Should you offer a discount or refund in a public review reply?

Short answer

Offer to make it right, but handle the actual compensation privately. Publicly dangling refunds or discounts trains people to leave bad reviews for a payout and can attract bad-faith complaints.

Better approach

• In public: express that you want to fix it and invite them to reach out.
• In private: offer the refund, redo, or discount once you've verified what happened.

This keeps you generous with genuine customers without advertising that a one-star gets you a coupon. Readers still see a business that stands behind its work — which is the reputational win you actually want.