How to Combat Negative YouTube Reviews Ecommerce

In April 2009, Domino’s Pizza faced a crisis that nearly destroyed the company.

A viral YouTube video, filmed by two employees at a North Carolina franchise, showed them tampering with food in revolting ways—sneezing on sandwiches, stuffing cheese up their noses, and contaminating pizza dough.

If you want to see that stuff, the footage is still out there a decade later.

Within hours, the video had spread across social media, making national headlines and triggering public outrage. Instead of ignoring the disaster or trying to suppress the video, Domino’s took swift and decisive action.

Most people know how this story ended. With the help of a rebrand and savvy YouTube strategy, Domino's managed to transform its ailing brand to become probably America’s most beloved pizza chain. They also transitioned successfully from a brick-and-mortar operation to a primarily online retailer.

Customers today rely heavily on video reviews to guide what they buy—and YouTube reviews hit harder than most. One frustrated customer with a camera can create a narrative around your brand that’s hard to shake—and even harder to outrank.

Unlike a quick comment on Amazon or a star rating on Trustpilot, a YouTube video can show your product failing in real time, complete with reactions, close-ups, and personal commentary. If that video gains traction, it shows up in Google results, gets shared on Reddit, and keeps popping up in recommendations for months or years.

So, what can you do when a negative review pops up on YouTube? How do you make sure it doesn’t define your brand like Domino’s? At OTW Shipping we specialize in logistics, not YouTube. However, every day we work with dozens of brands like yours and see what they do to market their products well on YouTube.

We made this guide to help you see exactly how brands like Domino's and Gymshark manage to not only combat bad YouTube reviews, but to thrive after them.

How Domino's Pizza Combatted Their Bad Reviews

So how exactly did Dominos orchestrate its turnaround? They spoke up immediately

Within 48 hours, the company’s CEO, Patrick Doyle, released a direct video response on YouTube, addressing the scandal. He acknowledged the severity of the incident, assured customers that the employees had been fired and arrested, and detailed the immediate steps Domino’s was taking to prevent future violations.

A response from the Domino's CEO to the viral video of employees tampering with food.

It sort of worked, but people needed more than the CEO’s word things would get better. Customers were already unhappy with the brand’s pizza quality and were reacting poorly to an issue they’d been aware of for some time.

Domino’s launched the Pizza Turnaround campaign, an unprecedented marketing move where they openly admitted their pizza wasn’t great, and then documented their improvements. Real employees read brutal customer comments on camera, reacted, and walked viewers through a full recipe overhaul. This ended up working quite well.

The original viral videos stayed online, but Domino’s flooded YouTube with their own content, shifting the conversation and taking control of the narrative. Sales went up, stock prices followed, and they came out of the scandal much stronger.

Combating Bad Ecommerce Reviews, The Gymshark Case Study

Around 2022 Gymshark’s popularity was soaring as it reached a billion-pound valuation. However, it was starting to meet increasingly critical YouTube and TikTok videos from customers who felt the brand was losing touch.

Some called out limited size options and inconsistent fit, especially in women’s leggings. Others accused Gymshark of promoting unrealistic body standards through influencers that were using steroids and heavily editing their content.

In Latin America, the backlash took a different form: videos criticized surprise import fees, high shipping costs, and inflated prices that didn’t seem to match the quality of the product.

Unlike Dominos, Gymshark never responded directly to the critics. However, they took a similar approach in terms of content.

As you probably know, Gymshark basically wrote the book on influencer marketing. Before most people knew what a referral program was, it had built relationships with some of the most well-renowned individuals in the fitness and wellness space like Nikki Blackketter and David Laid, who consistently showcased their products. They reinforced trust through these long-term partnerships and pop-up events where fans could engage with influencers and test new collections.

Due to this network, it was easy for Gymshark to flood out negative YouTube and Instagram reviews with curated workouts, athlete features, and behind-the-scenes product videos. They also ramped up invitations for fitness influencers to test their products on YouTube, showcasing durability and design improvements.

A Gymshark sponsored review video.

CEO Ben Francis also took a hands-on approach, openly sharing the brand’s journey, challenges, and improvements with followers on his Instagram.

👂 Psst. If you want to know more about how ecommerce giants like Gymshark handle their fulfillment operations, we broke it down here.

How to Combat YouTube Reviews Like Gymshark and Domino's

As you can see, both brands were able to take control of their YouTube narratives largely by dominating the conversation. That means that you should be trying to establish your voice on YouTube sooner rather than later.

While not everyone has the budget to create and film their own videos, every ecommerce business can and should be:

Monitoring brand mentions on YouTube – Once a week, you should be scanning YouTube for reviews. If you have the time for it, you should be looking every day.
Engaging in the comments – Responding to reviews, both positive and negative, builds trust and makes you seem approachable. The comment sections of your greatest detractors can be a great place for telling your story. If a creator says your product only comes in two sizes when you’ve recently expanded your range, comment with a link to the updated sizing chart. If someone claims an item is always out of stock, explain your restock schedule. The goal is to calmly correct the record without sounding defensive.
Creating a referral program – Don’t have the time to make your own video content? Start paying creators to push your product for a share of the revenue. The ROI potential here is huge. Most YouTube creators are looking for ways to monetize.

How Not to Respond to Negative Customer Reviews

When faced with criticism, some businesses make the worst possible move—retaliation. We have two stories for you.

In 2008, John and Jennifer Palmer left a negative online review about Kleargear, a retailer specializing in nerd apparel, geek toys, gadgets, and office toys, after the company failed to deliver its order.

Instead of resolving the issue, Kleargear attempted to silence them by invoking a “non-disparagement clause” buried in its terms of service, demanding a $3,500 fine for the bad review. When the Palmers refused to pay, the company reported their unpaid "debt" to credit agencies, severely impacting their credit score.

Rather than discouraging negative feedback, Kleargear’s aggressive response triggered national media attention, legal action, and a ruling in favor of the Palmers. The court awarded them $306,750 in damages, and Kleargear.com eventually disappeared from the market.

Retaliation isn’t always this obvious. Sometimes it takes subtler forms—especially on YouTube. We found a prime example ourselves when we saw that well-known health tech brand Ōura Ring had pulled a sponsored review video after the host repeatedly mispronounced the company’s name.

The video, produced by the channel Linus Tech Tips, featured genuine praise for the product from the creator himself. The issue? He said “Ūra” instead of “Aura.” Instead of requesting a pinned comment or a simple note using YouTube’s editor, Oura insisted they pull the video entirely. According to Linus, the takedown killed his video’s visibility and any future momentum it could have. Despite liking the product, he admitted that the entire experience left a bad taste—and he likely wouldn’t work with them again.

Essentially, they had a creator go from making a good review of them to making an overall negative review and deciding to stop working with the brand.

Other common mistakes brands make on YouTube include:

Issuing copyright strikes against creators reviewing their products.
Turning off YouTube comments when backlash builds, signaling to viewers that they have something to hide.
Contradictory messaging from different reps—like Vodafone UK, where two social managers gave a customer conflicting instructions, making the brand look disorganized and careless.
Excessive compensation – Publicly offering free products too often could attract opportunists looking to exploit the situation or just make your brand appear desperate to buy off critics. It’s always better to try to solve things privately with a direct message.

How to Respond to Untrue Reviews

Now, not all negative reviews are fair—but how you respond matters. Even if the reviews are untrue.

Stay professional: A simple, non-confrontational response like “We’re sorry you feel this way. Customer satisfaction is our priority, and we appreciate your feedback” keeps things civil without escalating the situation.
Prevent avoidable complaints. Issues like slow shipping or damaged products often stem from poor fulfillment services. If you're using a 3PL, make sure their quality matches your brand—cheap 3PLs can cost you in bad reviews.
Encourage happy customers to review. The best way to dilute negativity? More positive reviews. A strong stream of satisfied customer feedback pushes bad reviews down the list, making them less visible and less influential.

How Can You Motivate Customers to Leave YouTube Reviews?

Unfortunately, good service is often taken for granted while bad service is more likely to drive people to go ranting on their YouTube channel. If you want to get more positive YouTube reviews, you’ll likely need to push your customers or create some kind of incentive.

Simple strategies to increase reviews include:

Ask directly – Send post-purchase emails or in-app prompts thanking customers and inviting them to leave a review. While it can be pretty tough to get customers to make a whole YouTube video, you might be able to get a short clip for your own content.
Leverage social media – Engage customers by sharing their testimonials or user-generated content, encouraging others to do the same. Customers trying to grow their personal brand often appreciate a shoutout from a larger account.
Incentivize engagement – While you don’t want to overdo the freebies, offer small perks like discount codes, exclusive content, or loyalty points in exchange for honest feedback.
Make it easy – Include direct links to review platforms in confirmation emails, receipts, or packaging inserts.

One Easy Way to Avoid Bad Reviews? Deliver On Time

If you want to avoid negative feedback and keep customers satisfied, your fulfillment strategy needs to be as strong as your brand.

That’s where a reliable 3PL like OTW Shipping comes in. Instead of struggling with warehouse inefficiencies, unexpected shipping costs, or slow delivery times, you can focus on growing your business while we handle logistics.

With OTW Shipping, you get:

Fast and accurate fulfillment – 99.99% order accuracy ensures customers get what they expect, on time.
Optimized shipping – Multiple warehouse locations mean lower shipping costs and faster delivery.
Real-time communication – A dedicated support team available through a Slack-like channel, so you always know what’s happening with your orders and can communicate quickly with customers.
Scalable solutions – Whether you're expanding your eCommerce store or breaking into retail, our custom fulfillment plans grow with you.

Ship smarter with OTW Shipping and give your customers a five-star experience from checkout to delivery.

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How Your Ecommerce Business Can Combat Bad YouTube Reviews