How Should You Read a Contractor's Bad Reviews?

You've found a fencing company you like. Then you spot a one-star review and your heart sinks.

Before you cross them off, it's worth reading bad reviews a little more closely.

One or two bad reviews is normal

One of our own clients told us exactly this. She'd read our articles and said that one or two bad reviews is normal for any business. What mattered to her was how we explained things and how we treat people.

She's right. No business gets it perfect every time.

Most contractors are small businesses

Most fencing companies are small, local businesses. They're doing their absolute best to keep every client happy, often while juggling weather, suppliers and tight schedules.

When something goes wrong, most genuinely want to fix it.

Every story has two sides

Some reviews come from real problems that were never fixed. Those are worth taking seriously.

But sometimes a client is simply angry and wants to be heard, and isn't ready to talk it through, even when the business wants to. And sometimes the way a conversation goes can make it harder for both sides to find a solution.

A review only shows one side of what happened.

What to look for

• Patterns: one complaint is a story, the same complaint ten times is a warning.
• The reply: does the business respond calmly and offer to help, or does it get defensive?
• The balance: how do the bad reviews compare with the good ones?
• The details: is it about a missed deadline that was fixed, or money taken and no work done?

How we handle it

If anything goes wrong on one of our jobs, we go back and work with the client to sort it out in a fair and friendly way. We want every client to be happy with our work, and we'd always rather talk it through.

Want to talk to us directly? Call us on 07 2141 7748 or get in touch.