What should I do if I receive a negative review of my salon?

Giving feedback on the internet has become a reflex for many customers, whether it is positive or negative. Google even awards the title of "Local Guide" to people who have left a certain number of reviews on businesses. 

A negative review can happen on your page at any time. If you are not prepared to know what to say in response, you can miss out and the negative review can end up hurting your salon.

Don't panic, we tell you everything about how to respond to negative and fraudulent reviews.

Check the authenticity of the notice 

Unfortunately, anyone can leave you a negative review, even someone who has never been to your salon or beauty salon. So the first step is to check the authenticity of the review

Some reviews can be violent or discriminatory and Google has strict rules about this.

If you receive a notice in one of these categories, Google will penalize it: 

  • Spam and false content
  • Off-topic content
  • Restricted content
  • Illegal content
  • Terrorist content
  • Sexually explicit content
  • Shocking content
  • Dangerous and degrading content
  • Identity theft
  • Conflict of interest

On Facebook, the platform has listed its community standards that allow for checking whether the notice is against the rules. The standards apply to all content on all Meta platforms.

You may notice a mass appearance of negative reviews on the same date or from the same person but with several email addresses. This type of situation may be the result of a competitor's action. For Google My Business, you can report it under the "spam and fake content" category.

Once you have analysed the negative review, you have 2 options:

  1. Negative feedback is genuine feedback from an unhappy customer: even if it is aggressive, you should respond to it to remedy their bad experience.
  2. The negative review violates Google's policies: you can report it.

How to respond to a negative review?

Why is it necessary to respond to reviews, especially when they are negative?

When you respond to a review, you are not only responding to the customer who posted it , but to everyone who may see the review. Your response can potentially influence other reluctant customers to come. In this way you strengthen your online reputation. Responding to a review, even a negative one, shows that your salon is particularly responsive. In this way, you give the impression that you really take your customers' opinions into consideration in order to improve. 

Finally, in some cases, responding to a negative review can lead to a happy ending. You may still be able to fix the situation and turn the negative review into a positive one. 


Here is an example of a negative review of a hair salon. The owner did not respond and the review has 7 likes, proving that it is consulted by other potential customerswho refer to it. 


Apologise and empathise

First of all, it is important to respond quickly to a negative review. Ideally within 24 hours, to show that you are responsive and involved.

Always start your response with an apology to reassure the customer and reinforce the fact that you are listening. Where possible, it is also important toexplain the cause of the problem to your unhappy customer. It is important to always contextualise quickly so that readers of your response can see the bigger picture. Always end your response by offering to resolve the situation and encouraging contact. Of course, never threaten or confrontational in your response. 

In this example, the person representing the hair salon apologises but does not offer any solution or business gesture to the customer. It is imperative to make a move towards the dissatisfied customer to regain their trust and show that you are listening.

Offer to discuss it outside the internet

In your reply, always offer to make contact by telephone, e-mail or at the salon. This will allow you to deal with your customer's problem in depth. But also, by doing so, the review does not monopolise too much attention on your Google My Business or Facebook page. 

To do this, provide your contact information with a name and number, as in the following example:

Here the client is identified and informed that Jessica will call her back. The manager's direct contact is given so that the person can write to her by email.

Keep your answer concise

It is preferable not to go into detail in your reply. Above all, don't ask the user any questions, as this will avoid giving too much visibility to the negative review if he or she responds in quick succession. 

In short, the ideal structure of a response:

  • Apology
  • Explanation of the problem and willingness to fix your mistake
  • Offline contact request

What should I do if I receive a fraudulent notice?

Check the notice in question one last time

Before reporting the review, take the time to evaluate it. Look at the categories listed above to confirm that the review violates Google or Facebook.

If the negative review is from a competitor, is hateful or is a mistake, then Google and Facebook will help you remove it.

Ask the user privately to change or remove their opinion

It is common for platforms to take some time to assess the authenticity of a negative review and remove it. If you wish, you can contact the author of the review in the meantime to determine the cause of the review and ask them to remove it.

It is not impossible that the person in question simply made a mistake about the company, or decided to change his mind and delete his fraudulent notice himself.

Report an inappropriate negative review on Google My Business

First, go to your Google My Business page.

  • Click on the "Opinions" section
  • Select the Google review to be removed and click "Report as inappropriate".

Of course, while waiting patiently for Google to remove the notice, we advise you to respond even if it is fraudulent. To do this, follow the same steps as in our first case.

Report an inappropriate negative review on Facebook

Here again, it is not possible to delete a comment left on your Facebook page yourself. However, it is possible to report it so that the social network can study the recommendation and decide whether or not the comment should be deleted.

To report a review from a Facebook page:

  • on your Facebook page, go to the Notices section,
  • click on the three horizontal dots at the top right of the notice,
  • press Find help or report the recommendation
  • describe the problem you encountered (irrelevant recommendation, unfair notice, unwanted content, hate speech, etc.),
  • The removal request is sent to Facebook. You also have the option of banning the person from your page or hiding their posts.

Other platforms

In addition to Facebook and Google My Business, there are other platforms where your customers and potential customers can go to view and leave a review. The principle is often the same for all platforms: the customer can leave a comment and a rating with stars up to 5.

Here is an example of a review for a Parisian barber on TripAdvisor. As with Google My Business, other users can view and like it. The barber can reply to the review.


All platforms have a policy that states what violates their rules. Before you report the review, make sure, as with Google My Business and Facebook, that the review violates the platform's rules. If you decide to report the review, you can usually just click on the review and a "Report" message will appear before you are redirected to a dedicated page. 


Finally, don't forget that Google encourages especially the files which are dynamic and therefore regularly updated. In addition to responding quickly to reviews, you should also update your listing often. Don't forget to update it when there are changes and to make it dynamic with news. If you don't have enough time or are not comfortable with this, you should know that Wavy accompanies you and does it automatically for you.

Written by
Aurélie Pauker
Always attracted by the world of hairdressing and beauty, today I answer the problems you may have.

Also to be consulted