How to Remove Reviews from Facebook to Manage Your Online Reputation
Having a Facebook page for your business is a great way to build your platform and connect with customers. But it can also have a downside: bad reviews.
Sometimes, these are left by fake accounts. Other times, they’re spam. And occasionally they’re left by unhappy customers who have an issue that needs to be resolved.
Still, negative reviews shouldn’t keep you from using social media. Depending on the type of review and whether it’s legitimate or not, there are a few ways you can handle it.
From reporting spam reviews to responding to unsatisfied customers, learn how to keep your Facebook business page positive by addressing bad reviews the right way in this guide.
Learn how to manage your online reputation:
How to delete a review on Facebook
Unfortunately, you can’t simply delete a review on a Facebook page. Instead, you have three options for handling it:
- Report it if it’s fake or spam
- Turn off your Facebook reviews
- Respond to the customer
How you approach the review depends on whether or not it’s real, how it’s impacting your Facebook page, and what you feel comfortable with.
For example, a legitimate review from an unsatisfied customer is usually worth responding to, but fake reviews unrelated to your business should be reported.
READ MORE: Can a company sue for a bad review?
Reporting Facebook reviews
You should report Facebook reviews that are either fake or that go against Facebook’s Community standards.
How to tell if a Facebook review is fake
Before you choose which route to take, you need to determine whether the review is legitimate or not by asking the following questions:
- Is the review specific to my company?
- Do I recognize the client’s name or is it in my CRM?
- Does the Facebook user’s profile look real? (For example, do they have a real profile picture, is their name an actual name, do they have more than one or two friends)
- Do any of my employees remember working with this person or were they involved in the incident the complaint is referring to?
- Does the review make sense in relation to my services?
- Is the review obviously spam?
Here’s an example of a spam review on a Facebook business page. Although it’s acting as a recommendation, the content has nothing to do with the business or service the Facebook page is for.
It’s a good idea to remove reviews like this, even if they boost your star rating because they don’t offer any value to potential customers.
What are Facebook’s Community Standards?
If the review seems to have been written by an actual customer, you need to determine whether it goes against Facebook’s Community Standards. For example, Facebook doesn’t allow reviews that:
- Incite violence
- Instigate bullying or harassment
- Encourage suicide or self-injury
- Include nudity
- Use hate speech
It’s important to note that regardless of whether a review is fake or not, you can still report it if it goes against these guidelines.
How to report Facebook reviews
If you get a fake or spam review, or a review that goes against Facebook’s Community Standards, report it by:
- Logging in to your Facebook business page
- Going to your Reviews tab and finding the review in question
- Clicking on the three dots in the top left corner of the review
- Choosing Report Post from the menu
- Following the prompts to report the review
Once reported, Facebook’s team will review your report and determine whether to delete the content from your page. Keep in mind it can take anywhere from a day to a couple of weeks to have a review removed.
How to turn off Facebook reviews
If a bad Facebook review is legitimate and meets Facebook’s Community Standards, or Facebook chooses not to remove it after you file a report, your next option is to disable reviews for your business’s Facebook page.
Since Facebook doesn’t allow users to turn off single reviews, this option means you’ll be turning off reviews completely, hiding all of them (positive and negative) from your page. If you choose to turn reviews back on down the road, all of your past reviews will be visible again.
To turn off your Facebook reviews:
- Log in to your business’s Facebook page
- Go to your page’s Settings menu (located in the top right corner)
- Click Edit Page
- Find the Reviews heading and select Settings
- Go to Show Reviews and move the slider from ON to OFF
If you want to turn them back on later, follow the same instructions but move the slider to ON.
When to turn off Facebook reviews
Turning off Facebook reviews should only be done as a last resort since it prevents you from getting any reviews at all. It doesn’t actually remove or resolve a bad review; it just hides it until you turn your reviews back on.
You should only turn off Facebook reviews if:
- You want to temporarily hide a review while you resolve the issue with the client who left it
- You’re being hit with a ton of negative reviews at once (for example, every member of a client’s household is leaving separate reviews for the same issue
- A review is offensive, inappropriate, or goes against Facebook’s Community Standards and you want to temporarily hide it from page visitors
Otherwise, the best option for legitimate negative Facebook reviews is to respond to them.
How to respond to negative Facebook reviews
Reputation management isn’t just about deleting or hiding negative feedback. It’s also about handling feedback in a way that demonstrates your customer service skills and shows customers you care about their satisfaction.
Sometimes all it takes to change a bad Facebook review to a good one is a polite and honest response.
Other times, potential customers will look at how you address bad online reviews as a way to gauge your professionalism and decide whether or not they want to hire you.
After all, how you respond to negative reviews shows them how you would treat them if they booked a service with you and an issue arose.
If you decide a review is worth responding to, add these templates to your social media marketing strategy to improve your online reputation management.
1. How to respond to an authentic negative Facebook review
Hi [customer name], we’re so sorry to hear that you weren’t satisfied with the service you received.
We take customer feedback very seriously and would like to do what we can to resolve this issue.
Please give us a call at [phone number] or email us at [email address] to discuss this in more detail.
Once the issue has been resolved, you can ask the customer to edit or update their review. But keep in mind, you should only do so if you’re confident the customer is happy with the end result.
2. How to respond to a fake Facebook review
Hi [customer name], thanks for reaching out. Unfortunately, we have no record of your name in our client database.
If you meant to leave this review, please reach out to our customer team at [phone number] or [email address] to discuss your experience in more detail. We would love to help you resolve this issue!
If you left this review in error, would you consider removing it? We’d greatly appreciate it. Thanks!
READ MORE: How to respond to negative reviews
Tips for responding to negative Facebook reviews
It’s natural to be upset when you get a negative Facebook review, but how you respond tells customers a lot about your business and what they can expect if they work with you. If you decide to respond without using one of the templates above, make sure to:
- Be polite. It goes without saying, but avoid foul language, don’t use all caps, and avoid too many exclamation marks. Be respectful, even if the review wasn’t.
- Take the conversation offline. It’s unlikely that you’ll be able to resolve the issue over Facebook, so encourage the customer to call or email you so you can have a real conversation. That way, you can get all the details and discuss a resolution.
- Respond early. It’s best practice to respond to legitimate negative reviews quickly because it shows the customer you’re on the ball and that you prioritize customer service.
- Resolve the issue. Do what you can to address the customer’s concern and find a way to resolve the issue. Although you may not be able to do this with every customer, it’s important to not only apologize but make a gesture to right the wrong, even if it’s just a small discount on a future service.
- Ask the client to update their review. Once you’ve spoken with the client and they seem satisfied with the results, ask them if they’re willing to update or remove their review.
Pro Tip: Respond to positive and negative reviews to show that you care about all your customers, not just the ones who have a complaint.
Learn from the service pros
Our panel of experts shares the best responses to the worst reviews.
Getting more positive Facebook page reviews
Social media platforms are a great way to communicate with clients and build a strong brand. And no matter how much you prioritize customer service and work to be a quality service provider, chances are you’ll get a negative review at one point or another.
And sometimes, you won’t be able to resolve it. While that’s frustrating, it’s not the end of the world, either.
Instead of letting it get you down, focus on getting more positive reviews instead to help balance out your Facebook page. Get started by:
- Sending out satisfaction surveys after completed jobs
- Asking happy clients for reviews
- Staying on top of dissatisfied clients through follow-ups and satisfaction surveys
- Making customer satisfaction part of your social media marketing strategy
- Automating reviews with software like Jobber to make collecting reviews easy
Originally published in November 2019. Last updated on July 25, 2024.