Bad review? Owners should address online reviewers' concerns

Less than a year later, it was down to one star after a squirrel chewed a hole in one of the cushions.

Is that the manufacturer's fault? Seriously.

When I check out reviews, I filter out the positive ones and go right to the complaints. Positive reviews mean little, and are often fake. Terrible reviews are often fake, too, but it's easier to read between the lines - especially if the business has a response.

If the only negative reviews were "a squirrel ate my cushion" or the complainant is obviously a whiner, I feel good about the place. If the negative reviews seem like they were written by reasonable people who have written many other reviews (not just one or two), then I take them seriously.

If the only negative reviews were "a squirrel ate my cushion" or the complainant is obviously a whiner, I feel good about the place. If the negative reviews seem like they were written by reasonable people who have written many other reviews (not just one or two), then I take them seriously.

Generally if there's a trend of bad reviews all saying the same thing it's almost screaming at you to avoid the place.

I would also look closely at how the business reacts to bad reviews. If they try to work proactively with the user to fix the issue, then I'm personally inclined to overlook the bad review. If they try to mouth off or be smart to the customer in their response, then it's also a very big red flag no matter if the customer/user was whiny or not. If you're asking the customer to give you a chance to fix mistakes then the business needs to not mouth off online about customer mistakes as well. We all know there will always be unreasonable types; but how the business deals with them is also publicly scrutinized as well and if this is done badly, then your business is most likely going to be paying severely for it.

I think businesses underestimate the importance of customer service nowadays unfortunately. It can take only one sour experience to never see a client come back again, ever.