We counted at least 157 unanswered Google reviews at 15 Dallas Fort Worth shops in the reviews we could see
In October 2026 we counted the public Google reviews of 15 home services shops around Dallas and Fort Worth. Every shop had reviews with no reply from the shop. The counts ran from 8 to 19 per shop, and together they came to at least 157 unanswered reviews in the public reviews we could see. This page is what we found, how we counted, and what a shop can do about its own backlog.
Real drafts of your own reviews. No login. No card.
What we counted, and how
The 15 shops cover four trades: 6 plumbing shops, 5 HVAC shops, 3 electrical shops, and 1 garage door shop, in cities across the Dallas Fort Worth area. For each shop we read its public Google reviews as republished in public review listings, and we counted the reviews that show no reply from the shop. We counted only the reviews visible in those listings, so every number on this page is a floor, not a total: the count is stated as what we found in the public reviews we could see. No shop is named anywhere in this audit, and no shop can be identified from the figures below.
The findings
Every one of the 15 shops had unanswered reviews. The smallest backlog we found was 8; the largest was 19. Added together, the 15 shops had at least 157 unanswered reviews in the reviews we could see.
Every shop also had at least one unanswered negative review. Of the 157 unanswered reviews, 40 were negative. The other 117 were not negative.
By trade, the unanswered reviews we counted were: at least 68 at the 6 plumbing shops, at least 49 at the 5 HVAC shops, and at least 40 at the other 4 shops, the electrical and garage door shops counted together so no single shop's count stands alone.
Nor is this only a Dallas Fort Worth pattern. UENI studied 229,882 Google reviews and found that only 9.8 percent of 1-star reviews ever receive a reply. BrightLocal research found that 81 percent of consumers expect a business to reply to a review within a week. The gap between those two numbers is the finding: customers expect an answer, and most 1-star reviews never get one.
What an unanswered review costs, complaint or compliment
An unanswered complaint is the expensive one. A homeowner comparing shops reads the complaint and then looks for the shop's side of it. Silence leaves the complaint as the only account, and it stays on the profile for years, read by people who are deciding that week who to call.
An unanswered 5-star review costs less, and it still costs. The customer did the shop a favor in public and got no acknowledgement, which makes a second favor, a referral or a repeat call, less likely to feel worth it. To the next reader, a profile where even the happy customers are met with silence reads as a shop that does not look at its reviews at all. Replying to the positive reviews is also the fast part of the backlog: a short, specific thank you takes under a minute each once the words are drafted.
What a good reply does
A good reply is written for the next reader, not to win back the reviewer. It does not argue the facts in public. It names what the customer raised, says plainly what should have happened, and gives a direct way to reach the office. For a complaint about a missed call, a reply in that pattern reads in full: Thank you for telling us. You should have heard back from us, and we are sorry you did not. Please call our office so we can find your job and look into what happened. For a positive review, the pattern is shorter: name the customer, mention the work they described, and thank them for that specific job rather than posting the same thank you under every review.
If you are working through a backlog, start with the recent complaints, because those are the ones a new customer is most likely to read closely, then clear the positive reviews in batches.
How did you count the reviews?
For each of the 15 shops, we read its public Google reviews as republished in public review listings and counted the ones showing no reply from the shop. We counted only what those listings showed us, so the figures are minimums: at least 157 unanswered reviews across the 15 shops, in the public reviews we could see, counted in October 2026.
Is my shop one of the 15?
Possibly, and this page will not tell you: the audit names no shop and publishes no figure that identifies one. The useful question is how many of your own reviews are unanswered. Ask for the free sample below and we will count how many of your newest 30 reviews have an owner reply and draft replies to 3 of them at no charge.
Do you post the replies for us?
No. We draft the replies and send them to you. You read them, change anything you like, and post the ones you want under your own reviews. We never need access to your Google listing, and nothing is posted on your behalf.
Get 3 free draft replies for your shop
Any home services shop in the Dallas Fort Worth area can have the same treatment the 15 audited shops point to: send us your shop name and city, and within 2 business days we will count how many of your newest 30 reviews have an owner reply and send you finished draft replies to 3 of them, free. Use them as written or change them first. There is nothing to buy to use the drafts.
Email kunjar@dfwreplydesk.com with your shop's name and city, and ask for the free draft replies.
Or clear the backlog with the Review Reply Sprint: $49
The free sample covers 3 reviews. If your backlog is longer, the Review Reply Sprint covers up to 10 of your unanswered Google reviews for a one-time $49, delivered within 2 business days. We do not post anything. You read the replies and post the ones you like.
If you start Reply Desk after the Sprint, the full $49 comes off your first month. Reply Desk is $99 a month for your first 3 months with code REPLYDESK99 for signups through January 31, 2027, then $149 a month, so the Sprint makes the first month $50. If you do not start, nothing further is charged, and the replies are yours to keep and post whenever you like.