What is daynurseries.co.uk’s approach to negative reviews?

Our objective is to publish as many genuine reviews as possible, both positive and negative, in order to help the childcare seeker find the right childcare provider.

Consumer law, specifically the Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA) has stated that review websites may be breaking consumer law if they do not publish negative reviews. We believe that this is in line with childcare providers' and childcare regulatory authorities' values of being open and transparent. 

Reviews based on care often deal with serious, complex issues and can be highly emotive. Therefore, we have put in place a robust moderation process that is both fair to the reviewer and the childcare provider:

• We do not permit anonymous reviews, this helps us to ensure that both negative and positive reviews are genuine. 
• We contact all negative reviewers before publication to ensure that they are genuine, i.e. submitted by a person with a valid connection to the childcare provider. 
• We check before publication that all reviews are compliant with our review policy, e.g. they are not defamatory, they are submitted within 12 months of the experience. 
• We have a dedicated review compliance team, overseen by lawyers, to determine whether a review is compliant with our review policy. 
• We do not publish reviews before the childcare provider has had an opportunity to reply (most review websites publish the review first). The childcare provider has 7 days to add a response to a review before publication. 
• If the childcare provider believes a review does not comply with our review policy (e.g. defamatory, not submitted by a valid connection, not submitted within 12 months of the experience) then the childcare provider has the option to challenge the review and email us the reasons why they believe the review to be non-compliant. How does our review challenge process work?  

We understand it is really hard receiving a negative review, especially as nurseries work so hard and are passionate about caring for the children in their care, but it is only natural that nurseries will receive some negative feedback and no one expects a nursery to receive 100% positive feedback.

You may disagree with the feedback and wish for the review not to be published, in particular given that nursery reviews can be highly emotive. However, in line with other review websites, our general approach is that we take a neutral stance in factual disputes between childcare providers and reviewers. If a childcare provider disagrees with the reviewer over the experience, we recommend that the childcare provider writes a reply to the review telling their side of the story so that website users can see both perspectives.

We believe a good response can help turn a negative into a positive, showing that you listen to your children’s parents/guardians and how much you care. A negative review with a good response can lend more authenticity and credibility to your other reviews.

We recommend that you respond to negative reviews in a polite, positive and professional way, and that you make your reply relevant and personal. Good responses often acknowledge the feedback, address the specific issues, highlight any positives, apologise, sympathise and take responsibility. 

Guidance for creating a positive response to a negative review. 

We provide you with the opportunity to write a response to a review before the review goes live, so you can always reply in a timely manner and care seekers will always see both perspectives. Responses can be updated for up to 6 months if further information comes to light.