The first bad review you got — how did you actually handle it?

Getting your first negative review hits differently than you think it will.

I was sitting at my desk reading it three times, trying to figure out if the person was wrong or if they had a point.

Spoiler: they had a point, I just didn't want to admit it for about 48 hours.

What made it harder was that it was public, and my first instinct was to defend the product. I almost replied with a wall of context explaining why the reviewer "misunderstood" the feature. Glad I didn't.

Stepped away, came back, and replied with a genuine thank you and a question asking them what they'd expected instead.

That reply started a conversation that led to one of the more useful product decisions we made that quarter. The bad review turned into real signal.

Still not fun to receive, but the instinct to defend rather than listen is something I had to consciously work against.

How did you handle your first real negative piece of feedback in public? Did you reply, ignore it, or do what I almost did and write a paragraph of defensive context?