How to reply to a bad Google review (with examples)

A bad review stings, and the reply is read by everyone who reads the review after it. The goal isn't to win the argument. It's to show the next customer how you treat people when something goes wrong.

Updated October 23, 2026

The rules for any reply

Wait until you're calm. A reply written at 11pm about a customer who shouted at your staff will read like it.
Describe what happened, not the person. “The phone had water damage, which the warranty doesn't cover”, not “he dropped it in the bath and lied about it”.
Keep their details private. No full names, phone numbers, payment details or anything personal. Your own prices and policies are fine to state.
Never threaten legal action, and never call the customer a liar.
Take it offline. Invite them to call or come in and ask for the owner.
Apologise for how they feel, but don't take the blame for a decision that was correct policy.

Example replies to a negative review

Replace the words in brackets, and add one specific detail from their review so it doesn't read canned.

Shorter

When the review is short too, or you just want to show you saw it.

We're sorry we let you down, [Name]. Please contact us directly — we'd like to make this right.

Friendly

For a regular, or a review that's upset rather than angry.

Hi [Name], thank you for being honest with us — we clearly missed the mark, and we're sorry. We'd love a chance to turn this around for you. Please reach out to us directly so we can fix it.

More formal

When you want it calm and neutral.

Thank you for your feedback, [Name]. We take concerns like this seriously and have shared your experience with our team. We would welcome the opportunity to discuss this with you directly and make things right.

Say sorry and make it right

When the shop really did get it wrong.

Hi [Name], we're truly sorry your experience fell short of what you should expect from [Shop]. This isn't the standard we hold ourselves to, and we'd like to make it right. Please call us at [phone] so we can resolve this personally. — The [Shop] Team

Longer

When two sentences can't cover it.

Hi [Name], thank you for taking the time to write this, and we're sorry the experience left you frustrated. We want every customer to leave [Shop] feeling they were treated fairly and kept informed, and it's clear that didn't happen here. We'd like to understand exactly what went wrong and see what we can do. Please call us at [phone] or ask for the owner when you're next in, and we'll go through it with you personally. — The [Shop] Team

Explain our side

When the shop was in the right: state the policy, without apologising for it.

Hi [Name], we're sorry to hear you left unhappy. We explain our pricing and policies before any work begins, and we follow them the same way for every customer. If you'd like to go over what happened, please call us at [phone] and ask for the owner.

Replying to good reviews

Keep it short and real, and use their first name:

Thank you for taking the time to share your experience, [Name]. We're glad our team met your expectations, and we look forward to serving you again.

Mention the repair if they did (“glad the new screen is holding up”), but don't stuff in keywords like “best iPhone repair in town”. It reads oddly and doesn't help.

Replying to a star-only review

When there's a rating but no words, there's nothing to respond to, so don't invent details. A plain thank-you is right:

Thanks, [Name]. We appreciate you taking a moment to rate us.

Where KILLCRITIC fits

On every paid plan, KILLCRITIC drafts a reply to every review in these six tones, using your shop's details. For the hard ones you can add private notes about what really happened, and the draft explains your side calmly, inside the rules above. You read it, edit it and approve it; nothing is posted until you do. See pricing, or start with getting more reviews.

Common questions

Should I ask Google to remove a bad review?

Only if it breaks Google's rules, for example it's fake, off-topic, hateful or from someone who was never a customer. Being negative or unfair isn't enough. For everything else, a calm reply is the better answer.

Do review replies help my ranking?

Nobody outside Google knows how much. Google's own tips for local ranking suggest replying to reviews, but it doesn't say how much replies count. The clear benefit is that people choosing a shop read them, and a calm, specific reply to a bad review can win more trust than the review costs.

Keep reading

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