Hi all,

In keeping with my other threads here I have another question.

"How do you handle POOR reviews?"

Ok, good review is easy, all you say is a humble thank you, thank God, the academy and your parents ...

What if you get a BAD review ...

I have seen this a few times and have yet to find someone who handles this well. I am not talking about constant bad reviews, since those are an indication that something is really going bad.

I am interested in what you do when either someone registers and posts one of those "You suck" or a 5 page essay bad review.
This review could also come from an active member.

It is commonly known that reviews from a 'first time poster' who has had 'a terrible experience' with you over the last 27 hours don't really mean much to those in the know. They do however affect the choice of a new client just browsing through the forums.

I have seen little wars erupting over bad reviews with the heritage and hairiness of whole family trees coming into question. What is surprising that not only the new guys lose their tempers, but the regulars throw their toys too if they deem the review unfair.

It is very rare to see someone dealing with this in a calm and professional manner.

Any comments ideas or experiences with dealing with such reviews.

PS: Please leave the Timmys and Travises OUT of this thread as these are exceptions to the rule and not really of interest.

As always, thanks all for your input ....

You just need to be polite, tell the truth once, and reply to any other people that have questions... at least thats what I do :)

it's pretty much a small "crisis mangement" exercise. A lot of times, even when it is false, some form of damage is done. So how I would approach it from a few angles.

sometimes, even if the accuser is at fault and doesn't have a case, it's good to offer him a bit of sweetener (example refunds) so that he doesn't have much of a case, and pursuing it further by him will make it seems like he is trying to pick a fight for no reason, losing any credibility he has. This also puts you in a better light as you are shown to be more willing to compromise.

Truth helps a lot like phpcoder mentions (unless you are grossly in the wrong and is abusing your clients)

Generally transparency helps. Be ready to answer all questions truthfully, admit fault and apologise if you are at fault, and when you are at fault, try to take remedial actions (example give them 30 days free or help them move, migrate if they still decide to move)

Communication (yes! once again!) is of paramount importance. It's not just prompt communication, but the content is even more important to ensure no further damage is caused.

In the end, chances are that some form of damage may still be done, but it will be more contained and within control.

I assume you mean a poor review on this board?

I dont think we have had to deal with a bad review yet - But I think you need to check the history of any such review, a lot of them are made out to be a bigger issue than they really are. It seems to me a lot of customers "jump the gun" when posting here - often before they have even made any attempt to contact the support desk of there host.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

I think that always being planned for disasters will help you down the road ie: backups, secure servers etc and if something should happen tell the truth rather than talking BS about "Oh this went out will be fixed in 12 hours" then 24 hours later the "major HD crash" etc.. I have found if you are honest about things like this customers have ALOT more patience than if you just string them along with random BS excuses.

commit suicide :D just j/k. if that's the case, some of the hosts better be cats :D

yes.. prevention is better than cure. Just that you can never know. Sometimes it is hard to please every single soul.

Search for Matt's responses - User Name

Site5-Matt

While there are others who have exhibited professionalism in addressing problems, his posts stand out in my memory as those I would most like to emulate.

Don't get one in the first place :stickout:
But if it happens, just be truthful and reply to anyone who has questions about the situation with all the evidence.

Originally posted by jimcarter
Don't get one in the first place :stickout:
But if it happens, just be truthful and reply to anyone who has questions about the situation with all the evidence.

So basically you are saying not to advertise at WHT :D ;) :emlaugh:

Here's a thread of me kinda doing that same thing.. you can see what I did and take it for whats it worth... I'm not the best at it as its hard not to take some things people say personally but I tried in this case. The best course of action is to explain why you acted a certain way and then try your best to remedy the situation to some reasonable degree.

http://webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=91500&highlight=hostrocket+or+rackfast

-Brendan