Negative review response templates for online stores
Five public replies to negative reviews — fair, about delivery, factually wrong, from someone you can't find, and after it's fixed — plus what the FTC's review rule, and the UK and EU rules, forbid: suppressing bad reviews, buying good ones, and threatening reviewers.
By Max Lindberg · · 8 min read
Reply to a negative review once, in public, in a few lines: thank the reviewer, own what's true, say what you've done or will do, and give them a way to reach you privately. What you must not do is just as short: don't hide the review, don't pay for better ones, and don't threaten the reviewer.
Below are five public replies for the negative reviews a small store gets, what to keep out of them, and what the US, UK and EU rules on reviews say. Words in double braces are blanks; a public reply should have very few of them, because order details don't belong there.
Before you reply: three checks
- Find the customer. Search your Shopify admin for the reviewer's name. If you find the order, you know what happened; if there's already an email thread, answer there first, using a complaint reply.
- Separate what's true from what isn't. A negative review can mix a real problem with a detail that's wrong. Your reply owns the first and corrects the second without calling anyone a liar.
- Remember who reads it. The reviewer reads it once. Future customers read it for as long as it's up. Write for them.
Template 1: a fair complaint about the product
Thank you for taking the time to write this, {{reviewer_first_name}}, and I'm sorry the {{product_name}} {{problem_in_their_words}}. That's not good enough.
{{what_you_have_changed_or_will_do}}. I'd like to put this right for you too — please email us at {{support_email}} and I'll take care of it personally.
{{your_name}}, {{store_name}}
{{what_you_have_changed_or_will_do}} must be true today, for example "We've changed the supplier of the clasp". If nothing has changed, leave the sentence out rather than promise something vague. If the product arrived broken, the email that follows is a damaged item reply.
Template 2: a complaint about delivery or service
I'm sorry, {{reviewer_first_name}} — waiting {{how_long_in_their_words}} with no reply from us isn't acceptable, and you were right to say so.
I've {{action_taken}}. If anything is still outstanding, please write to {{support_email}} and I'll answer you myself.
{{your_name}}, {{store_name}}
Don't put the tracking story in public. "The courier lost it" in a reply reads as an excuse even when it's true.
Template 3: the review gets a fact wrong
Correct the fact once, calmly, without an accusation.
Thank you for the feedback, {{reviewer_first_name}}. I'm sorry this was frustrating.
To clear up one point for anyone reading: {{the_correct_fact}}. I know that may not have been clear, and we've {{what_you_changed_to_make_it_clearer}}.
If we can still help, please email {{support_email}}.
{{your_name}}, {{store_name}}
{{the_correct_fact}} should be checkable by anyone, such as a line from your published returns policy. Under the FTC's rule, a public accusation about a reviewer that you know is false, or make with reckless disregard for the truth, is prohibited when it's used to get a review removed. A correction of your own policy isn't an accusation; "this customer is lying" is.
Template 4: you can't find them as a customer
Don't call the review fake in public. You may simply be searching for the wrong name.
Thank you for the review, {{reviewer_first_name}}. I've looked for your order and can't match it to the name on this review, so I can't see what went wrong.
Please email {{support_email}} with your order number and I'll look into it straight away.
{{your_name}}, {{store_name}}
If you believe a review on Google breaks Google's content policies, report it instead of arguing: on your Business Profile select Read reviews, then Report next to the review, pick the reason, and send. Google's help page says it removes reviews that violate its policies, and asks businesses not to report a review "just because you disagree with it or dislike it".
Template 5: after the problem is fixed
When the email side is resolved, a short second reply tells future readers how it ended.
Update: {{reviewer_first_name}} and I have been in touch, and {{what_was_done}}. Thank you again for raising it.
{{your_name}}, {{store_name}}
Post this only with the customer's agreement, and keep {{what_was_done}} general: "we've sent a replacement", not the amount refunded. You may ask a customer who is now satisfied whether they'd like to update their review; the FTC's Q&A says its rule doesn't prohibit that. Don't make the fix depend on it.
What never to put in a public reply
| Don't post | Why |
|---|---|
| Order numbers, addresses, amounts or anything from the order | It's the customer's personal information, posted where anyone can read it. |
| "Please remove this review now that we've refunded you" | Keep the review out of the deal; see the rules below and replying to an angry customer. |
| A threat of legal action | Under 16 CFR 465.7, an unfounded or groundless legal threat aimed at a review is prohibited. |
| "This review is fake" | If you're wrong, it's a public false accusation. Report it to the platform instead. |
| A copied reply pasted under every review | Readers notice, and it answers none of them. |
| A long defence | Two short paragraphs are enough. Anything longer belongs in an email. |
On Google, your reply is public, appears as from the business rather than from you by name, and the reviewer is notified. Google checks replies against its content policies before posting them. The customer can still change their review after reading your reply.
What the FTC's review rule means for your store (US)
The FTC's Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials, 16 CFR Part 465, took effect on 21 October 2024. The FTC's Q&A says it lets courts impose civil penalties for knowing violations. For a store, three parts matter most:
- Don't buy reviews for a sentiment. Section 465.4 prohibits providing "compensation or other incentives in exchange for, or conditioned expressly or by implication on, the writing or creation of consumer reviews expressing a particular sentiment, whether positive or negative". The FTC's examples of an implied condition include "Tell us how much you loved your visit to John's Steakhouse and get a $5 coupon". Paying for 5-star reviews is a violation even if the reviewer discloses the payment.
- Don't write or buy fake ones. Section 465.2 covers reviews that misrepresent that the reviewer exists, used the product, or what their experience was.
- Don't suppress. Section 465.7(a) prohibits unfounded legal threats, physical threats, intimidation and knowingly or recklessly false public accusations used to stop or remove a review. Section 465.7(b) prohibits implying that the reviews on your site are most or all of those submitted while you hold some back for their rating or negative sentiment. Withholding reviews on criteria applied equally to all of them is allowed, for example reviews with abusive or obscene content, another person's personal information, clearly false or misleading content, a review you reasonably believe is fake, or one wholly unrelated to your products.
The FTC's Q&A adds that putting five-star reviews at the top by default isn't covered by the rule, but organising reviews so that negative ones are hard to find "could be an unfair or deceptive act or practice in violation of Section 5 of the FTC Act". It also says that asking only customers you think are happy for reviews isn't specifically prohibited by the rule but could violate the FTC Act.
Separately, the Consumer Review Fairness Act makes it illegal to use form contract terms, including online terms and conditions, that restrict customers from reviewing you, penalise them for it, or claim the intellectual property in their reviews. The FTC's advice is to remove any such clause "even if you've never tried to enforce it". Check your store's terms of service for one.
The UK and EU rules on fake and hidden reviews
UK. Since 6 April 2025, Schedule 20, paragraph 13 of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 lists as a banned practice: submitting or commissioning fake reviews or reviews that hide an incentive; publishing reviews "in a misleading way", which the Act says includes "failing to publish, or removing from publication, negative consumer reviews whilst publishing positive ones" and giving positive reviews greater prominence than negative ones; and publishing reviews without taking reasonable and proportionate steps to prevent and remove fake ones. The CMA's short guide for businesses says not to offer money or gifts to customers to write positive reviews, and that breaches can lead to a fine of up to 10% of global turnover.
EU. Directive (EU) 2019/2161 added two practices to the list that is always unfair under Directive 2005/29/EC, with national rules applying from 28 May 2022: claiming reviews come from people who used or bought the product without taking reasonable and proportionate steps to check, and "submitting or commissioning another legal or natural person to submit false consumer reviews or endorsements, or misrepresenting consumer reviews or social endorsements, in order to promote products". If your store shows reviews, the amended Directive also treats information about whether and how you check that they come from people who actually used or bought the product as material information for customers.
This is a summary, not legal advice. Sources read on 20 October 2026.
Where Corresso fits
Corresso handles email only, so it won't post replies on Google or in your review app. It helps with what comes next: the reviewer who writes in after "please email us". Every incoming email gets a reply drafted from documents your store approved, with each fact citing its document, and rules written in code hold any draft that promises a refund or replacement without citing a document allowed to offer one. Order facts stay blank until a person fills them from the order, and a person always presses Send. Corresso for Shopify stores.