Every customer who opens a review-request link sees your public review button first. Below it they can choose to send you private feedback instead of, or as well as, a public review. This article covers what the customer sees, where you read their feedback, and how the alert for a low rating works.
What the customer sees
The review-request page says "Thanks for choosing [your shop]!" with a Leave a review button. Under it is a link, "Or tell [your shop] privately how we did".
That opens a short form headed "Tell us how we did". It says the note goes straight to your shop and isn't posted anywhere, and that they can still leave a public review too.
They can give a rating from 1 to 5 stars, write a note of up to 2,000 characters, or both. Sending needs at least one of the two ("Pick a rating or write a note first."), and the button reads Send privately to the shop.
Each link takes one submission. Once it's sent, the form is replaced by "Thanks — your private feedback was sent to [your shop]." The review button stays on screen the whole time, for every customer, whatever rating they give.
Where you read it
Open the Reviews page (Growth & Marketing → Reviews). A Private feedback card lists what customers sent, newest 50 first, and says it's "never posted publicly". It's hidden until there's at least one item.
Each entry shows the customer's name, their stars if they gave any, the date, their note, and a phone number or email. A rating with no note reads "No written feedback left — just the star rating." If there's no contact on file it says "No contact info on file".
The low-rating alert
When a customer submits 1, 2 or 3 stars, owners, admins and managers who have Low rating switched on get an alert. It's on by default for the owner. The email includes the customer's name, the stars and their note.
The app notification only says who it's from, and leaves the note out. A rating of 4 or 5, or a note with no rating, doesn't trigger an alert.
Everyone can turn Low rating on or off for themselves in Settings → Notifications → Shop alerts. See Choosing which shop alerts you get.
The alert only covers this private form. It doesn't fire for Google reviews.
Links that don't show the form
The form only appears on links sent for a specific review request. The shop-wide Leave a review QR code from Storefront Widgets, and the {{review_link}} merge field in Quick replies, both point to your shop's general review link. Those go straight to your public review page with no private form. See Embedding widgets on your own website.
For sending and automating the requests themselves, see Auto-requesting Google reviews after every job and Reviews and reputation management.
Frequently asked questions
Q: Does the private form hide the public review link?
A: No. Every customer sees the review button, and it stays on screen before and after they use the private form.
Q: Where does the feedback go?
A: To the Private feedback card on your Reviews page. It's never posted publicly.
Q: Why didn't I get an alert for some feedback?
A: Alerts only go out for private ratings of 3 stars or fewer, and only to people who have Low rating switched on in Shop alerts.
Q: Can a customer send feedback twice from the same link?
A: No. A link takes one submission. A second try is ignored and keeps the first.