One-Star Review For Your Website Design Business? Great News! Here's Why...

A client threatened to “ruin my reputation” unless I refunded a non-refundable deposit. Then came the one-star Google review and the plot twist that made my reputation stronger. Welcome to another episode of Websites Made Simple with me, Holly Christie ! In this episode I share the whole story, how I responded, and what to put in place so one angry client can’t tank your business. If you’re a website designer or dev who’s ever ignored red flags (yep, me too), this one’s for you. Skip to the good bits: 00:00 "Client Conflicts and Resilience" 06:15 "One-Star Reviews Often Misleading" 09:00 "Responding to a 1-Star Review" 11:39 "Phoenix Program: Transform Your Career" When a client threatens to ruin your reputation, here’s the exact playbook to protect your brand and flip the narrative—fast. For web designers/developers dealing with scope creep, 1-star bombs, and refund pressure. Handle non-refundable deposits without panic What to write under a 1-star review Turn a bad review into social proof on LinkedIn Red flags: endless meetings, too many stakeholders Boundaries in contracts & terms that actually hold Chapters: 00:00 When a client threatens your reputation (nightmare setup) 02:00 ‘Go-away pricing’, red flags & endless meetings 05:00 Stalemate, terms, and the non-refundable deposit 06:15 The threat + the 1-star review hits 08:18 Posting it on LinkedIn—community flips the script 10:00 Why it strengthened my reputation 12:00 Lessons: boundaries, meetings, and saying no 13:00 Phoenix Programme can help with this My site: https://websitesmadesimple.co.uk Phoenix Programme: https://websitesmadesimple.co.uk/phoenix-programme Podcast page: https://websitesmadesimple.co.uk/podcast