How to Write a Review That Doesn't Get Taken Down

A review that doesn't get taken down is first-hand, dated, and itemized. Name the company, the date, the amount, and what you asked for. Mark opinion as opinion. Never state a crime as fact, never name staff, and never paste the same text on five sites. You post it from the account you already own.

No one can guarantee a review stays published. Platforms decide, and their rules change. Go Postl is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice. You review, copy and manually post your own honest, first-hand account.

This page is write-time wording — how to write a review that doesn't get taken down, before you hit post. It is not how to appeal a takedown, and it is not legal advice. Go Postl does not create accounts, log in, or post for you. If the review is already gone, that is the process page: https://www.gopostl.com/guides/review-removed. The copy-ready form is: https://www.gopostl.com/templates/review-removal-appeal.

Anchor every sentence to something you can prove

A date, an amount, a booking confirmation, a quoted promise. Moderators keep what they can check. A business trying to get it removed has less to argue with. Adjectives get deleted the first time a shop flags the post.

Write the transaction, not the mood. What you paid. When you paid it. What they said they would do. What arrived, or did not. What you asked for next, and whether anyone answered. If you have a quote, a text, or a booking email, say so. You do not need to attach it in the review. You need to write as if you still have it.

Signal opinion as opinion

"In my experience." "I felt." "I would not use them again." A reader should be able to tell which sentences are opinion and which are facts. Do not bury a conclusion inside a fact. Do not dress a fact up as a feeling.

If you cannot point to a receipt, a date, or a message, it is opinion. Mark it that way.

Never state a crime as fact

Fraud, theft, and scam are legal conclusions. Google lists unsubstantiated allegations of criminal wrongdoing among content it will remove. Describe what happened and let the next customer draw the conclusion. If the review is already gone, that is the removals guide, not this page.

Leave individuals out of it

Name the company, not the employee. Naming staff gets reviews stripped on most platforms and turns a business dispute into a personal one. Write "the manager on duty," not a first name and a face. What gets a review deleted or sued is in the ground rules.

Write it once, in your own words, per platform

Identical text pasted across five sites reads as a campaign to every spam filter. The same facts, written fresh each time, does not. Do not open a second account to dodge a filter. Do not use a tool to rewrite the same paragraph and post it again. Several major platforms tell reviewers not to use third-party AI to create or revise a review, so always read what you post and make sure it is your own words.

Say what you wanted to happen

"I asked for a refund and got no reply" tells the next customer more about the business than any insult, and it is unarguable. A next step you actually took is a fact. A wish that they suffer is not.

Gets deleted vs stays up

Constructed example, not a customer story. Ridgeway Movers. $2,150 deposit paid 3 June for an 8 June pickup. No crew arrived. I asked for the deposit back on 10 June. No reply as of 23 June. If this was a move, the industry evidence list is one page on how to review a moving company.

Gets deleted: "Scam movers, they stole my deposit, Mike the dispatcher is a fraud. AVOID!!!"

Stays up: "I paid Ridgeway Movers a $2,150 deposit on 3 June for a pickup booked 8 June. No crew arrived. I asked for the deposit back on 10 June and have had no reply as of 23 June. In my experience they do not honor the booking they took money for."

Same facts. One names a crime and a person. The other names a date, an amount, and a request that sat unanswered.

Platform wording, not where to click

These are wording rules. They are not how to leave the review. That lives on the where-to-review pages.

Google. Keep it a genuine, first-hand account. No personal attacks, no crime stated as fact. See the prohibited-content list. How to leave a Google review is its own page.

BBB. Only the original consumer may leave a review. No anonymous reviews. You cannot also file a complaint on the same issue. How to leave a BBB review is its own page. If you want the Bureau to contact the business, that is a BBB complaint, a different filing.

A shop that tries to ban honest reviews in a form contract can run into the Consumer Review Fairness Act. The FTC Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule covers fake and suppressed reviews. CRFA kills gag clauses. It does not make every sentence immune to a challenge.

Already down?

If the review is already gone, use the process guide at https://www.gopostl.com/guides/review-removed. For a paste-ready Google appeal, use https://www.gopostl.com/templates/review-removal-appeal. This page will not tell you how to appeal.

Next step: see the pass or claim a pass you already bought.

Go Postl — honest reviews, properly filed. Not a law firm. Not legal advice.