Here is a step-by-step guide and workaround to help you get those bad reviews removed, and keep the BUY-BOX while maintaining the elusive perfect rating.

Convincing Amazon to remove a negative review may seem complicated, but it’s possible. But first, understand the difference between a Product Review/Customer Review & Seller Feedback. 

 

What is a Seller Feedback?

 

Seller Feedback is your seller “report card” from Amazon buyers. Seller feedback consists of comments not about the product itself, but about the buying and fulfillment experience. This includes whether it arrived on time, was delivered to the correct location, was packaged properly, and much more—and it also includes feedback about the seller’s customer service and returns experience according to our Amazon Marketing Company.

_{Note: You can receive this feedback regardless of whether you fulfill the order yourself (MFN or FBM) or if Amazon fulfills (FBA) the order. For FBA sellers, Amazon may reply to/omit feedback related to their fulfillment experience, providing this response below the review: Message from Amazon: This item was fulfilled by Amazon, and we take responsibility for this fulfillment experience.}

 

What is a Customer Review/Product Review?

 

A Product Review is the review of specific products that are sold on the marketplace, not the seller or the purchasing experience. These reviews appear toward the bottom of a product listing (Shown as a Customer Review).

You may get a good Product Review, but bad Seller Feedback, or vice-versa. Both are important in your sales and ranking in the marketplace. There are times when customers interchange the two and end up writing feedback and giving a low star rating in the wrong place. So just be mindful of that. If you haven’t checked this out already, here is a link to Amazon’s Community Guidelines: 
https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201929730

 

Act Fast

 

Once you get a negative customer review with a low rating, it is important to act quickly. According to Researchgate, customers find new online reviews to be more informative than older ones. This is critical especially with products that have only a few pre-existing reviews.

 

Play by the Rules

 

Some product reviews may come in the form of fake 1-3 star ratings that are blatantly written to mislead. But you have to understand that not all shoppers know that. Your main goal as a seller is to convince Amazon that the review breaks Amazon’s terms and conditions. How do you do that? Well, use Amazon’s own rules and quote them in your ticket.

Pretty simple, right? So here’s what you need to do next:

Here are some great examples of well written messages from myamazonguy.com that you could use as a template for your tickets. 

 

AMAZON TICKET TEMPLATES FOR NEGATIVE REVIEW REMOVAL:

 

Review Type	Response	Response Option 2
About Seller	The following review is about the seller and not the product, which does not comply with Amazon’s community guideline under the section “Be Helpful and Relevant” bullet point two. We are requesting this review to be removed in order to provide helpful reviews for our customers. Review link below.
About Shipment	The following review is about the shipment and not the product which does not comply with Amazon’s community guideline under the section “Be Helpful and Relevant” bullet point two. We are requesting this review to be removed in order to provide helpful reviews for our customers. Review link below.
About Packaging	The following review is about packaging and not the product which does not comply with Amazon’s community guideline under the section “Be Helpful and Relevant” bullet point two. We are requesting this review to be removed in order to provide helpful reviews for our customers. Review link below.
Competitor	The following negative review is from a competitor which violates Amazon’s community guidelines under “Promotions and Commercial Solicitations”. We are requesting this negative review to be removed in order to provide helpful reviews for our customers. Review link below.
Wrong Product	The following negative review is about the wrong product which violates Amazon’s community guidelines under “Be Helpful and Relevant”. We are requesting this negative review to be removed in order to provide helpful reviews for our customers. Review link below.	The following negative review is about the wrong product which violates Amazon’s community guidelines under “Be Helpful and Relevant”. We are requesting this negative review to be moved to the correct product in order to provide helpful reviews for our customers. Review link below.
Wrong Ingredients	The following negative review lists the wrong ingredients which do not comply with Amazon’s community guidelines under “Be Helpful and Relevant”. We are requesting this review to be removed in order to provide helpful and authentic reviews for our customers. Review link below. Ingredient list attached.
About Pricing	The following negative review is about pricing which violates Amazon’s community guidelines under “Be Helpful and Relevant” bullet point two. We are requesting this negative review to be removed in order to provide helpful reviews for our customers. Review link below.
Contains Profanity	The following review contains profanity which violates Amazon’s community guidelines under “Respect Others” bullet point one. We are requesting this negative review to be removed in order to provide helpful reviews for our customers.
Hostile, Threatening Speech, or Violent	The following review contains hostile speech which violates Amazon’s community guidelines under “Respect Others”. We are requesting this negative review to be removed in order to provide helpful reviews for our customers.
Unverified	We are requesting the review made by XXX to be removed on the following product. We have verified she/he did not order this product but instead posted a review. Please remove this review as it is unfair for us and other customers. See screenshot for more details.

 

But what about legitimate negative reviews? 

 

Sometimes getting negative feedback is essential for sellers to continually improve their products and services. When a disappointed shopper leaves you a bad review, it’s often because you deserve it. However, that doesn’t mean the review should stay there forever.

If Seller Support has no reason to remove the feedback for you, it’s time you reach out to the buyer with a friendly email. At this point, only the buyer can remove or edit the negative customer review.

HOW IT WORKS:

In your initial email, sincerely apologize for your mistake and admit you’re the one in the wrong. You don’t have to agree with everything the customer has said, but they do need to know that you have heard them and that you acknowledge their feelings. Briefly explain what happened and tell them that you have learned from your mistake and that you appreciate them pointing out where you went wrong. After that, ask them if there is anything you can do to make up for them. This is also the part where you tell the customer that their satisfaction is very important to you. It is also a good idea to offer a 10-dollar Amazon gift card to compensate for the inconvenience. The buyer will most likely accept the gift card and your apology. IMPORTANT REMINDER: In this particular email, NEVER EVER request that they remove the review. This will come later. 

Two or three days after you send the customer the gift card, send them another email mentioning, again, that customer satisfaction is your number one goal. Ask them once more if there’s anything else you can do for them. After that, ask them if they would consider deleting the negative feedback… But emphasize that they remove it only if they feel like you have made up for your mistake. Don’t forget to provide a link or instructions to how they can easily remove (or update) your feedback score. There is a big possibility that the seller will finally remove the feedback at this point.

DO NOT directly or indirectly connect the gift card or compensation with the removal of the negative feedback in the same email. It’s a big NO NO to even talk about them in the same sentence. This is because according to Amazon’s policy, offering gift cards in exchange for a positive review is not allowed.