This report has been prepared entirely on the basis of publicly available data. No fabricated, false, or contrived information has been employed. All negative comments, reviews, and feedbacks posted by users or consumers on the official social-media channels and public platforms of Trustpilot – an internationally accessible entity – was thoroughly verified before analysis. In the interest of transparency, a selection of these comments, feedback entries, and reviews is reproduced here verbatim, with personal details of the users or consumers redacted. This report is neither motivated by nor intended to inflict harm upon Trustpilot, rather, its principal aim is to draw attention to areas in which the company may improve, so as to deliver the highest possible level of service. We are confident that the insights contained herein will likewise prove beneficial to consumers and users.
Trustpilot is a major online review platform,
where consumers post feedback about companies. Founded in 2007 in Denmark, the site now hosts an enormous volume of reviews – for example, one source notes Trustpilot has over 120 million reviews from more than 400,000 businesses worldwide. Its own description calls it “a review platform that’s open to everyone”, reflecting that anyone can write about their experiences. In today’s digital marketplace, Trustpilot’s aggregated ratings and comments have a big influence on buying decisions. Every month people share millions of new reviews on Trustpilot. In theory, this transparency helps customers and holds companies accountable. However, analysis of Trustpilot’s negative user feedback shows growing user frustration. Many reviewers now question the platform’s fairness and reliability, and report problems like unexpectedly deleted reviews or suspended accounts.
To understand these complaints, we collected publicly available user feedback
about Trustpilot itself – including posts on the company’s social media pages, complaints forums, and review sites. In particular, our dataset contained thousands of user comments and ratings. We first filtered for the clearly negative entries (for example, low-star reviews or comments with strongly negative language). Then we performed text analysis and manual categorization : grouping each complaint into themes such as account issues, review moderation, support quality, or conflicts of interest. In practice, this meant reading each comment and tagging it with key topics. For example, we identified all comments mentioning “suspension” or “ban” under an Account Issues category, while mentions of “deleted” or “flagged” were grouped under Review Moderation. This approach let us quantify how often each issue appeared and examine representative quotes.
- Data Collection : We gathered Trustpilot-related feedback from the company’s official communications (like its social media) and from consumer forums where users discussed Trustpilot (including Reddit, BBB complaints, etc.).
- Filtering : We isolated negative reviews by using sentiment analysis.
- Analysis : We read through these reviews to identify the most common grievances. We categorized phrases and sentences into topics (account suspension, review deletion, support, trust issues, etc.) and noted illustrative quotes for each theme.
The negative comments reveal several recurring complaint themes. Below we discuss the main issues users reported, illustrated with actual user remarks.
The analysis of negative reviews directed at Trustpilot on its social media platforms reveals a strong user sentiment of distrust and dissatisfaction. A recurring theme among the comments is the deletion or suppression of genuine user reviews, which many users perceive as an attempt to manipulate public perception. Critics frequently highlight the lack of transparency, question the authenticity of the platform’s moderation practices, and express frustration over the inability of businesses to adequately respond to feedback. The language used in the reviews is often assertive and accusatory, with users citing specific instances and evidence to support their claims.
Review Removal and Moderation : A frequent complaint is that Trustpilot removes or “flags” negative reviews too quickly or unfairly. Users feel that critical feedback is being censored. One long-time reviewer observed that in recent years “they’ve been taking down negative reviews even if you provide clear evidence of your experience”. Another commenter wrote that Trustpilot “sanitizes legitimate negative reviews… I have had multiple reviews rejected… because they were negative feedback. This causes distrust in their inherent business plan”. In other words, genuine criticisms are often deleted, sometimes without a clear explanation. These quotes highlight how many users sense a double standard in moderation : they provide proof to back up their complaint, yet the platform still removes their post. The language (“sanitizes… negative feedback” and “distrust”) shows users suspect Trustpilot of protecting businesses by deleting criticism.
Account Suspension and Flagging : Linked to the above, users report having their reviewer accounts suspended or banned. Often this follows posting negative content. For example, one user described posting a “well written negative review” and then receiving an email: “my review has been flagged as spam and my account has now been banned from TrustPilot”. In this case the reviewer was surprised and upset : they wrote a factual review but were penalized, while positive (5-star) reviews kept appearing. Such accounts feel that Trustpilot is punishing them for honest complaints. Several reviewers said they were not given a meaningful reason when suspended – only a generic notice that their review violated rules. This uncertainty adds to frustration. In practice, complaints often center on this sequence : negative review ⇒ it disappears ⇒ account locked. Users then report getting canned emails or no detailed response. All of this leads some reviewers to feel vulnerable : they may hesitate to write candid feedback for fear of losing access entirely.
Support and Communication : Another theme is poor customer support. Many users note that when they try to contact Trustpilot about a problem, they get only automated or templated replies. For instance, one user reported sending proof of purchase for a flagged review, only to hear back a vague statement that “to protect the integrity of our platform, we cannot provide specific details on why your review has been removed.” This kind of response – essentially saying “no more explanation” – was widely criticized. Though our data had fewer quotes explicitly about support interactions, the overall sentiment was clear : users felt they were talking to a wall. In practice, commenters frequently said support was “unhelpful” or just re-stated policy jargon. Combined with all the unresolved moderation issues, this led to a broad sense of distrust.
Fairness and Trust Concerns : Underlying these specific problems is a general loss of trust in the platform itself. Many users complained that Trustpilot seemed more interested in keeping its business customers happy than in providing an unbiased review forum. Several comments implied that companies paying for premium services were treated differently. For example, a reviewer noted that some Trustpilot pages actively encourage paid subscriptions, and suggested that only negative reviews for paying companies get removed. Although we don’t have a direct quote from our data on that point, it was a strong undercurrent in many complaints. One way users expressed this was by blunt statements like “Trustpilot cannot be trusted”. As one reviewer put it simply, “they cannot be trusted” when it comes to moderating reviews fairly. Between the unexplained deletions and account bans, people wrote that the site has lost its neutrality. In short, the collected reviews paint a picture of users feeling betrayed by Trustpilot’s practices : instead of a transparent review site, they see it as a company protecting its own interests.
Overall, the negative feedback makes clear that many users have serious concerns about Trustpilot’s operations. Complaints about missing or removed reviews, unexpected account suspensions, and unhelpful customer support appeared again and again. These issues undermined the confidence users had in the platform. While Trustpilot aims to foster trust and transparency, the highlighted reviews suggest the opposite impression for some customers : they describe a system where their honest feedback is not always heard, and sometimes even punished. For example, one concise user comment captures the feeling :
“This business dishonestly sanitizes legitimate negative reviews… [causing] distrust in their business plan”.
Since the objective of this report is not to cause detriment, we respectfully request that it be received in good faith and that its findings be utilized accordingly. Should anyone affiliated with Trustpilot or its user community have any queries or concerns, we invite direct correspondence via our email address.