Why Customers Leave Good and Bad Google Reviews: Data From 1,200 Business Profiles Across 50 Industries

TL;DR:

• Communication failures are the #1 complaint across 50 industries – Whether it’s missed phone calls, unreturned calls and messages, a lack of setting clear consumer expectations prior to transactions, or general rudeness, the very basics of customer service prove to be the difference between negative and positive reviews.

• Promptness is at a premium in many industries – Whether it’s medical, automotive, or home services, being on-time and preventing the inconvenience of waiting determines whether brands receive positive or negative reviews. 

• There is no replacement for human empathy, especially in stressful situations – Staff friendliness and a caring attitude are among the most-mentioned topics in positive reviews. Take special note of this fact, particularly in the era of AI and automation.

• Pricing is a major pain point, especially when consumers feel tricked – In the medical industry, complaints about pricing may be situational due to factors like a lack of universal health care in the United States, but in most other industries, negative reviews surrounding pricing tend to hinge on consumers complaining that they feel ripped off; often, this appears to boil down to communication failure about estimates and quotes vs. fees. 

• Professionalism looks different in different industries, but is universally praised – Creating positive consumer experiences comes down to getting the details right of setting correct expectations at the outset, keeping promises, and engaging in fair business practices. Expertise is frequently mentioned in positive reviews, as is high-quality work.

What are top pain points and positive sentiment drivers in local business reviews in your industry?

I’ve conducted some of the local SEO industry’s largest review-related surveys over the years for different brands, and polling the public is a great way to gauge consumer behavioral trends, but today we’re doing something different. Instead of asking the survey respondents to estimate what typically causes them to leave positive or negative reviews, we’re going to look at hard data about what is live in the review sections of real Google Business Profiles. 

You can’t get more accurate than this in establishing the true causes of review positive and negative reviews!

Whitespark’s original data is valuable business intelligence because it will:

• Set benchmarks for industry norms relating to consumer sentiment
• Help you identify the wins you could get by excelling at what consumers appreciate most about businesses in your vertical
• Help you identify the wins you could get by addressing consumers’ most common pain points with good solutions that set you apart from competitors who are failing to remedy these dominant complaints
• Make it clear which experiences most commonly inspire consumers to go to the trouble of writing either a positive review or a negative one, helping you to establish what to focus on if you want to win more positive reviews

Methodology

We gathered reviews across 1,200 Google Business Profiles for 50 different industries and analyzed this data set to establish the most common causes of both positive and negative sentiment. We bucketed the findings into representative sentiment labels for each cause of praise or complaint, such as praise of expertise or complaints about communication problems.

The Data

In the following tables, you will find the most common themes causing both positive and negative reviews. Each point is accompanied by the percentage of reviews that mentioned a particular type of positive or negative sentiment. The data is broken down into overall industries like Home Services or Medical, and individual business models are found within each of these sub-sections.

Home services & trades

Top takeaways

1. Communication problems are the biggest driver of negative reviews in the home services and trades industry. 

To further break this bucket down, the label “Communication problems” includes all of the following pain points:

👻 Ghosting (prospective customers receiving no call backs from the service providers):

• Roofing: “They came out, did an inspection of the project, never called back or gave me an estimate.”

• Roofing: “We contacted them about a very important issue, and they completely ignored us and never got back to us.”

• Mold remediation: “I would like to leave a customer review for Paul-Davis, but sadly, after receiving a repair estimate they never returned my calls asking them to schedule work.”

• HVAC: “Said they would come. Never showed, no call… Are they still in business?”

• Plumbers: “Left on hold for a very long time that I had to hang up. Never got a call back. I don’t know how they got a 5 star rating.”Electricians: “They have an AI Answering the phone and they never call me back to schedule an appointment or contact me!! Bad Service!”

😶‍🌫 No-shows (service providers failing to appear when scheduled):

• HVAC: “Made an appointment – they didn’t show up, call or text. I mean I get it, things come up… but just ghosting someone for an appointment is unacceptable.”

• Plumbers: “They told me they would be at my house in the am… never showed. Called 5 times, wasted my day and they never came.”

• Duct cleaning: “Never showed up for our scheduled appointment. Never called or texted to let me know they were not coming. Super rude!”

• Water damage: “Scheduled service, did no show at 12pm… they called every hour (5-6 times) to let me know that they are coming… by 7pm they finally stopped calling and I received no service.”

• Garage door: “Technician was supposed to be at my home between 8am and 10am. He didn’t bother to call until 11am to say he was running late! And that was only because I called the office.”

👨‍🦯 Being kept in the dark (service providers not explaining procedures and fees sufficiently before starting work, causing unwelcome surprises for consumers):

• Plumbers: “The company didn’t tell me I had to remove the tiles beforehand. When they arrived they apologized… Then they charged me 10 times what anyone else would.”

• HVAC: “The technician came without a phone call… he was rude and didn’t explain things very well. Just basically told her ‘well it’s cold outside, that’s why the heater doesn’t work that great.'”

• Roofing: “Poor communication, crews didn’t show up when scheduled, no customer service skills, couldn’t confirm if they installed what I purchased, bad project management.”

🤬 Rudeness (staff being dismissive, unkind, and unprofessional, particularly on the phone):

• Plumbers: “I called and someone named Dan answered. He asked what they could help me with and I asked if I could get someone out for plumbing work that day. They just hung up.”

• Electricians: “I tried to book someone… They then, twice in a row, picked up the phone and hung up immediately.”

• HVAC: “Dispatch manager was rude and simply wanted to talk over me instead of listening.”

• Mold remediation: “Poor communication. I was hung up on by a ‘supervisor.’ There was no effort to fix the mess up they made.”

• Roofing: “They’re listed as 24 hrs. I called at 5am… asked for someone to come out and they said no and hung up.”

• Water damage: “The manager was very rude on the phone and canceled my appointment without my consent.”

✍️ To solve this top cause of negative reviews, improvements must be made to:

• Front office/intake training and practices, ensuring that every customer receives a friendly and professional greeting and that their appointment is accurately booked; all messages must be returned with call backs

• Procedures in the field, with service providers showing up on-time for appointments

• Digital data accuracy so that brand websites, local business listings, and other online assets accurately list hours of operation to avoid setting incorrect consumer expectations of when services are available

• Automated and AI systems that could be failing to in-take and route customers properly

Note that negative sentiment stems from unprofessional communication behaviors, while the top cause of positive sentiment stems from its opposite – professionalism. By correcting pain points related to communications, brands can expect more positive reviews praising the professional way in which the business presents itself to customers. 

2. Pricing is the second-biggest driver of negative reviews in the home services & trades industry.

Note the nuances of the following types of negative reviews involving pricing:

💰 Overcharged / gouging (on-site sticker shock):

• Plumbers: “They charged me $450 to replace a $15 part that took 20 minutes. When I questioned it the guy just shrugged. Absolute highway robbery.”

• Garage door repair: “Quoted $89 for a service call on the phone. Once he was here it magically became $780 for a spring. Classic bait and switch.”

• Duct cleaning: “The $69 special turned into over $600 once they were in the house. High pressure the entire time. Do NOT let them in your door.”

• HVAC: “Charged us $1,200 for a capacitor that costs $25 online. Preyed on us because it was 100 degrees and we were desperate.”

🤑 Hidden fees / more than the quote:

• Water damage restoration: “The estimate was one number, the invoice was nearly double. They added ‘equipment rental’ and ‘disposal fees’ that were never mentioned when they started.”

• Mold remediation: “They kept adding charges every single day they were here. What started as a set price ballooned with fees they never disclosed upfront.”

• Electricians: “Final bill was way higher than the written estimate. When I asked, he said the estimate was ‘just a ballpark.’ Then why put it in writing?”

• Roofing: “Signed for one price, got billed for ‘unforeseen decking’ with no photos, no heads up, nothing. Just a surprise line item.”

💵 Deposit / refund withheld (worst in roofing):

• Roofing: “Gave them a $5,000 deposit. They never started the job and now they won’t return my calls or my money. Had to file with the BBB.”

• Roofing: “Took our deposit, ghosted us for two months, and refused to refund when we finally cancelled. Feels like a scam.”

• Water damage: “Paid a deposit to secure the schedule. They no-showed twice and are now refusing to give the deposit back.”

• HVAC: “Paid upfront for a part on order. It never came, they stopped answering, and I’m out $600 with no refund.”

🧐 Paid for nothing / no value:

• Mold remediation: “Paid thousands and the mold was back within a month. Basically paid them to spray something and leave. Complete waste of money.”

• HVAC: “$300 diagnostic fee to be told what I already knew, and the unit still doesn’t work. Paid for absolutely nothing.”

• Plumbers: “Charged me full price, the leak was never fixed, and they wanted MORE money to come back out and ‘try again’.”

• Water damage: “They ran fans for two days, charged a fortune, and the wall still had moisture. Paid a premium for an incomplete job.”

It’s clear that customers aren’t complaining about clear, upfront pricing quotes, even if services are expensive. Instead, they feel angry enough to write a negative review when they feel tricked or that they’ve not gotten value for their money.

✍️ To solve this major pain point:

• Brands should avoid offering quotes prior to on-site inspections, if possible, because customers will be upset if a phone quote doesn’t match the fees that need to be charged once staff is on-site and able to see the true scope of the work that’s required for the job; if ballpark estimates must be given, be certain the customer understands that these are not quotes

• If brands require deposits, refunds should immediately be given if staff no-shows

• Satisfaction guarantees need to be clear and honored if an initial service appointment fails to permanently remedy a problem; if the nature of the work will require multiple appointments to permanently fix a problem, the customer must be informed of this up-front, including a clear explanation of the fees involved with multiple appointments

3. Professionalism and promptness win the day when you need positive reviews in the home services & trades industry.

Here are some real-world reviews offering clues to how a business earns the right to be called both professional and prompt:

“Called in the morning and they were here by noon – super fast. Professional, clean, and fixed the leak in under an hour. Couldn’t ask for more.”

“Very professional and prompt. Showed up on time, explained everything, and got the job done quickly at a fair price.”

“On time, efficient, and professional from the first phone call to the finished repair. This is how a plumbing company should run.” 

“Same-day service on the hottest week of the year. The tech was professional, quick, and had our AC running in no time.” 

“Prompt and professional service – arrived on schedule, worked fast, and walked me through everything they cleaned.” 

✍️ Across the 8 trades we examined, 3 behaviors are most closely associated with earning positive reviews:

• Same-day/fast response (especially urgent for HVAC and water damage)

• Arriving exactly when promised – the exact opposite of no-shows and delays

• Finishing quickly without cutting corners. Speed only reads as a positive when it’s paired with the work still being done right  –  the positive reviews in our data set almost always mention both together

Legal

Top takeaways

1. For the clients of criminal lawyers, results are the top cause of positive reviews.

This is understandable, given the nature of these law cases, with clients needing cases dismissed, charges dropped, fair settlements, etc. Legal firms should publicize positive outcome ratios in their marketing to attract clients.

2. For all other types of lawyers, communication problems are the #1 drivers of negative reviews.

Here is an industry breakdown of examples of real reviews citing communication issues:

⚖️ Lawyers (general):

• “Paid my retainer and then could not get a single call or email returned for weeks. I had no idea what was happening with my own case.”

• “You will speak to them once to hand over money, then good luck. Left countless voicemails, never got a call back.”

🤕 Personal injury:

• “Once they had my case signed they passed me to a paralegal I could never reach. Two years and I had to chase them for every update.”

• “Never returned my calls. I found out my case had settled from a letter, not from my own attorney. Terrible communication.”

🛂 Immigration:

• “They took our money and then stopped responding. With something as important as immigration, being ignored for months is terrifying.”

• “Impossible to reach. Missed a filing deadline and never told us — we found out from USCIS, not from them.”

🏠 Estate lawyers:

• “Months went by with no updates on my mother’s estate. Every call went to voicemail and emails were ignored. Incredibly stressful during grief.”

• “Had to call repeatedly just to get a status. They act like you’re bothering them for asking about your own family’s trust.”

💸 Bankruptcy:

• “After I paid, communication dropped to zero. Court dates would come up and I’d have no idea because no one would call me back.”

• “Left in the dark the entire process. Never explained the next steps and never answered when I called with questions.”

💔 Divorce:

• “Completely unresponsive during the most stressful time of my life. Days would pass with no reply while my case sat still.”

• “I’d email a simple question and wait a week for an answer — if I got one at all. Billed me for every minute but couldn’t return a call.”

🥷🏼 Criminal:

• “Facing serious charges and could not get my lawyer on the phone. No returned calls, no updates before court. Felt completely abandoned.”

• “Never explained what was happening with my case and wouldn’t respond before my hearing. You cannot leave someone in the dark like that in a criminal matter.”

✍️ Attorneys are extremely busy professionals, but in examining many of these communications failures, solution to client pain points could be found via:

• More abundant staffing enabling regular, ongoing communication with clients when attorneys are not available

• More palpable empathy for clients in stressful situations

• Firmer scheduling of attorney availability for direct client communications, follow-ups on phone calls and emails, and office visits

• Prompt postal mail notifications of important information, instead of reliance on third party communications 

• Setting client expectations of availability and communications norms accurately at the first appointment

3. Pricing that feels opaque and unfair is the #2 cause of negative reviews for most attorneys.

When clients feel that trust had been broken surrounding a transaction with a lawyer, these are real examples of resulting negative reviews:

⚖️ Lawyers (general):

• “Burned through my entire retainer in weeks with almost nothing to show for it. Every phone call, every email — billed to the minute.”

• “They nickel-and-dime you for everything. Charged me to read a two-line email I sent. The final bill was triple the estimate.”

🤕 Personal injury:

• “They took 40% plus ‘case costs’ I was never told about. I ended up with less than the insurance company originally offered me directly.”

• “Hidden fees ate most of the settlement. After their cut and mystery ‘expenses,’ I walked away with almost nothing for two years of pain.”

🛂 Immigration:

• “Charged a flat fee, then kept demanding more money for ‘unexpected paperwork’ at every stage. It never ended.”

• “Took thousands upfront and did the bare minimum. When the case stalled they wanted even more before they’d lift a finger.”

🏠 Estate lawyers:

• “Billed the estate for hours of work I can’t account for. Simple will and trust, yet the fees were astronomical and never itemized.”

• “Charged us a fortune for boilerplate documents you can get from a template. Felt completely overpriced for what was delivered.”

💸 Bankruptcy:

• “I came to them because I had no money — and they still hit me with surprise fees on top of the quoted price. The irony is painful.”

• “Quoted one flat rate, then said the filing was ‘more complex’ and demanded hundreds more or they’d drop my case.”

💔 Divorce:

• “Watched my retainer evaporate on emails and phone tag. $350/hour to be left on hold and passed to an assistant.”

• “The bill was staggering and itemized in a way I couldn’t understand. Every text and call added up — it felt designed to run up hours.”

🥷🏼 Criminal:

• “Paid a huge retainer upfront, then barely showed up to court. Wanted more money before the trial or he’d withdraw.”

• “Took my money and pushed me to take a plea deal fast. Felt like he just wanted the quick payment, not to actually fight for me.”

Medical

Top Takeaways

1. Pricing and long wait times top the charts for causing negative reviews in the healthcare field 

Pricing complaints revolve around two themes:

• Sticker shock at the cost of accessing medical care services
• Concerns over undisclosed and hidden fees the client was not expecting

An obvious solution for complaints about hidden fees is to ensure that all clients receive a full explanation of the costs of medical treatments, but negative reviews surrounding sticker shock are harder to solve, especially in the US. 

The United States is the only so-called “developed” country without universal health care for its citizens and this makes the predictable scenarios of getting sick, having an accident, or needing a variety of medical services throughout life a serious financial burden to residents. Solving this problem would require a variety of changes, likely including an increase in political will on the part of voters and the removal of corruption from government. Until such changes occur, doctors are likely to continue receiving negative reviews from people who need medical services and can’t afford them. 

Wait time complaints consist of:

• Appointment times not accurately reflecting when patients will actually be seen by a medical provider, often requiring the patient to wait multiple hours beyond their appointed visit
• Urgent care facilities causing patients to wait for hours in lobbies before being seen

Motivated medical practices should troubleshoot the causes of patients being assigned inaccurate appointment slots. This problem may result from understaffing, doctors being overburdened with insurance paperwork due to a lack of universal healthcare, and foreseeable problems like patients in the queue having complex needs that require more of the practitioner’s time.

✍️ If the causes of long wait times are unavoidable, the practice could:

• Let patients know to expect delays when they book appointments, so that they are prepared to spend several hours waiting

• Provide outdoor spaces to wait, limiting patient exposure to contagious diseases

• Provide front desk estimates of how long the patient will have to wait and then allow them to go outside or to their car until a text informs them that their doctor will be ready to see them soon and to return to the office

2. Communication failures and rudeness are the second most common cause of negative reviews for medical practitioners

Unanswered phones, unreturned phone calls, no response to messages sent via patient portals, rude office staff, and condescending or arrogant doctors upset patients enough for them to write negative reviews, as shown in these real-world examples:

🦷 Orthodontists:

• “They never answer the phone ever. They got five people working the front desk and nobody answers the phone. Super unprofessional.”

• “Office ladies were awesome. Dentist was cocky and rude — we left feeling worse than when we came.”

👩🏻‍⚕️ Dentists:

• “They can never answer the phones… not sure why they have phones if they’re going to sit there and listen to it ring?”

• “Not worth traveling to, especially if you don’t want to be spoken to in a condescending manner.”

👩🏼‍⚕️ Dermatologists:

• “Good luck getting a hold of anyone from any of the locations. No response to my portal messages or anyone to even answer the phone in over 2 weeks.”

• “They never filled a script, never set up a portal. I left messages and got no response… Had to pay $200+ for no treatment.”

• “Doctors are GREAT but front staff Rachel is very rude and unprofessional — for that I only give 2 stars.”

• “Doctor was very rude, uninformative, and left the room and didn’t come back. Worst experience with a doctor I’ve ever had.”

👁 Optometrists:

• “Still waiting on my prescription for a week and the doctor is very unresponsive after several phone calls and messages in the portal.”

• “As many have mentioned — customer service. Seems like they don’t want appointments. Extremely rude and unhelpful.”

💪🏼 Physical therapists:

• “No response — been calling to make an appointment / check status for 1 month. I really wish they’d do something about answering phone calls.”

• “Receptionist rude, administrator fake and rude, and you can never get a hold of the person you need to talk to.”

⚡ Laser hair removal:

• “Is this company still in business? Tried calling several times and no one answers. They send a text inquiring about the call but don’t respond even in the text.”

💉 Cosmetic surgeons:

• “I didn’t even make it to the consultation versus the others because the front staff was rude.”

• “Desk staff, medical assistants, and doctors interrupt you. Doctor belittles and blames you for your condition.”

🦷 Cosmetic dentists:

• “Tried to make an appointment, they didn’t answer the phone, instead started texting and never said anything back. Very unprofessional and unorganized.”

• “The cocky doctor arrives telling me what procedure he is going to perform without a discussion.”

🏥 Urgent Care facilities:

• “They were very rude, not answering any of my questions. The person at the front desk was very rude.”

Solutions to these kinds of complaints may be hard-won. Understaffing appears to be at the heart of phones going unanswered and messages from patients not receiving timely responses. If it’s possible to hire more staff to attend to these duties, this will be the obvious fix.

✍️ Meanwhile, personality problems can’t easily be solved, but practitioners and staff can be trained to:

• Routinely ask patients if they understand their diagnoses and recommended health care plans and procedures

• Use the language of empathy in speaking to people who are ill, hurt, and distressed

3. Across the board, empathy and good communication earn the most positive reviews in the medical field

According to our data, medical practices seeking positive reviews need to be perceived by patients as:

• Friendly
• Caring
• Good at explaining all aspects of the practice, treatment plans, and procedures

An empathetic medical practice with strong communication skills will solve the top complaints seen in negative reviews and can expect public praise from grateful patients. 

Animal Care

Top Takeaways 

1. Communication failures and long wait times are the problems mentioned most often in negative reviews of vets and animal hospitals

It’s stressful when pets are unwell or injured and these are real-world complaints drawn from negative reviews:

🐕 Veterinarians:

• “Customer service sucks. Never answer the phone. Front desk workers are ignorant and lack customer service skills. Phone operator never connects calls. Really horrible service!”

• “My experience adopting went well but I have tried for 3 days to get someone on the phone and no answers, just voicemails and no return call. What is the deal over there?”

• “Aubrey the office manager has NEVER called me back since Monday, June 1!!!! Poor customer service. Don’t talk to Jena, she has no sympathy or compassion for anything.”

• “The wait time is significant, even when no one else is here & I don’t have any major issues. Seems like poor communication, or they just forget about people waiting.”

“Wildlife emergency center only open 10a to 5p. No one answered the emergency number. Seems inconvenient unless they notify wild animals not to get injured in off hours.”

🏥 Animal Hospitals:

• “I brought my dog to the ER vet 2 weeks ago… I have a question about my dog’s leg swelling and I left a message for the doctor and never got a return call. It’s been almost 3 DAYS. I am disgusted. Why do I have to keep calling??”

• “Second time in the past 4 years we’ve used this office. Poor communication from rude staff except when receiving payment. Extremely long waits without any updates on our pet.”

• “The ER staff were very friendly but the blood test was taken and they never explained the result to me. After the visit my pet still had the same problem — and another vet told me the blood count was alarmingly low!”

• “The staff cared very little… didn’t listen to anything I told them, didn’t look at any of the tests I’d had before I was sent to them. The billing department never sent monthly bills even though I was paying monthly.”

• “Cancelled an appointment and was promised a full refund of $63.55. What I got was a refund of 64 CENTS. I reached out but they never got back to me — had to submit a claim with my bank.”

✍️ Animal care practices and facilities receiving multiple negative reviews should troubleshoot causes of:

• Long wait times

• Failure to pick up phones and return calls and messages

• Failure to communicate compassionately and informatively with pet owners

2. Pricing is frequently mentioned in negative reviews of animal care facilities 

Pet owners chiefly mention the following scenarios:

• Sticker shock at how much care for their pet costs
• Being quoted one price over the phone and another once arriving (accusations of price gouging in a stressful situation)

3. Compassion earns the most praise in reviews when pet health is involved

A caring attitude in both office staff and amongst practitioners is the best recipe for being positively reviewed by pet owners. Given the number of complaints about communication failures in this sector, vets and animal care hospitals can set themselves apart by going the extra mile to keep pet owners well-informed of their animals’ health and by showing compassion in scenarios where emotions run high.

Automotive

Top Takeaways

1. Negative reviews mentioning pricing tend to mention:

• Sticker shock at the cost of automotive services
• Accusations of bait-and-switch pricing and upselling unnecessary services like:

“Advertise as 39.99, you get in and they add on everything to make your bill high — so it’s not an honest service.”

“Only positive thing is they’re fast, but they’re overpriced and will try to sell you things you don’t need.”

✍️ Given that so many negative reviews follow these patterns, solutions should include:

• Offering competitive pricing and being able to show customers how fees compare to local industry norms

• Truth in advertising and abundantly informing customers that price estimates cannot be firm quotes until the extent of services needed has been assessed in person 

2. Promptness is critical to automotive customers

While a job well done is an obvious component of positive reviews, promptness emerges as a defining factor for whether automotive businesses receive praise. Real examples include:

“Came in cause my check engine light was on — they took care of me fast. Great customer service.”

“”They are quick and to the point. You’re in and out.”

“Great service! They were booked full and still fit me in! Very fast and very professional!”

✍️ Few people enjoy long waits, and brands that develop a well-oiled machine for delivering fast service can set themselves apart on the local scene and expect to earn positive reviews.

Restaurants & Retail

Top Takeaways

1. Restaurants don’t have a communication problem, except when it comes to wait times

Unlike the other business types in this section, restaurants don’t receive a lot of negative reviews about communication failures, at least on the surface. However, when you drill down into why wait times are the most-mentioned topic in negative reviews, a picture emerges of disappointed expectations.

• “Made a reservation but still had to wait, standing, for over an hour to get seated. Ruined the experience.”
• “I made a reservation at 6:45 PM and waited for half an hour, but the table wasn’t ready. It was a terrible experience.”
• “Waiter disappeared after taking orders — unseen until we had waited long enough that we didn’t want our dessert.”
• “Our waiter Chase was checking on nearby tables except ours, waited 30+ minutes for food, appetizer came after the main dish.”
• “Pretty! Unfortunately, no one ever came to even give me a glass of water. Sat for 25 minutes and left. Maybe the food is good? I don’t know.”
• “On a slow afternoon, waiting for food took an hour. $15 for two sad tacos and rice/beans.”
• “Bad delivery experience — 20 minutes waiting, so hard to find parking, and they don’t let you know from the beginning it’ll take that long.”

✍️ Solving this common problem hinges on:

• Hosts/hostesses communicating the leisurely dining pace to walk-ins so that they don’t expect a fast food experience

• Troubleshooting overbooking problems that lead to reserved tables not being available at appropriate times slots

• Staffing adequately so that every diner is promptly greeted and service begins quickly

2. Communication problems are the most mentioned

Failure to answer the phone is at the root of negative reviews in the three retail industries we examined, with countless examples like these:

“Continues to cancel my appointment for my Samsung Care Plus warranty repair. I have tried to call multiple times to resolve but they never answer or call back.”

“Don’t ever try to call this location as they NEVER answer the phone… If you have questions about your order you might as well forget it because they don’t care.”

“The flowers were beautiful but I paid extra for a balloon and it wasn’t included. I tried calling multiple times and was on hold for 20 mins with no answer.”

✍️ Solving this key issue is fairly obvious: answering phones when they ring keeps communication lines open. When customers feel cut off, it upsets them enough to complain about it in reviews. If understaffing is leading to missed phone calls, then brands are almost certainly losing leads and money. 

3. Positive reviews in the retail sector stem from professionalism, product quality, and friendliness

These are the basics of good customer service and meeting market demand with the right inventory.

✍️ If a brand you are promoting needs to earn more positive reviews, focus on:

• Staff expertise

• Understanding local demand for particular products

• Training staff to treat patrons with kindness

Final thoughts

In the TL;DR section of this study, communication failures stood out as the chief topic of negative reviews across the majority of industries. Opposite qualities like promptitude, professionalism, offering good explanations, and being empathetic motivate positive reviews. 

It seems clear from our data that there is a significant communications problem across all of the industries we examined. This is especially noteworthy, given the rise of AI. Tools that offer to automate customer service should be carefully evaluated to determine whether:

• They will increase consumer access to active communication with the brand
• They will exacerbate communication barriers between consumers and the brand

Unless a software product, tool, or app genuinely succeeds at making a brand more accessible, more communicative, more professional, and more caring in the eyes of consumers, then it will simply fuel more negative reviews. 

While claims of cost-cutting and efficiency may be attractive, brands should be wary of any product that decreases their average star rating. The lower the rating falls, the fewer prospective customers will choose to transact with the business. Meanwhile, conversational AI tools keep a permanent record of negative consumer sentiment, and AI agents can use this data to determine which brands to recommend and transact with. 

Brands seeking positive reviews should go back to the basics of creating good consumer experiences revolving around key touch points like:

• Answering phones
• Preventing long phone and in-person wait times
• Returning messages promptly
• Being on-time for appointments and accurate in time slot and reservation bookings
• Ensuring that estimates are not confused with firm quotes
• Offering full explanations of fees, procedures, and time commitments
• Expressing human caring in stressful and inconvenient situations
• Being friendly and polite to customers
• Doing good quality work
• Training staff to represent the brand with expertise

When these goals get lost amid other brand priorities, consumers suffer and complain via negative reviews. Bonds of trust are at stake, and reputation wins will result for organizations that get the simplest customer service practices right. In fact, given the extreme degree of communication failures surfaced by this study, going back to square one on how to serve the public well could be your brand’s best competitive advantage.