Troubleshooting and FAQ for Sendlane Reviews

Overview

Some review providers' exports require manual formatting before being imported into Sendlane, and imports sometimes fail due to errors in the review data. Read on to learn how to fix reviews related errors.

In this guide

View errors that occur before import

You may see errors after uploading your import file but before your import is processed due to issues with your .CSV file.

If you receive an error message that says The file has missing or invalid fields. after attempting to import a file of reviews:

  1. Try importing again and ensure you select the correct provider from the Product Review Source dropdown. This field determines how the import tool interprets your file. Selecting the wrong Product Review Source directs the import tool to the wrong interpretation template, and your file will not import.
  2. If you have selected the correct Product Review Source, make sure that your file is formatted according to the requirements listed in the corresponding article below:

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View errors that occur after import

When a review file import has been successfully imported, you'll see it listed in the History section of the Import & Export tab of the Reviews page.

If any reviews could not be imported, you'll see Failed to be imported: with the number of reviews not imported in the Results column. Click the download button in the Actions column to download a file of reviews that could not be imported.

Each row represents a review that could not be imported. Open the file to review each row's error descriptions in the furthest right column, and note that one review can have more than one error description.

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Fix a "The product doesn't exist in our database" error

The product doesn’t exist in our database. is usually caused by incorrect number formatting in the product ID column of your file or a deleted product in your store. First, check your file for incorrect number formatting if you receive this error. If you receive the error again, check for deleted products in your store.

Check for incorrect number formatting

When .CSV files are opened with Excel or Google Sheets, sometimes you'll be prompted to apply scientific formatting to cells with long strings of numbers. Scientific formatting attempts to shorten a long number or add decimal places for easier data analysis, and unfortunately, this process renders the product ID unreadable by Sendlane's import tool. We've seen the product ID column converted to scientific formatting even when selecting No on the prompt asking to convert the column. Your product ID column may have scientific formatting applied if you see product IDs like 18427E+12 or 7792310000000.00.

There are two possible solutions:

  1. Make the following changes to your file, then save it as a .CSV and upload to Sendlane:
    1. Change the column's formatting to Number by following Microsoft's instructions for Excel, or Google's instructions for Google Sheets. Make sure the new number format does not include commas.
    2. Your file may still alter your product IDs by adding a decimal point and two zeroes. Remove the decimal points (Excel, Google Sheets) before saving your file.
  2. Retrieve the original .CSV export you received from your previous reviews provider, do not open or alter it in any way, and import this original file into Sendlane. By not opening the .CSV, you ensure that your spreadsheet software can't inadvertently apply scientific formatting to your product ID column and didn't inadvertently save the file as an Excel (.XLSX) type file.

If you import your original .CSV file and receive the  The product doesn’t exist in our database. error, follow the instructions below to check for deleted products in your store.

Check for deleted products or site reviews

When products are deleted, they are no longer accessible to Sendlane. Sendlane Reviews also does not natively support site reviews, which are reviews for your entire store rather that a specific product.

To keep site reviews and reviews for deleted products, you can use your eCommerce store's archived product function to create an archived product for Sendlane to associate the review with.

Shopify users can follow the steps and video shown below. If you use another eCommerce solution, use the help center to find instructions on archiving a product and finding the product's ID.

  1. Click Products
  2. Click Add Product
  3. Enter a title for the product (for deleted products we suggest "Archived Product" and for site reviews we suggest "Site Review")
  4. Click Save
  5. Scroll to the very bottom of the page
  6. Click Archive Product
  7. Copy the product ID from the end of the product page's URL
  8. Replace the existing product ID for any rows in your file containing a The product doesn’t exist in our database. error with the ID you copied from your archived product
  9. Import your file again

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Fix import status stuck at Pending

If your import status is set to Pending for longer than one hour, you may have invalid characters in your review file. The following instances are known to cause errors when importing and must be removed from the file before importing again:

  • The last character in a review is a forward slash \. Press CMD (macOS) or CTRL (Windows) + F and enter \ to find all instances of the character. Remove all instances of the character and upload your file again.
  • The file size is ≥ 10 MB. If your file is significantly larger than 10 MB, try breaking it up into smaller files

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Why is the import reviews button grayed out?

The import button is grayed out when there is no assigned List for Reviews in your eCommerce integration. To assign a List for Reviews:

  1. Navigate to the integrations page
  2. Click your eCommerce integration
  3. Click the settings icon
  4. Select a List from the reviews dropdown
  5. Click Continue

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How do I import videos attached to my reviews?

At this time, Sendlane Reviews supports photos only.

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I imported my reviews, but they're not showing up!

Ensure that your eCommerce integration has a List selected in its settings for Sendlane Reviews:

Shopify BigCommerce

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Reviews have been submitted via the widget on my website, but I don't see them in the Moderation tab!

This issue is generally due to the wrong store being connected to Sendlane Reviews. Sendlane Reviews only supports one store per Sendlane account. Ensure that your Sendlane Reviews script and widgets are only installed in one store.

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