It is the first question most brands ask when a one-star review lands, and the honest answer is: usually not, and be wary of anyone who tells you otherwise.
When a review can come down
Trustpilot removes reviews that genuinely breach its guidelines, not reviews you happen to dislike. The main grounds are:
- The review is fake, or not based on a real experience with your business.
- It contains abusive, hateful or discriminatory language.
- It discloses personal or confidential information.
- It is spam, promotional, or clearly about a different company.
- It breaches Trustpilot's other content rules, for example including illegal content.
If a review fits one of these, you can flag it through Trustpilot's official reporting process, and their team reviews it. That is the legitimate route, and it is the only one worth using.
When a review will not come down
A genuine but unflattering review usually stays up, even if you think it is unfair, one-sided, or missing context. Disagreeing with a review is not grounds for removal. Neither is the customer being difficult, or the issue being partly their fault. Trustpilot is designed to keep honest feedback visible, and that is the point of it.
What not to do
Do not mass-flag reviews you simply do not like, because misusing the flagging system can put your own account at risk. Do not pressure or bribe a customer into deleting a review, and do not offer a refund conditioned on them taking it down. In the US, using threats or pressure to suppress honest reviews is exactly the kind of practice the FTC's consumer review rule now targets, which we cover in are fake reviews illegal.
What to do instead
The far more effective move is to respond well and resolve the underlying issue. A thoughtful public reply, followed by a private fix, often does more for your profile than a removal would, because reviewers frequently update their rating once something is genuinely put right, and every future reader sees that you handled it. Our guide on how to respond to negative Trustpilot reviews shows exactly how.
One bad review rarely defines a profile that has recent, genuine feedback and visible, human responses. Building that is the real answer, and it is the heart of improving your Trustpilot rating.
If your profile has negatives you are not sure how to handle, a free audit will tell you which ones are worth flagging and which are better answered.