Let's Talk about Negative Reviews: My Experiences and Questions for You
While glowing postive reviews "feel good" to write and don't have as much controversy, as reviewers, there comes a time that you come across a product that doesn't live up to it's claims, and you have to say so.
In this article, I want to discuss my experiences with negative reviews--both good and bad--and, I want to hear about yours.
My Overall Objective with Writing Reviews
While I am an affiliate of various products and services, my overall reason for writing reviews isn't to make money. I don't say that for sentiment. I say that being honest.
I write good reviews for products I'm not an affiliate of, and I write bad reviews for products that could offer me a hefty commission. I try my hardest not to make money slant ratings at all. My main objective is connected to my business mission.
My site is called How to Entrepreneur and my main objective there is to help entrepreneurs grow businesses: from idea to enterprise. With my mission in mind, I write reviews of products and services that could help entrepreneurs to achieve that goal.
The good reviews are for products that I'm confident can help them, and the bad reviews are for products I'm confident will not help them. It can be touchy though.
There are People Behind Good and Bad Products and Services
What I've found from writing reviews is that people create good and bad products. Often times, they aren't able to realistically look at their product or service's accurate positioning in the market.
Some people don't give themself the benefit of the doubt. They may underestimate the value of their product, price low, and not emphasize enough the transformation their product can solve.
On the other hand, some people overemphasize their product. They seem to believe their product or service can do much more than what it can. They may not try to be scammers, but they don't realize their product or service underdelivers or disappoints, so they look that way.
Ideally, a product developer or service designer will create a product that clearly lays out expectations, and they satisfy clients because they deliver what's expected (or more). Unfortunately, what I've found is very common is that there are many overzealous product developers who exaggerate and overemphasize their product, they price too high, and it's necessary for them to get honest feedback to correct this.
The Heart of an Honest Review
In my opinion, the worse negative review to write is reviews that come from an emotional and personal standpoint. Let me explain...
I've written emotional reviews because I was hurt, disappointed, angry, and overall, I wanted others to know about my dissatisfaction, but those aren't as effective as empathetic reviews.
Instead of writing an emotional negative review, I've had much better results from my reviews in terms of conversions, appreciation, and sales when I write reviews from an empathetic viewpoint--concerning myself most with the well-being of the end user.
Let me explain with an example...
Emotional review
"I signed up for Wannabe Affiliate (made up name) a few months ago. It was a horrible program and I spent my last 100 dollars on it, then they didn't deliver what they said."
Empathetic review
"If you're looking at Wannabe Affiliate, it's likely you want to become a successful affiliate marketer. I've been in your shoes, and many others looking into this program have as well. I signed up for Wannabe Affiliate a few months ago and I'll be sharing the facts with you. I'll also be sharing customer experiences (including my own), so you can decide if this program will help you achieve your goals."
Do you see the difference? Some negative reviews are written with the heart of revenge. Some are written with the heart of intimidation. They are intimidated by another program, so they write a negative review to "steal the spotlight".
I'm recommending that negative reviews be written ONLY for low quality or bad products, and they be written from a logical and empathetic standpoint, rather than emotional.
Experiences I've had Resulting from Negative Reviews
I've written negative empathetic reviews and gotten powerful outcomes from them. In every case, the product developer didn't like the negative review, but once they reached out to me and realized, Im not writing the review out of intimidation, revenge, or another emotional standpoint, we've established a different level of respect.
I've been able to talk to product developers and even help them see where their products fall short. I've been able to help improve products by giving advice and as a result of negative reviews, I've had some very interesting experiences!
Not all of my experiences have been positive though. In fact, recently a product developer recently reached out to me, and it hasn't turned into a positive outcome yet. I actually don't know what will happen.
I bought a high ticket program years ago when I was looking to be successful in my author business. I took action on the tasks I was given and didn't see results from it. I walked away very disappointed, feeling like I wasted my money, and took too much blame for the results I got.
After years (and taking the Bootcamp training), I decided, I should share my experience thru a review. I realized the most people signing up for that program likely have similar goals as I had, and I was quite sure others could be disappointed like I was.
I wrote the review, and I got great rankings for many keywords. It's been influencing lots of buying decisions, and the product developer decided to reach out.
He spoke to me in tears. He pulled the religion card and made it seem like writing a negative review isn't "treating others how I would like to be treated". He cried on the phone about how hard he's worked to build his reputation, and I listened. I reassured him that my intention wasn't to damage his reputation. I also clarified that my actions don't contradict my religious stances.
I told him that a negative review on my website is the result of a product that doesn't deliver, and the only way I'd change my review is if the product was improved and would satisfy the end user's buying motives differently than it did for me. Standing my ground hasn't been easy because I heard terms like "lawyers" brought up and sly threats, but I don't believe I'm doing anything wrong.
In closing, writing negative reviews can be eye openers, help customers to make good decisions, and cause product developers to earn better than they ever have (when they correct their mistakes). On the other hand, not all product developers will be humble enough to recieve feedback that's not "optimal" (even when you're constructive in tone).
My Questions for You
Now, I've shared my experience. What's yours?
- Do you write negative and positive reviews?
- Do you write emotionally, logically, factually, objectively, or in an opinionated voice? What converts best for you?
- Have you been approached about your negative reviews? If so, what have you done about it?
- What would you do if a product developer was threatening to take you to court for a review that disclosed your honest experience with their low quality or underdelivering program?
Recent Comments
23
Hi, Tiffany! So I've been writing book reviews for years. I've had the same good experiences you had with people wanting to know how they can improve.
But I also had a weird negative experience recently. The author reached out to ask what I meant by something in my review specifically. That was cool, I gave an in-depth answer hoping to help. Then he replied back asking me to change my review on Goodreads because he's just a "poor young man trying to make a passive income." He pulled a total guilt trip and even tried to compare himself to the age of my nephew to garner sympathy. Since that was weird, I went back and looked at his book on Amazon. I couldn't find my review and he had a bunch of obviously fake reviews stating how awesome the book was. In fact, I looked up the reviewers and ALL of them rate these random independently published books highly saying similar words. But on Goodreads, mine was the ONLY review. I contacted Amazon and got my review reinstated with an apology from customer service as my review didn't violate their policy. I assume that the author reported it to remove it. I also tried to explain to them this 'kid' was gaming the system with fake reviews from fake reviewers.
I never did respond to his inquiry about changing my review once I realized he was trying to fake out the Amazon system simply for MONEY. No point. If they purposely are trying to get around Amazon's rules, they KNOW they're doing something against the rules. And he didn't ask me to change my review because he worked hard. He asked me to change it because he wants a passive income. He created a book just to get money.
As for being sued, I would probably ask, "Did I state anything that was not true? Because I would be happy to remove anything inaccurate. However, my opinion is this product is subpar and my review reflects my opinion. You are welcome to consult a lawyer if you wish." The only way you can get sued for a negative review is if you write defamatory content containing lies (slander and libel). Or violate copyright law or something. :)
As for my reviews, I write logically and objectively usually, with an eye to writing to other readers, but as book reviews are more about how you liked the plot and whole book (thus emotional) than just whether it is a good quality, those reviews are often times emotional but I always try to be objective. Like for example, I have favorite authors. One of my favorite authors wrote a book I was really disappointed with. Now I didn't get pissed and review 1 star because it doesn't live up to my standards for her work. I did 3 stars because I am reviewing that particular book and I need to rate it as it stands alone. It was an okay written book. Just not what I wanted from her and that ruined it for me. I'm not rating good quality writing low because I'm pissed at the direction of the book. My enjoyment level did impact my score but it doesn't impact the WHOLE score. I look at multiple things when I review.
The bad thing about book reviews is that readers and authors often misunderstand the purpose of reviews. They are for other consumers, NOT for the author. You are supposed to be writing to fellow readers, not the author. You wouldn't be writing a review on a computer and be worried about hurting Dell's feelings or yelling at Dell. You'd be warning other shoppers not to buy or you would be recommending that computer. Maybe because the books have a name and face behind the product.
Does this help?
Your feedback is golden. The product I was writing about was a 15k product that I stepped out of at 3-4K. I was in the program for 3-4 months and didn’t get results from it. I wrote the review to warn others with similar goals as I had and the program creator wants me to take down the review.
I haven’t slandered him or defamed his character. Negative reviews can be touchy, but it seems more good than bad comes with them.
Well, I obviously think you did right by your audience! But he can't demand you to take down a negative review unless you were doing something illegal. Pretty soon you might have to have a lawyer on staff to direct these people to when they threaten you with legal bs. Even if he had given the product to you for free, he can't demand you take it down, either. People are seriously sensitive about stuff. But if it's 15k, then he SERIOUSLY should have a gold product. I'll have to check out your site and see what you are talking about. :)
Great post, Tiffany!
I write both positive and negative reviews. Mostly positive ones. All are logical and factual.
I recently wrote a negative review of Onpassive, which appears to be a pyramid scheme.
I did not call it a scam even though it probably is by the FTC pyramid guidelines as I stated in my review.
Since Onpassive was/is still in prelaunch, my recommendation is to avoid it and reassess after it launches to see if it really is a scam.
I also made a warning that the Onpassive program may be hazardous to your wealth.
I also wrote a review about WorldProfit three years ago. I received a strongly worded (600 words) comment about my WorldProfit review. While I said a number of good things about WP, I did not recommend the training program. A reader and WP member took exception to my review.
Rebutting a 600-word comment is tough without rewriting the review. So I pointed out a couple of other issues in detail.
I have an MMO site and written many negative reviews, mainly about products on ClickBank. Since my site only gets a couple thousand visitors a month, I haven't gotten approached by any of the product developers.
I've always bought the program to try it out since my theory is that I can't say something won't work if I haven't given it a fair try. In order to be sure that my readers can trust what I'm saying, there are always screen shots of the claims made in the sales videos and of the contents of what I receive after purchasing it.
Then I always clarify what facts I use to rate the program and what are my opinions based upon my experience. Making sure that my review is as objective and honest as possible is my main goal.
There have been some products that are great ideas and have great potential, but they seem to be developed just enough to seem good to a beginner and make a quick buck on upsells. I can remember one review where I said that I was frustrated because it was obvious that the creator knew how to make money, and I wished that he had taken the time and effort to really create a quality product that would work and that I could endorse!
Janelle
I agree! I’ve seen quite a few prematurely launched products too. I like your method with the reviews. That’s what I aim for as well: objective, honest, and factual with a pinch of opinion at the end.
This highlights a dilemma I have. I wanted to be an affiliate for a product called Riffmaster which on paper is an awesome product and it has a healthy margin through Clickbank. I downloaded a trial license of the product and whilst when it works well it is awesome, it has bugs. The program crashes and certain functionality doesn't work well. I emailed the supplier and also tried to contact them through their website support form. I've had no reply from them. I love the concept of the product and if it was reliable I think I could sell a lot of it. But I can't in conscience try to sell something that it not 100% and not supported. If I find an alternative product that is reliable, I will probably write reviews and show my experience with both products. It's the right thing to do, but very frustrating.
It’s good you have a standard and it’s not all about the commissions. Doing the right thing pays of in the long haul.
It was great to read your views and the outcomes Domena.
I'm still new to writing content and have only done 4 reviews on my site. They were about products I liked but any product has downsides.
I still mentioned these, although keeping in mind that something I don't like may be fine in someone elses opinion.
I had great comments back and was thrilled to inspire someone to read my review but I'm sure I will have an unhappy comment at some point and reading your post will help me keep it in perspective.
Thanks so much.
They are lucky that you are willing to help them improve.
Lily 😊
The potential of getting sued is the main reason I don't pursue a MMO website, Tiffany.
Even though I would most certainly approach a negative review with facts - in an empathetic way - concentrating on unemotional facts - based on my experience as well as others who have reviewed the "make money" entity...these negative reviews - no matter how factual - could seriously damage the entity owner's ability to make a living.
They'll sic their lawyer(s) on you and make your life more stressful than you could ever imagine.
Kyle recently recounted a major legal problem that Wealthy Affiliate had been fighting for years in that regard.
I don't need that kind of stress. My goal is to "enjoy" making money with my websites - and not having to worry about the possibility of having to defend my reviews in a court of law.
That being said, I still do some negative reviews of products that visitors to my websites may be interested in. But, the products are consumable "widgets" - and not MMO business entities.
And, my reviews usually compare these inferior products to better quality alternative products in the very same review - using my empathetic approach.
I must say that your "How to Entrepreneur" website idea to show "pros, cons, and alternatives", is a smart way to approach it - but, I think I'll stick with my pedometers, treadmills, etc., on my self-improvement website - and my garden tractors, tillers, etc., on my gardening website.
Just my 2 cents worth...
Jim
People bring lawyers up for all kinds of things nowadays. I saw the lawsuit Kyle and the team went thru. I’d definitely like to dodge anything similar to that for sure.
I have to be honest, with offering comments here in WA, I don’t offer a comment if I can’t be positive about it. I know that if the comment I make is honest, it’s going to give negative feedback and will not be approved by the owner if the website. So I simply don’t bother. This might seem a defeatist attitude but it bothers me when I have to really work hard to find something positive to say about a site, better to say nothing.
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Hi, creating and developing any product is an emotional experience. Kind of like giving birth. So any review on the product or service will lead to emotional response. But most people don’t realize you actually learn more from a dissatisfied customer assuming they genuinely what to improve the product. A happy customer will always tell you what IS, while a dissatisfied customer will tell you what OUGHT TO BE. And that is an insight.
That’s a great way to put it and that’s what I’ve heard from very successful entrepreneurs. It takes a paradigm shift though. Great feedback!