since spoken with the team who was working, what you found and what has changed, without blaming an employee.

What if the facts take days to establish?

Post a short holding reply thanking the reviewer and saying you are checking with the team who worked that day, then replace it with the full reply once you know.

West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.

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