Negative reviews can cause damage to an Amazon seller’s brand; with plenty of those in on listing, no prospective shopper will trust the product and buy it. Luckily, there is a solution.
Negative review removal is the process of removing inappropriate feedback from your customers. And you, as a seller, can take some actions from your end to get this done. However, you must understand the legal implications awaiting you if you don’t play by Amazon’s rules in removing negative reviews.
If critical reviews and what to do about them bewilder you, you can simply partner with professionals specializing in negative review removal.
In this blog post, we’ll cover all the available options for you and the guidelines you should follow to safely remove negative reviews and avoid getting into trouble with Amazon.
What Is Negative Review Removal
Before we delve into removing bad reviews, let us first understand why they occur in the first place. Customers leave a negative review because of false expectations about your product or service. If it’s about the product, then the negative review circles around its quality or poor value for money. If it’s about your service, it could be the wrong or a damaged product, or it was delivered too late.
Some negative reviews are just honest criticisms that you can learn from. Their reviews are insights into areas of your business you can improve to benefit your business. However, some are inappropriate and unfair, heavily affecting your brand and customer trust. For the latter reason, you would want these bad reviews removed.
Depending on your situation, there are several ways (manual or automated techniques) you can do to remove negative reviews. But to get it right, you must adhere to several Amazon guidelines and policies to ensure that all your actions are in order and don’t risk your seller account.
Here are some of these guidelines that you should know by heart as a seller:
Communication Guidelines
It contains acceptable language and manners of communication with your customers. So, if you’re soliciting reviews or tackling negative reviews, your approaches and messaging must follow this guideline.
Anti-Manipulation Policy
Amazon is keen on keeping the integrity of its marketplace by ensuring it is a safe space for all users. This means all reviews on the platform must be authentic and honest. This policy prohibits you from incentivizing customers (in any form) to give a positive review or even delete a negative review and enter into fraudulent acts of buying fake reviews.
Community Guidelines
Refer to this guideline if you want to know how to identify a negative review that is eligible for removal. Simply put, Amazon will not remove all negative reviews unless they violate the community guidelines.
Key Takeaway: Not all negative reviews warrant removal. Some offer valuable feedback for improvement. However, unfair or inappropriate reviews can damage your brand. Understanding Amazon’s guidelines on communication, anti-manipulation, and community standards is crucial for identifying removable reviews and taking appropriate action.
How to Remove Negative Reviews From Amazon Listing
In the previous section, we discussed the guidelines that would serve as your safe tracks as you navigate negative review removal.
However, doing the task is not always as results are not guaranteed; some sellers prefer to leave this job to the professionals. But with a systematic approach (and a lot of patience), you can effectively remove a negative review.
Reach Out To The Customer Directly
When you’ve encountered honest criticisms that aren’t violating the community guidelines, your best course of action is to resolve the negative review with the customer. Apologize for whatever inconvenience they experienced and thank them for their feedback.
Make this touchpoint a new and pleasant experience for them to reverse their dissatisfaction. Offer a resolution, like a refund, until they are satisfied to encourage them (but not demand) to edit or delete their reviews.
Report Inappropriate Reviews
There is no other way to deal with critical and damaging reviews than to report them instantly to Amazon for removal. Don’t allow them to stay long on your listings as they will affect your product’s visibility on the search results page, weigh down your overall seller rating, and eventually, lose your seller privileges.
When you report the case to Amazon, supply them with the necessary data to prove your claim on why they need to remove the review. It will help establish the case and enable the seller support team to make educated decisions. Then patiently follow through or even escalate the case to other Amazon channels until you’re successful.
Automate Negative Review Removal
If manual monitoring of reviews gets the best of you, I suggest you use third-party review management tools. They can help alert you when you receive negative reviews, contact customers or report to Amazon directly on the app, and generate reports to have comprehensive insights into reviews you receive. They are indispensable tools that can level up how you manage your reviews.
What Are The Legal Implications of Removing Negative Review
If removing negative reviews, you resort to illegal actions like bribing customers or commissioning fake buyers (socket puppet accounts) to give you positive reviews, then know that you could lose your business on the platform aside from facing legal charges from Amazon and other government agencies that ban review manipulation.
What are some of the penalties you could be facing when caught? Here are a few (read: worst-case scenarios):
- Removal of reviews. Amazon will remove your reviews, even the good ones, affecting your listing’s visibility. Without reviews to show for, you’re now back from scratch in rebuilding your brand’s trust factor.
- Complete removal of your listings. Aside from taking down all your product pages, Amazon may also hold any payments due to you until your case with them clears out.
- Complete ban from the platform. Depending on the severity of your violation, Amazon may ban you from running a business on its marketplace. When charged with a criminal offense, your identity will be exposed to the public, risking the opportunity for you to open shop again on other e-commerce sites.
I’ve written an article that guides you through navigating Amazon Review Policies. I suggest you check it out to get a good grip on what they are about.
Key Takeaway:Â Negative review removal requires a systematic approach. Address honest feedback directly with customers. Report reviews that violate guidelines to Amazon, providing evidence for removal. Consider review management tools to streamline the process. Remember, illegal tactics like bribery or fake reviews have severe consequences, including account suspension and legal trouble.
How Can Professional Services Help With Negative Review Removal
Knowing the risks associated with removing negative reviews, sellers often leave the reviews alone, worried that they might just mess up the process.
So, if you’re tied down with other crucial matters in your business or worried about doing it right, partnering with service providers specializing in negative review removal is the best route to ensuring your listing’s health is taken care of.
By using AI, they can scour through all your listings and detect reviews with a high probability of removal. They also file the cases on your behalf using time-tested templates, expediting the communication with Amazon. Such methodology enables them to have high success rates in removing negative reviews.
FAQs: Negative Review Removal
Can You Get Negative Reviews Removed?
Yes, you can by filing a report (case) to Amazon to have it removed. However, Amazon will only remove a review if it violates the community guidelines or if it has the characteristics of a fake review.
Refer to the guide above to effectively remove negative reviews, while ensuring you don’t break any of Amazon’s rules to avoid legal pitfalls.
Can Companies Pay To Remove Bad Reviews?
Companies cannot remove negative reviews by themselves, nor any service provider they commission. Third-party professionals assist in negative reviews removal by using their tech-based processes and methodologies that is favorable to Amazon, making the task efficient and successful. Still, only Amazon can remove the reviews and the customer who authored them.
Parting Thoughts
Negative reviews can have an enormous impact on your Amazon business, but with the right professional services and strategies in place, they don’t have to stay permanent on your listings.
Professional review removal companies offer specialized solutions that can help you remove negative reviews from your listings while staying compliant with Amazon’s terms of service. With the help of these services, you can protect your brands and grow your business without fear of damaging feedback or legal implications associated with negative review removal.
Looking for experts to manage the most complex aspects of selling on Amazon?
to protect, defend and grow your brand on the Amazon marketplace.
