OPINION - It was a Tuesday morning when Chanel found it. A two-star review on Google for her boutique guest house outside George, from a guest who had stayed the previous weekend.
The review said the breakfast was cold, the WiFi did not work, and that Chanel had been ‘dismissive’ when the guest mentioned the problem.
It had already been seen by 47 people when she found it.
The WiFi issue was real. The cold breakfast was a misunderstanding - the guest had come down 40 minutes after the agreed time.
And Chanel had not been dismissive. She had been brief because another guest was waiting. Yet none of that mattered. What mattered in that moment was what she did next.
What she wanted to do was respond immediately, explain that the guest was wrong about the breakfast, and point out that the WiFi had been flagged to the provider. What she did instead - after calling a friend who talked her down from the ledge - was something far more powerful.
The audience is never just the reviewer
This is what changes everything about how you think about online complaints: the person who wrote the review is not your primary audience. The next 200 people who read that review are.
They are people who are considering staying at your guest house. People who searched ‘accommodation George’ and found you. People who are at the exact moment of decision - and who are watching not just what was said, but how you responded.
A cold, defensive or petty response to a negative review fails to address the complaint. It confirms the complaint. It tells the next 200 people that when things go wrong, this is who you are.
A warm, professional, empathetic response does something extraordinary: it can actually make potential customers trust you more than if the review had never appeared. Because it shows them who you are when things are difficult. And that is exactly who they need to know.
The five things you must never do
Never respond in anger, even if the review is completely unfair. Even if the customer is factually wrong. Even if you know, beyond any doubt, that they are the difficult customer you tried your hardest to please. Write the response in anger by all means - then delete it and leave it 24 hours.
Never belittle or dismiss the reviewer publicly. “Some customers are impossible to please” may be true in this case. It will cost you more than you gain every single time.
Never argue publicly about facts. Even if you win the argument, you lose the impression. Take it offline: “We’d welcome the opportunity to discuss this privately” is more powerful than a point-by-point rebuttal.
Never respond with a template. “We are sorry you feel that way” is not an apology. It is a signal that nobody is actually listening. Every response should sound like a human being wrote it.
Never ignore it. A complaint left without a response grows in the silence. And it tells every future reader that this business does not engage.
The 3-step response that works
Chanel’s response to that two-star review took her 20 minutes and one rewrite. It went something like this:
“Thank you for taking the time to leave feedback. We are sorry your stay did not fully meet your expectations, and we take both your comments seriously. The WiFi issue has now been resolved with our provider, and we have reviewed our breakfast timing communication to avoid any confusion for future guests. We would welcome the chance to welcome you back and show you what a full Karoo Bloom experience looks like. Please feel free to reach out to us directly.”
She acknowledged without grovelling. She addressed the real issue briefly and factually. She did not argue about the breakfast. She invited a future visit - not defensively, but genuinely. And she closed with a human voice that sounded like someone who cared.
Within two weeks, four new bookings had mentioned the review in their enquiry emails. Two of them said it was the response, not the review, that made them decide to book.
Build your response framework before you need it
The worst time to figure out how to handle a crisis is in the middle of one. The owners who manage these moments best are the ones who have already thought it through - who have a response framework ready, who have agreed with their team on who handles these situations, and who know that 24 hours of calm reflection produces a far better response than 24 minutes of emotional reaction.
This does not need to be complicated. A simple note in your business file: who sees complaints first, who responds publicly, and a reminder of the three steps - acknowledge, address, act. That is it. But having it written down before the Tuesday morning the negative review arrives changes how you show up when it matters.
The three As of crisis response
Acknowledge: Thank the person for the feedback. Acknowledge their experience without defending yourself first. The reviewer needs to feel heard; the audience needs to see that you listen.
Address: Respond briefly and professionally to the substance of the complaint. Take the detail offline. Your public response is not the place for a full explanation - it is the place for a demonstration of character.
Act: Fix what needs fixing, and where appropriate, say so. “We have made a change as a result of this feedback” is one of the most brand-building sentences a small business can publish.
This week’s exercise: Your response framework
Before the review arrives, prepare your response approach.
Answer these three questions and write them down:
- Who in your business sees online reviews and complaints first - and who is responsible for responding?
- What is your rule about timing? (Suggested: never respond to a negative review within the first two hours. Let the emotion settle.)
- Draft a response template for a hypothetical negative review about your most common service failure. Practise the three As: Acknowledge, Address, Act.
A template is not a substitute for a genuine response - it is a starting point that stops you writing something you will regret.
Next column: The final article in our series - Where branding is heading, and three things any business can do today to build a reputation that lasts.
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