You may sometimes want to report a review when a consumer states that they received a defective or non-compliant product. This situation is common, but also often misunderstood, which can lead to frustration.
- Defective : any issue that prevents the product from working properly, partially or completely
- Non-compliant : a product received that does not match the specifications or the original order
To avoid any confusion, it is essential to clearly distinguish between brand reviews and product reviews, as they do not serve the same purpose.
The brand review is intended to be displayed on your trust certificate and your brand widgets. It helps inform visitors about the reliability of your website and the overall quality of your services.
It focuses on the overall shopping experience and may therefore include elements such as:
- The quality of customer support
- Delivery
- Receiving a non-compliant or defective product
- Compliance with delivery times
- The friendliness and responsiveness of customer service
- The simplicity and speed of the website and ordering process
An issue related to a product (defective or non-compliant) is therefore fully part of the shopping experience and falls under a brand review.
The product review must focus exclusively on the product itself, for example:
- Its durability
- Its quality
- Its appearance
- Its use or performance, etc.
It helps visitors to a product page get a clear idea of the product’s characteristics, independently of service or logistics.
Important to note
Receiving a non-compliant or defective product is an integral part of the shopping experience.
This type of feedback therefore falls under brand reviews, as not all units of the same product are necessarily affected.
For visitors on a product page, it is not relevant to read that a consumer encountered an isolated defect. However, this type of review is fully appropriate on your trust certificate, where it helps assess the overall shopping experience and, above all, observe how you handled the situation and responded to the customer.
Your ability to respond effectively to this type of issue is a real source of reassurance for future buyers!
You can therefore report a review mentioning a defective or non-compliant product only when it is published as a product review, and not when it appears among brand reviews, to which this type of feedback is legitimately linked.
The reporting reason to use
If you receive a product review simply stating that a product was received defective or non-compliant, you can report it using the following reason:
“The review focuses solely on the shopping experience (customer service, delivery, website) and not on the characteristics of the purchased product or service.”
Concrete examples:
“1/5: I ordered a black skirt and received a white one!”
The buyer is referring to an aspect of their order, which is non-compliant.
- If this is a product review, it can be reported and rejected.
- The review must be published if it is a brand review: this reflects the overall experience.
“1/5: I love the vacuum cleaner, but the mop function doesn’t work…”
The buyer is referring to a feature of their order, which is defective.
- If this is a product review, it can be reported and rejected.
- The review must be published if it is a brand review: this reflects the overall experience.
A review can only be rejected in exceptional cases, in accordance with:
- ISO and NF 522 standards
- Decree No. 2017-1436 of September 29, 2017 relating to information obligations on online consumer reviews
It is incorrect to reject a brand review using the reason “The review focuses solely on the product characteristics” when the consumer reports a defective or non-compliant product.
Even a review mentioning only that a product is defective or non-compliant relates to the overall experience and therefore constitutes a brand review: it is an integral part of the overall shopping experience.
Our advice
- Defective or non-compliant products are an integral part of the shopping experience.
- If you report a brand review using the reason “The review focuses solely on the product or service characteristics,” explain the reason to the consumer in order to address the issues mentioned and try to provide a solution (customer support, replacement, etc.).
- Engage as much as possible with the consumer in general!
- In your response to the consumer, suggest that they submit a new product review once they have received a replacement product: they will then be able to fully express their opinion about it.
You can also suggest that they edit their review if needed.