Last updated: 6 October 2026
TL;DR
- A customer can always edit or delete their own Google review, including the star rating; a dealership cannot change or remove someone else's review.
- A dealership may mention, politely, that the review can be updated after a complaint has been properly resolved, but Google prohibits any reward or favour in exchange for changing or removing a negative review.
- Some dealerships report that their importer counts an edited review as a new review, which then needs a fresh reply; this differs by importer.
- In Repmanager you record the follow-up with an owner and internal notes, and an edited review comes in through the daily full sync.
Can a customer edit their Google review?
Yes. Anyone who has posted a review on Google can edit or delete it later, and change the star rating while doing so. The customer does this themselves, through their own contributions in Google Maps. After an edit, Google shows the date of the latest change as the review's post date.
A marketing manager at a BMW dealer group asked it exactly like that: "Can someone who gave three stars change it to five afterwards?" The answer is yes, and Google explains how in its help page on adding, editing or deleting reviews. The flip side matters just as much: as a dealership you cannot edit or delete a customer's review. You can only flag a review if it breaks the policy.
Can you ask a customer to update their review?
Yes, as long as there is no pressure and no reward. Google itself names it as a possible result of a good reply: following up properly on a complaint can encourage the customer to update their review. What Google explicitly prohibits is offering an incentive in exchange for changing or removing a negative review.
In practice that means no discount on the next service, no free valet, and certainly no fix that depends on a better review. "We will cover the repair if you update your review" is exactly what is not allowed. The full rules are in our guide to Google's review policy. Why even a small gift is risky is covered in whether you can offer a reward for a review.
| Situation | Do | Don't |
|---|---|---|
| Complaint resolved on a phone call | Mention once that the review can be updated | Ask repeatedly or call back about the review |
| Customer gets compensation or a repair | Keep the fix separate from the review | Make the fix conditional on a better review |
| Public reply to the review | Apologise, offer a fix, move to another channel | Ask in public whether they will change the stars |
| Customer does not update the review | Accept it and leave your reply in place | Contact them again or blame them |
| Customer updates the review | Check your reply and update it if needed | Act as if the old complaint never happened |
When is the right moment to mention it?
After the fix, in personal contact, and once. The best moment is at the end of the conversation in which the complaint was actually resolved, by the person who helped the customer. Not in the public reply on Google, and not in an automated email.
This is how dealer groups working with Repmanager handle it. The branch manager or a customer satisfaction coordinator calls the customer after a complaint. A customer satisfaction coordinator is the person who receives negative reviews, calls the customer and makes sure the dealership resolves it. If the call ends well, that person says something like: "Glad we could sort it out. If you ever want to update your review, you can do that on Google at any time." Then you let it go.
In our conversations with dealer groups we hear that three-star reviews with a good reply sometimes move to four or five stars. That is no guarantee, but it is a reason not to leave that middle group unanswered. Why three-star reviews get forgotten so often is covered in the forgotten middle of three-star reviews. For how to build the public reply to a complaint, see how to respond to negative reviews.
What happens with the importer when a review is edited?
It depends on the importer. Some dealerships report that their importer counts an edited review as a new review in the KPI measurement. As one dealer put it: "With [one importer], if an update comes in, it counts as a new review." That review then needs a timely reply all over again.
This is not a general rule, but something dealerships run into with some brands. If you do not know how your importer handles it, ask before you start steering on the numbers. Two practical consequences follow. An edited review can drag down your response time in the importer's report if nobody spots it. And an old reply may no longer fit the new text: "We are sorry you were disappointed" under a five-star review looks odd. How importers measure the rest is covered in importer KPIs for reviews.
How do you set this up in Repmanager?
You use Repmanager to record how a complaint was followed up, so everyone knows whether the "you can update it" moment has already happened. The question itself is asked in person, not through the tool.
- Open the review in the Reviews overview and assign an owner: the person who will call the customer.
- Use the Email button at the bottom of the review to forward it to the branch manager if they need to call. They do not need an account for that, and their reply comes back in the reply thread.
- Record in an internal note what was agreed, whether the complaint was resolved and whether updating the review was mentioned. Use an @-mention to bring in a colleague.
- Keep in mind that Repmanager syncs every fifteen minutes plus a daily full sync. An edited review comes in through that daily sync.
- After an edit, check your public reply. If it no longer fits the new text, write a new one.
- If a review shows the status that the reply was removed on Google, your reply is no longer online. Answer the review again.
How owner, notes and email work together is explained on the review manager page. The Google Business Profile integration pulls in the reviews per dealership.
What usually goes wrong?
Four mistakes come back again and again, often out of enthusiasm after a good conversation.
Putting the request in the public reply. "Would you consider updating your rating?" under a complaint reads as pressure, to the customer and to everyone else reading.
Tying the request to the fix. As soon as the repair depends on the review, it is a trade.
Asking more than once. Mentioning it once is service. Three times is pressure.
Leaving the old reply in place. An apology under a five-star review, or a thank-you under a fresh complaint, shows nobody is paying attention.
Frequently asked questions
Can a customer delete a review completely?
Yes, the customer can always delete their own review. The same rule applies: you may not offer anything in return.
Can readers see that a review was edited?
After an edit, Google shows the date of the latest change as the post date. The review moves to a more recent date.
Can you get an old, outdated complaint removed?
Not because it is outdated. You can only flag reviews that break the policy. For working through an old backlog, read clearing a backlog of unanswered reviews.
Who calls the customer after a complaint?
That depends on how your group splits the roles: the branch manager, a coordinator or marketing. Which contact channel to name in the reply is covered in contact details in a negative review reply.
Ready to set it up?
Want to see how to track, per dealership, which complaint was followed up and by whom? In a 15-minute demo we show it with your own dealerships.
