How to Respond to Negative Reviews on Rappi and PedidosYa (With Real Templates)
Introduction
An unanswered negative review is worse than the negative review itself. It does not only lower your rating — it signals to every customer reading it that nobody on the other side cares.
On delivery apps, reviews are public and permanent. A new customer who sees three unanswered complaints and a 3.8 rating will choose the restaurant next door. It does not matter if your food is better.
The good news: restaurants that respond well to bad reviews do not just recover customers — they also improve their ranking. Rappi and PedidosYa reward active restaurants because an operator that responds to reviews is one they interpret as running a serious business.
This article gives you the complete system: why it matters, how it works on each platform, the 5 types of complaint with ready-to-copy templates, the mistakes that will hurt you, and how to measure whether it is working.
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Why a Negative Review Hurts More Than You Think
The numbers are straightforward:
52% of consumers in LATAM say rating is the number one factor when choosing a restaurant on a delivery app (typical estimate based on food delivery consumer behaviour studies).
A restaurant with a 4.2 rating converts on average 35% more than one with a 3.7, even when price and delivery time are similar.
Negative reviews without a response reduce the probability of a repeat order by more than 40% (estimate based on LATAM delivery industry benchmarks).
The mechanism is simple: an unanswered negative review only damages you. A negative review that is responded to well can become positive advertising. The new customer reading "we fell short, we fixed it, come back and we will make it up to you" sees that this business is active and that it cares.
What 80% of restaurants do: ignore bad reviews or post a generic response they copy and paste across all of them.
👉 If you do not know your real rating right now or how many unanswered negative reviews you have, [run a free audit at Growth Delivery App](https://growthdeliveryapp.com/demo) and find out in 5 minutes.
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How the Review System Works on Rappi and PedidosYa
Before responding well, you need to understand how the system functions on each platform.
Rappi
Customers can leave a rating with or without a written comment.
The restaurant can respond from the Rappi Partner administration panel, publicly.
Rappi's algorithm incorporates rating and review response rate as part of its ranking signal. This is not a secret — they communicate it in their partner documentation.
Reviews remain visible permanently. There is no removal system except for reported abuse.
PedidosYa
PedidosYa allows customers to leave a score (1–5 stars) and a comment after each order.
Restaurants can respond from the Restaurant Manager portal.
The system prioritises in its suggested ranking those restaurants with high ratings and a volume of responded reviews.
Unlike some other platforms, PedidosYa allows you to report an abusive or fake review to the support team, with the possibility of removal if a breach of terms is confirmed.
What both have in common: on both platforms, a restaurant that responds actively, in a personalised and timely manner, improves its organic ranking. It is one of the few levers the restaurant controls directly, at no cost.
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The 5 Types of Negative Review and How to Read Them
Not all complaints are the same. Classifying them saves time and improves the quality of your responses.
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Ready-to-Copy Response Templates
Templates are a starting point. Always personalise with the customer's name and the specific detail of the issue. A generic copy-paste response used three times in a row activates the platform's spam detector and tells the customer they were not actually read.
Template 1 — Product Issue
"Hi [Name], thank you so much for taking the time to let us know. What you described should not happen and we are taking it seriously. We have already spoken with the kitchen team and [describe the specific action taken]. Please reach out to us at [contact channel] and we will arrange something to make it up to you. We hope to see you again soon."
What it achieves: shows the review was read, that it triggered a concrete action, and that there is genuine willingness to make amends. It does not promise anything that cannot be delivered.
Template 2 — Delivery Issue
"Hi [Name], we completely understand your frustration — 90 minutes for a delivery is not acceptable and we know it. The delivery time is managed by the platform and the assigned courier, but that does not remove our responsibility for what left our kitchen. If your order arrived in poor condition, please let us know and we will sort it out. Thank you for the feedback."
What it achieves: differentiates without making excuses, shows proactivity, and does not publicly blame the courier or the platform.
Template 3 — Missing or Incorrect Order
"Hi [Name], we are really sorry for the error. A missing item is not okay and we will fix it. To make it right, [specific action: credit, replacement delivery, discount on next order]. Please write to us at [channel] and we will resolve it today. Thank you for your patience."
Key point: offer a specific action, not a vague "we will do better."
Template 4 — Vague or Unexplained Review
"Hi [Name], thank you for the rating. We would love to understand what went wrong so we can improve — if you are able to give us more detail, either here or at [channel], we are listening. We hope we can turn the experience around."
Key point: do not assume what went wrong. Invite the customer to share more. This also influences the perception of other readers.
Template 5 — Abusive or Fake Review
"Hi, we are sorry about the experience you have described. If you would like to contact us directly at [channel] we would be happy to look into the order together. We are available."
And additionally: report it to platform support. Do not escalate the conflict in public.
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What Never to Do When Responding to a Complaint
Some mistakes do more damage to your reputation than the original review.
Responding defensively. "The problem was with the courier, we did everything right" — publicly, this reads as a lack of accountability, even if it is true.
Copy-pasting the same response. "Thank you for your feedback, we are working to improve" four times in a row is worse than not responding: it shows the reply is automated.
Taking more than 48 hours. In delivery, a review from five days ago with no response has already lost its potential to recover the customer. The next new customer who reads it will not trust you either.
Offering compensation you cannot deliver. "We will send the order again" and then not doing so destroys whatever trust remained.
Arguing in the response. Never. Even if the customer is factually wrong, the third party reading will always sympathise with the calmer tone.
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How to Reduce Negative Reviews Before They Arrive
The best review management tactic is preventative. These actions reduce the volume of incoming complaints:
Close the restaurant during low-performance hours: orders with delays generate roughly 60% of time-related bad reviews. If you cannot operate at 100% between 12pm and 2pm on a weekday, close during that window.
Review the items with the most complaints: if the same product appears in three separate negative reviews, the problem is the product, not bad luck.
Update your declared preparation times: the time shown in the app must be achievable 90% of the time during peak hours. If you list 20 minutes and consistently take 35, you are accumulating review debt.
Add clear instructions in descriptions: "no tomato available on request" or "orders of half a dozen or more take 5 extra minutes" reduce the gap between expectation and delivery.
👉 [Growth Delivery App](https://growthdeliveryapp.com/demo) automatically detects the items with the highest complaint rate and the most problematic time slots in your account. Request your free audit and see it in minutes.
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How to Measure Whether Your Review Management Is Working
Responding is not enough — you need to know whether it is actually improving things.
Track these metrics once a month:
If your rating rose by 0.3 in 60 days and your response rate went from 10% to 80%, the responses are working. If the volume of complaints is rising despite responding, the problem is in your operations, not in your reputation — review your items, your hours, and your preparation times.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
How long does it take for my rating to improve if I start responding to reviews?
Your rating does not rise overnight: it depends on your order volume and the accumulation of new positive reviews. On average, a restaurant that goes from not responding to responding to 100% of negative reviews with quality sees an improvement of 0.1 to 0.3 points in 45 to 60 days, assuming no new operational issues arise.
Can I delete a negative review on Rappi or PedidosYa?
Generally no, unless the review violates the platform's terms of use (abusive language, false information, spam). In those cases you can report it and request a review by partner support. Platforms do not remove legitimate negative reviews.
Is it worth responding to positive reviews too?
Yes, though it is less urgent than responding to negatives. Responding to positive reviews shows activity (which the algorithm values) and can encourage the customer to leave reviews in the future. Keep it brief: "Thanks [Name], we look forward to your next visit!" is enough. But do respond.
Is there a tool for managing reviews across multiple apps at once?
Yes. Tools like Growth Delivery App centralise reviews from Rappi, PedidosYa, and Uber Eats in a single panel and alert you when a new complaint arrives. That reduces your response time from "days" to "hours."
What do I do if the same customer leaves negative reviews repeatedly?
Respond with the same professional tone every time. If the pattern is abusive, report it to platform support with evidence. Never respond in frustration — the people reading are your real audience.
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Conclusion
A well-handled negative review does three things: it can recover the customer who complained, it convinces a new customer reading it that this restaurant is active and cares, and it sends a positive signal to the platform's algorithm.
It is not magic and it is not a major investment — it is discipline, with a system that takes five minutes a day.
If you want to know how many unanswered negative reviews you have right now, what your real rating is on each platform, and during which time slots complaints are concentrated:
👉 [Audit your restaurant for free at Growth Delivery App](https://growthdeliveryapp.com/demo) — in under 5 minutes you have the full diagnosis.