Negative reviews are an unfortunate — but entirely normal — part of doing business. Don't be surprised to read the occasional negative review. While it's important to look for patterns in your reviews to see opportunities for growth, you should take any individual perspective with a grain of salt.
Nobody likes to get a negative review, and it's even worse if you think it violates your legal rights. Consider the consequences before you get your lawyer on the phone, however. Defamation suits are notoriously expensive and difficult to win. We do not recommend drawing attention to posts that would otherwise be ignored by most rational consumers. There may be rare cases when it's appropriate to take legal action, but in most cases, you won't get what you are looking for by suing someone who gives you a bad review.
In the event that you do not agree with a review about your business, The Knot Worldwide highly encourages that you reach out to the customer to discuss how expectations were not met and how to best resolve any outstanding issues. Reviewers have the ability to update or edit their review at any time.
Responding to a Review:
We recommend that every pro responds to every review that they receive on The Knot- good or bad! Let couples see how you interact with your clients so that they have a better understanding of what it is like to work with you.
Remember that not all experiences will go as planned and those may result in some not so positive reviews which can be hard to swallow. Before you respond - take a moment to review the following:
- People who read reviews are looking for ALL experience, not just the good ones. It is as important, if not more important, for potential clients to see how you handle a situation where things didn’t work out as expected.
- Do not convince yourself that one client’s poor experience will negate every positive review on our site(s). Reviews under 4-stars help give added credibility to all your great reviews.
- Be honest with yourself. Is there some truth or trends you are seeing in reviews? Is this an opportunity for you to make some changes that could potentially stop a similar situation from happening again in the future.
- Do not be reactive, be thoughtful. Tempting as it may be, we often see that lashing out in responses has an adverse effect on what you are trying to achieve by responding.
- Start by waiting for 48 hours. Take a step back to reflect on the feedback and determine the best steps forward to ensure you are handling the situation logically, not emotionally. Thank the reviewer for taking the time to share their feedback and try to put yourself in the mindset of a potential client reading this response and what impact it will have on them.
Disputing a Review:
In the event that you received a review from someone you NEVER conducted business with or believe the review may otherwise violate our Terms of Use, we encourage you to dispute the review. To dispute a review, please follow these steps:
- Log in to your Knot account at www.WeddingPro.com
- Click 'Manage Reviews' under the 'Reviews' tab
- You will see all reviews posted about your business.
- With each review, you have the opportunity to "Respond" or "Dispute" (located on the bottom of each review).
- If you respond, your comments will be posted directly below the reviewer's comments for the public to see.
- If you dispute, the Policy Team will conduct a formal investigation to determine the review's validity.