Advice on handling unfair reviews

I am seeking advice on how best to deal with review ratings that you feel are unfair.

First to say is that I just launched my first course, so I am trying to get to grips with how to work with Udemy, but so far I had about 10 reviews, all 5 star.

Today I got a 3 star review, which at first felt really horrible to see, but then I I thought well I will see why and maybe i can improve. Hopefully that is seen as a good attitude to take.

However, it turns out the reviewer left zero feedback other than a low rating; and what made it worse was that the reviewer watched so little of the course that I just don't see how the review can be considered fair.

As a new course ratings are obviously important, and I feel like all the work I have done has been undermined by at minimum someone who just gave a low rating without consideration, worse it was done deliberately.

So the crux of my question is, as a new comer to Udemy, what can I do?
Udemy seem to be almost impossible to speak to.
The best advice seems to be to post here.

I was planning on starting my next course but if someone can just come in and then destroy a rating I'm working hard to achieve and there is nothing i can do about it, I may as well go to YouTube and fight for ratings based on keywords and subscriber counts.

I am hoping someone with some Empathy can reply with something actionable that i can do to combat this; after all if this were to happen a couple more times my rating would go down so low that it will take hundreds of 5 star reviews, to repair and this system seems to me to be un-just.

and... if someone really didn't like the course and wants to rate it low, then ok, but at least make them tell me why so i can fix it for the next person.

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Comments

SivakamiS2017

This is something that has come up a lot in the Community.

Poor Ratings and Reviews do suck, and yes they can be terribly unfair. And unless there is a policy violation, Udemy will not help.

You cannot do much about someone not liking your Course, or you ... they are free to do that. Even if there is bias involved, subconscious, or conscious, its impossible to prove !

What you CAN do, however, is to check if these reviews and ratings form a pattern.

There are 6 choice questions that come with a Rating, Valuable Information, Clear Explanations, Knowledgeable Instructor etc. See if many students rate one or two of these low, consistently. That is valuable feedback !
If you get written comments, thats even better ! Even if part of it is actionable or constructive, thats valuable feedback.

A lot of 1*,2* and 3* Ratings will not come with any comment. Try and message these students one-on-one, asking for feedback, what they liked, and what they did not like and can be improved upon. Yes, most of them may not respond, but some of them do. You will find out if their rating was a mistake, randomly done without thinking, or was for specific reasons. Either way, thats valuable feedback too.

It is tough initially, when your Course is new and there are fewer students, but as more students enroll, and as you take the feedback and improve your Course, you should get more 4* and 5* Ratings, and your Course will maintain a good rating.

No easy answers here, we all just grit and bear it, and over time, if you maintain and improve Course quality and work on the feedback, your Course ratings will remain good.

JuanAbelaira

An early bad rating out of the blues can be really devastating.
While students feedback is beneficial to rate the real quality of courses, there should also be a mechanism to tell if a genuine, reasoned "this is not a good course" or a childish "don't like it! don't understand it!"

CarlosMartinez

Hi Chris,

What you’re experiencing is very common, especially when you're just starting out. I’ve been on the platform for over four years now, and I can tell you that if your goal is to be here for the long haul, you’ll need to come to terms with the fact that this is part of the journey. A three-star review without any feedback is something you'll encounter frequently. Eventually, you may even receive one-star reviews, some of them fueled by negativity. This happens no matter how great your course is, how solid your credentials are, or how committed you are to answering questions. Unfortunately, haters are gonna hate.

Unless a review violates Udemy’s policies, such as containing insults or inappropriate content, it's unlikely that Udemy will intervene. Negative reviews can come from many places: someone having a bad day, someone who knows you personally and holds a grudge, or even from those who feel threatened by your work.

In my case, I often receive negative reviews from university professors or business consultants in Latin America. Many are not thrilled to see content available online for less than $10 that they aim to sell for $3,000-$5,000 in their own programs.

I completely understand how frustrating it can be, but I’ve learned to accept that I can’t make an impact without receiving some negativity—it’s part of the package. If I weren’t getting negative reviews, it would likely mean that I’m not reaching the students I want to help. If your goal, like mine, is to impact tens or even hundreds of thousands of students, you have to expect some negative feedback along the way.

Stay focused on the bigger picture, and keep creating! Have a great day.

KevinBurns301

Carlos, this is such a great and well thought out answer. I just got a 1/5 rating on a course I worked hard on, and this thread came up on the internet. As you said, it is part of the journey. Thank you!

LawrenceMMiller

Your course is doing well. Just ignore it. We all get reviews we don't like and we would go nuts if we paid much attention to them. If there is a substantive comment, then learn and respond. Otherwise…. move on.