Reviews are a vital tool in growing your Etsy business. The number of 5 star reviews is a key metric by which Etsy ranks listings in search, and the review block on the listing page plays a key role in converting “browsers” to “buyers”.
This is why bad reviews can hurt your store. Unfortunately issues happen. Items can be damaged, shipments can be delayed or lost. Each of these could be a reason for a poor customer review.
Whilst its obviously easier to prevent bad reviews by quality checking items before sending, and by using tracking on all shipments, things happen that are outside of your control.
Bad reviews will happen, which raises the question…
How do you ask a customer to change a bad review on Etsy? There are 4 steps to take to get a customer to change a bad review:
- Get in contact with the buyer through a message in Etsy or email.
- Be sympathetic towards the customer and do a thorough investigation as to why the issue occurred
- Do what it takes to rectify the issue. Whether this be sending a free replacement, or refunding the customer
- Once you have done all you can to help the customer kindly and respectfully ask they change their review.
As a last resort you can leave a public reply to the review, but this should only be done in extreme circumstance. Often its best to just walk away and move on from the bad experience.
Can You Ask A Customer To Change A Review Etsy?
Yes, you are within your rights as a seller to reach out to a buyer and ask them to change their review. Etsy policies allow sellers to contact buyers when things have gone wrong – you will be protected by Etsy policies so long as you only contact buyers about an order
If you encounter an issue with an order, proactively contact the buyer to discuss the situation.
https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-gb/articles/360035063714-How-to-Effectively-Communicate-with-Buyers
When To Ask A Customer To Change A Review On Etsy
Only ask a customer to change a review once you have tried everything you can to rectify the issue.
Actions such as:
- offering a replacement free of charge
- refunding shipping
- refunding the whole order
If the item was not as described you can show the customer you have made adjustments to your listings to show you are being proactive at helping other buyers.
Having a list of actions taken is important in not only getting the customer back on side, but it can also be used in your request of changing the review.
Examples Of How To Ask A Customer To Change A Review On Etsy
Here is how I word my requests for review changes on Etsy
Hi [customer name]
Thanks for your patience whilst I have been trying to rectify this issue for you. It’s greatly appreciated.
As you know you had an issue with [describe the issue]. This happened because [results of your investigation].
In order to rectify this I have done the following:
– [bullet point list of all actions taken]
I see you have left a [number of stars on review] star review on your order. I would like to kindly ask you to update your review to reflect the actions I have taken to help correct this issue for you.
To update your review please follow these instructions:
1. Go to Your account, then Purchases and reviews
2. Find your order
3. Select Edit review
4. Change the star rating and text as needed
5. When you’re finished, select Post Your Review
You can find more information on this here https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-gb/articles/115013197687-How-to-Leave-a-Review-on-Etsy?segment=shopping
Once again, thank you for your order.
Regards,
[Your name]
What Do You Do If A Customer Won’t Change A Bad Review On Etsy
Often it’s best to just walk away and move on from a bad review on Etsy.
If you’re doing good work, and offering a quality product with excellent customer service you will get more 5 star reviews in the future and the bad one will disappear from memory.
As a final option, in extreme circumstances you can leave a public reply to a bad order. Be aware, once you leave a public reply the customer will no longer be able to update the review.
So if they have a change of heart a week or 2 down the line you may find they can’t change the bad review.
Scheduling review reminder emails is hard. It takes plenty of organisation and time to do.
The impact on your store if you don’t follow up for reviews gets worse over time, so you don’t want to forget!
If you want to hand over this organisational nightmare, then try EtsyHunt’s “Follow-Up Reminder” service.
It will tell you exactly what to send and when – it even provides templates so you don’t have to worry!
If the review breaks the Etsy terms of use for reviews then you can ask Etsy to remove it. This is very rare though, and the review must contain offensive language to be removed.
Conclusion
Etsy reviews are the life blood of any Etsy store. Cultivating 5 star reviews is important, so bad reviews must be kept to a minimum.
The best way to handle bad Etsy reviews is to be proactive and reach out to the buyer to help with the issue they had.
Try your best to rectify the issue and offer an explanation and a solution to the problem. Only then should you polity ask for a review to be updated.
It is rare for customers to update reviews, so don’t push the matter.
If the review isn’t updated then its best to just walk away and keep offering quality products with excellent customer service. This is the best way to 5 star reviews.
After a few weeks you’ll have better reviews and the bad experience will be long forgotten.
