Praise, then a complaint
Customer Complained After Giving a Testimonial
Six months ago they recorded a glowing video. This week they opened an angry ticket. They have not asked you to remove anything and they have not left, but their face is on your homepage saying everything is wonderful. Answer five questions about this one testimonial to see what to do with it while the complaint plays out.
- A verdict for one testimonial, not a policy
- Weighs the complaint against what the quote says
- Says when to ask the customer, and when not yet
Decision helper
What should happen to this testimonial now?
Think of one testimonial and one open complaint from the same person. Answer for that pair only.
Your answers are scored in your browser and are not sent anywhere.
The problem, solved
Where a complaint and a testimonial collide, and how StoryProof helps
- Problem 1
Their quote is on the homepage right now
Every visitor sees them recommending you while they are emailing support in capitals. If they spot it, the complaint gets worse.
How StoryProof solves it
You choose which approved testimonials appear in each widget, so you can take this one out of the homepage widget without touching the others.
- Problem 2
Nobody remembers which quotes are paused
Three months later someone builds a new widget and picks the paused quote again, before the complaint was ever settled.
How StoryProof solves it
Tags are on every plan. Give paused testimonials a tag such as "on hold, complaint open" so anyone building a widget can see it.
- Problem 3
The complaint arrived as a one star reply
Sometimes the first sign is a new low rating through your own collection form, from someone already on your website.
How StoryProof solves it
From Pro, a review of 2 stars or fewer can alert your team urgently and send the customer a personal apology email.
- Problem 4
We fixed it, and now they love us
A recovered customer can tell a more convincing story than the original quote, but the old one is all you have on file.
How StoryProof solves it
Send them a fresh collection link. They can record a video, leave an audio note or write, and the new answer waits for your approval like any other.
- Problem 5
It is on the Wall of Love too
Pulling a quote from one widget is easy to do and easy to forget elsewhere. The hosted page is often the one people miss.
How StoryProof solves it
Every plan includes a Wall of Love with its own link. Open it after you pause a testimonial and check that quote is gone from there as well.
What the complaint is about, and what that means for the quote
In StoryProof
Handle the testimonial while the complaint is open
- 1
Run the decision helper on this one quote
Do it before anyone mentions the testimonial to the customer. Most of the time the answer is to fix the problem first and talk about the quote later, if at all.
- 2
If pausing, pull it from each widget
Untick it in every widget that shows it, and remove it from any deck or email template by hand.
- 3
Tag it so the pause is visible
An "on hold" tag tells colleagues why a strong testimonial is missing from the pages, and stops it being picked again by mistake.
- 4
Decide after the complaint closes
If it ended well, wait a few weeks and ask for an update through a collection link. If it ended badly, retire the quote and leave the customer alone.
What happens next: If the customer later asks you to remove the testimonial outright, treat that as a removal request and act on it straight away, whatever you decided here.
Before you start
What this decision cannot settle
What this does not cover, and what to check on your side. Better to know now than after launch.
- 01
It is not legal advice
If the complaint mentions a lawyer, a refund claim or a regulator, stop and ask whoever handles legal matters for you before you change or use anything.
- 02
Do not use the quote as leverage
Pointing at their own testimonial during a dispute ("but you said we were great") almost always backfires. Keep the two conversations apart.
- 03
Copies outside StoryProof are yours to track
Slides, PDFs and sales emails that contain the quote are not widgets. You have to find and change those yourself.
- 04
Check every page after a change
After unticking a testimonial, open each page that embeds the widget and confirm it is no longer showing before you move on.
- 05
A complaint is not the end of the story
Plenty of customers complain once and stay loyal for years. Pausing is a precaution, not a verdict on the relationship.
FAQ
Questions people ask
Short answers to what usually comes up next.
Should I tell the customer I have taken their testimonial down?
Usually not while the complaint is open. It can read as punishment for complaining. If they ask, say plainly that you paused it until things were sorted out.
Is it dishonest to keep a testimonial up while the author is unhappy?
It depends on what the quote claims. If it praises the exact thing that has gone wrong, showing it while you know otherwise is misleading. If the complaint is about something unrelated, the quote is still a true account of what it describes.
Can I ask them to update the testimonial once the issue is fixed?
Yes, once the fix has held for a few weeks. Ask openly, make it easy to say no, and publish only what they send you.
What if they never mention the testimonial at all?
That is the usual case. Decide on the quote based on what it says and where the relationship is, and do not wait for them to bring it up.
Should I add a note that the customer later had an issue?
No. A testimonial is the customer’s account at the time. If it is no longer fair to show, pause or retire it instead of annotating it.
Still have a question? Ask the StoryProof team or book a demo.
Control which quotes show, testimonial by testimonial
Pause one quote in every widget without touching the rest, and tag it so nobody republishes it by accident.
Last updated 2026-11-07.