Review Policy

Reviews influence hiring decisions, including the 25 percent reviews component in our published ranking formula, so the rules that govern them are published here in full. This policy states where the ratings and review counts on this directory come from, what moderation means in practice, what a business may and may never do about its reviews, and how an error gets corrected.

Where the Numbers Come From

The rating and the review count shown on a listing are the public figures attached to that business's underlying public listing record when the directory record was built. Each listing shows the business's name and address alongside those figures, so any reader can compare the figures here against the public source they came from. We do not generate ratings, we do not estimate ratings for businesses that lack a public record, and a listing with no public review record shows no rating rather than a placeholder. When a public record is refreshed, the figures on the listing are refreshed from the source, not adjusted by hand.

This sourcing method has a limit, and we state it rather than hide it: a public rating reflects the platform where it was collected, its own rules, and its own history. It is evidence about past customer experience, not a measurement taken by us. Our guides teach readers to use it that way: read the distribution and the specifics of reviews, not the average alone, as set out in How to Choose a Plumber.

Moderation: What We Act On

We act on a review figure or a listing's review record when there is a specific, checkable reason. The business named on the listing is not the business the record belongs to. The record has been materially changed at its public source, for example after a change of ownership that the source itself records. A figure is shown that the source does not support, which is an error on our side and is corrected as one. A court order or a direction from the source platform requires a change. Reports are made through our contact page and must identify the listing and the source record relied on. We decide from the source record, not from screenshots supplied by an interested party.

What a Business May Do

A business may claim its listing, correct its factual profile details through the claim process described on our About page, respond to its public record at the source platform under that platform's rules, ask us to re-check a figure against its source, and supply current documents to change its verification status under How We Verify. A business that believes a figure here is out of date can trigger a re-check at any time, free of charge, whether or not it holds a paid tier.

What No Business Can Ever Do

No business can pay to raise a rating, pay to increase or decrease a review count, pay to remove or soften a negative figure, edit a review figure on its own profile, or have a competitor's figures altered. Payment on this directory buys only the items listed on the Pricing page: a published listing, verification work and the badge that follows it, and, on the Featured tier, labelled placement under the rules on How Rankings Work. Review figures are outside that list, permanently. A member of our team who changed a review figure for payment would be in breach of this policy, and any reader who is offered such a change, by anyone claiming to act for this directory, should report it through the contact page.

Corrections

If a rating or a count is wrong for your business, contact us with the listing address and the public source that shows the correct figure. We check the source, correct the listing to match it at the next update, and, where the error was ours, we say so in our reply. Corrections follow the source in both directions: a corrected figure can go up or down, and we apply the source figure either way.

Reviews are one input to a hiring decision, never the whole of it. Pair them with a license check at the issuing authority and a written, itemized estimate, and if you want introductions to businesses whose documents we have already checked, get matched free.