Bad reviews on your website build trust!

[Fred_the_frog]

If retailers displayed criticisms and complaints from their customers on their websites instead of hiding them away they would benefit from customers spending longer on their sites and improved conversion rates, new research has shown.

http://www.retailgazette.co.uk/articles/04144-bad-online-reviews-actually-help-retailers

Do you allow bad reviews?

 

[Raw Rob]

Makes sense to me. Yes, I would allow bad reviews, although never had one so far.

Rob

 

[BustersDogs]

Interesting! I admit the odd bad review doesn't put me off when I'm shopping in in the main things are good and if the person comments back to the review. I don't have a comments section on my site anymore as no-one ever commented.

Should I put the odd text I get complaining of mud, or an internal door left ajar by mistake on my testimonials page? Seems a bit odd to put them up there myself.

 

[maxh]

Yes a proportion of bad reviews helps add credibility to good reviews.

However this comes with a few caveats;

1. If you have fewer than 10 reviews a bad review will stick out and ward people off

2. An acceptable % is 5% negative reviews. Much more than that and you'll start to shake confidence.

3. If bad reviews are accompanied with sensible, reasoned and helpful responses from the business then that's extra points!

4. The bad/good ratio changes with industry. Telecoms and mobile carriers you would expect 60-80% negative reviews, whereas healthcare and surgery you would be horrified at even one or two negative reviews.

 

[GotLiveChat]

To add to maxh -- the negative reviews have to be practical though. Not just rambling or written in such a way to sound like it was written by competitors

I'm more likely to believe reviewers that do pros/cons -- vs. just cons...

 

[gemd89]

I have had 1 negative review, however it states 'Item was out of stock on website, however business ordered items I wanted in specially and customer service was fab' I think if the negative is given, but shows the business offered a solution this is fab. Never had a bad review though so far apart from that one.

Gemma

 

[123Simples]

There is an old saying
"You need to take the rough with the smooth"

Having bad reviews is not always detrimental, and in fact any review means you have been noticed. They all lend to the credibility of who or what you are about. The actual answer however is if you get a bad review, deal with it, and show that you have responded as best as you could

 

[That Guy]

^^^ What he said

Just learn from the bad reviews and take action if needed!

 

[Fred_the_frog]

It also shows that you haven't written the reviews yourself. New websites might write amazing reviews about their products to encourage sales. But sticking a bad review in it makes the customer think you haven't written the review yourself.

 

[profscooter]

I've added two or three points of negative feedback on the customer feedback page of my Scalextric site, where people mentioned a common issue or hadn't properly understood how something works, with an explanation of how the problem was resolved, it also helps as a fault resolution guide for others.

 

[JMRidley]

People seem to be drawn more to the negative than the positive. When I look on Trip Advisor, I'm really put off by a negative review, even if it is surrounded by 10 good ones! My friends have said the same. It does help if the hotel has put in a helpful sounding response. It probably depends on how bad the bad review is. As an example, there is a review on Trust Pilot which says:

"I ordered a <.....> 5 weeks ago and I am still awaiting delivery. Numerous phone calls to them, and many promises, all broken. All responsibility being placed on the supplier, who they tell me has been experiencing a lot of problems. When asked will they continue to use such an unreliable supplier told yes we've always used them! A very unprofessional company. I will not use them again."

Would you be willing to post that one on your website?!

There was a programme on the telly recently about Trip Advisor and that seemed to be showing that it was possible for one bad review to have a significant impact on a business.