Detailed, constructive and polite feedback in reviews is valuable input for our online review community, including the businesses reviewed.
We do have rules about what should and shouldn't be included when you write a review on Trustpilot, but to get you started, here's an infographic that summarizes the main points:
Provide useful, constructive feedback
A good review includes enough detail to give others a feel for what happened. Explain which factors contributed to your positive, negative or just so-so experience. You might also offer your view on what the company is doing well, and how they can improve. But keep things friendly and courteous!
Here are two examples that consumers and the reviewed company might find useful:
Quick and easy to deal with
I'm happy with the phone and the deal I got from the company. I wanted a good smartphone that did the basics, and the site recommended one that ticked all the boxes. Speaking with the service team helped me get exactly what I was looking for.
The only reason not to give 5 stars is the fact that I had to separately claim for the offered cash back deal, rather than it being automatic, and this info wasn't stated anywhere.
Huge let down in service
I ordered a case of dessert wine for a New Years party. Despite using the holiday delivery schedule on their site, not only did nothing turn up in time, but it took nearly a week and three separate customer service inquiries to get an explanation from the company about what had happened. Eventually I got short email stating they'd taken my money despite not having the item in stock! The shop then took another nine days to process my refund.
The company should adjust their system to let people know whether items are in stock or not so they don't create false expectations that goods will arrive on time. There should also be a shorter processing time for refunds and better customer service.
Talk about a range of elements, including customer service
Increase the relevance of your review by addressing your overall experience, including the level of customer service you received. Tell people how helpful the company was! Focusing on only one element, such as product quality or delivery options, provides limited insight to readers.
Be detailed, specific, and honest
There’s no rule against only writing a handful of words in a review, but the more specific you can be, the more likely the review is to be useful. We suggest writing from your own individual perspective, keeping it honest and sticking to the facts. Help readers stand in your shoes.
The following reviews are too brief to tell readers what's good about the company. They also don’t provide much useful feedback to help the business improve:
Great
Great no probs at all
Excellent
Great fast service
Good service
Very good for me and you
Leave out links and personal information
Reviews on Trustpilot shouldn’t contain information that identifies people — such as names, phone numbers, or addresses. We also don't allow reviewers to use their review to promote other companies. For example, this review could get removed:
Not good value
Wouldn't recommend. The quality is on par with cheaper competitors. (On that note, CompetitorPrint.com is cheap and good.) This was so bad that I tried to call the company when I got my order. The guy I spoke to, John Smith, only answered when I called him on his private line, 555 4545. He was polite and said I could get a refund but it's still poor value for money.
However, this version of the review is OK:
Not good value
Wouldn't recommend. The quality is on par with cheaper competitors. This was so bad that I tried to call the company when I got my order. The customer service rep I spoke to only answered when I called him on his private line. He was polite and said I could get a refund but it's still poor value for money.
We understand that it can be tempting to highlight exceptionally good or poor customer service by naming the person who served you. But adherence to privacy laws on Trustpilot is important, so we suggest keeping your review general, and writing directly to the company to praise or complain about specific employees.
Keep it civil and friendly
We trust that the majority of our users post reviews with good intentions. But publishing a review online means it’s public. Therefore, the same kinds of rules apply to customer reviews as to any kind of published opinion.
Freedom of speech gives you the right to express yourself, but there’s a line between appropriate and inappropriate. At the extreme end, the law prohibits defamatory statements. This includes accusatory statements that are untrue or not yet proven to be true.
If you’ve had a negative experience, instead of pointing an angry finger, a more credible approach is to adopt a calm, sober tone. Simply explain what took place and leave it to readers of your review to draw their own conclusions. This might also mean that the company in question will be more willing to engage with you to address the problem.
Feel free to update your review if needed
An important feature on Trustpilot is that you can edit your review to reflect a changed opinion or a resolved problem, or write a new review if you have a new experience with the same company.
For sign-up services that continue over a period of time, you can edit your review as the relationship evolves to reflect the unfolding experience. We do allow companies to invite their customers to review them immediately after signing up. However, in some cases, it can make sense for users to later return and edit their review to reflect a more complete picture of their overall experience, or a changed opinion.
Check you’ve got the right domain name or company
Check that you’re posting your review in the right place. If a company has claimed their profile on Trustpilot, there’s often information about that business on the right-hand side of the profile page that can help you check whether this is the business you’re intending to review.
Trustpilot is a platform that companies can access for free. Reviews are public, but that doesn’t guarantee that the reviewed company will see your feedback. If you have an urgent problem, you should contact the company directly.
Please also remember that Trustpilot’s role is not to resolve disputes between reviewers and businesses. However, if you choose to write a review on Trustpilot, the company in question may see your feedback and engage with you. And other users who read your review will be able to learn from your experiences.
Proofread your review
It's a good idea to check that your review is readable, makes sense and has no typos before posting, but a surprising number of reviews contain errors. So remember to quickly run your eye over your text before hitting "submit”!