How can your business handle negative reviews during the festive season?

Nichola Evans, Partner

For the leisure and hospitality sector, brand and reputation are everything particularly during the festive season, when bookings, footfall and customer expectations are often at their highest. Increased demand, seasonal staffing pressures and changes to opening hours, menus or availability can all create additional scope for complaints. In this increasingly competitive market, preventing and managing negative online reviews is therefore critical. Research from Sanguine Advisors reveals that 86% of customers are reluctant to buy from a business with negative reviews, just one negative review can deter 22% of potential customers and three negative reviews can drive away as much as 59%.

Why online reviews matter during the festive season

Businesses in the leisure sector should have a clear festive-period strategy for dealing with online feedback, given the significant effect it can have on commercial success. Complaints may concern delayed service, unavailable menu items, cancelled bookings, delivery issues or festive events that have not met expectations. Below, we discuss the key points businesses should bear in mind.

Step 1: Assess whether the review is inaccurate or untruthful. During a busy festive period, first check booking records, menus, event details, delivery information and staff accounts. If the customer has had a genuine negative experience, they are entitled to leave a negative review provided it is factual.

Step 2: Addressing negative reviews is crucial to reducing their impact and demonstrating your commitment to customer satisfaction. Agree who will monitor and respond to reviews during weekends, bank holidays and staff absences, and prepare adaptable response templates for common seasonal complaints. The following practices are suggested:

• Respond to reviews promptly to show that you are proactive in resolving issues. Increase monitoring during peak trading periods and consider tools such as Google Alerts.

• Express gratitude for their feedback, even if it’s negative.
• Apologise for the customer’s experience and acknowledge their concerns.

• Explain the actions you are taking to address the issue and invite the customer to continue the conversation privately.
• Maintain a polite tone and steer clear of defensive language, even when teams are under seasonal pressure.

Step 3: If the review is inaccurate, you should first flag the review to the relevant site, such as Google or Trustpilot. Preserve supporting material—including booking confirmations, advertised festive menus, opening hours, cancellation terms and correspondence—because the burden is on you to show that the review is false or misleading. The provider will assess your report and may remove the review if it violates its policies, although removal is not guaranteed.

Step 4: If the site provider fails to remove the review, and the review contains false information or malicious statements that harm your business, you may have grounds for legal action. For example, a law firm recently won £25,000 in damages after a defamatory review caused a significant decline in business enquiries. Sometimes the review may be anonymous, and you can use the Defamation (Operators of Websites) Regulations 2013 to request that the platform identify the reviewer so you can pursue a defamation claim. Claims of this nature are complex and often require the assistance of legal professionals, so avoid making threats of legal action in a rushed public response.

Build your reputation before problems arise

Dealing with negative online reviews sits within a business’s wider online presence and brand. Before and throughout the festive period, businesses can reduce the risk of dissatisfaction and strengthen their reputation by:

• Publishing regular, high-quality seasonal content and keeping festive information up to date.
• Engaging positively with your audience on social media and responding to queries promptly.
• Inviting customers to provide honest feedback and showcasing positive experiences.
• Clearly communicating festive opening hours, booking and cancellation terms, menus, availability, delivery times and expected response times.
• Preparing statements and adaptable response templates for common reputation threats, with clear internal escalation responsibilities and support from digital PR specialists where appropriate.

Protect your brand this festive season

The festive season can be one of the busiest and most commercially important periods of the year, making prompt and considered review management essential. Clear customer information, active monitoring and an agreed response process can help businesses protect their reputation while resolving genuine concerns. If you are seeking advice in relation to commencing legal action for a defamation claim, please do not hesitate to contact our team at [email protected] or call 0161 832 3434 to discuss how best we can support you.