Four questions for a review
- Is it first-hand? It should come from your own purchase, hire, booking or quote request with this company, made within roughly the last few years.
- Is it specific? Name what you bought or had done. Record whether the final price matched the quote, and whether the order arrived, or the work was finished, on time. Explain how the company dealt with any problem. Particulars help the next customer more than praise or blame.
- Is it fair? Report what happened and how you were treated. Criticize as strongly as you like; do not insult.
- Is it the right length? 40 to 3,000 characters.
What we do not publish
A review is refused on any of the grounds below, grouped by what they concern.
- The author. Not accepted from anyone who works for the company or a competitor, is related to it, or is paid by either. Not accepted when written in exchange for a reward of any kind: a discount, a gift, money or an entry in a prize draw.
- The timing. Each person may review a given company once every 30 days; a repeat inside that period is refused.
- The subject. The review must concern the company listed, not a different company, a manufacturer, a marketplace seller or a payment provider.
- The contents. None of the following may appear in the text:
- links
- phone numbers or email addresses
- full names or contact details of staff
- threats or harassment
- hate speech or sexual content
- profanity directed at a person
- copied text, or text produced by AI tools in place of your own account
- Accusations of crimes. Those belong with the authorities. What happened to you can still be described.
Rules for businesses
A business is free to ask all of its customers for reviews. It may not:
- Offer anything in return for a review, whether for any review or only for a favorable one.
- Ask only satisfied customers, or steer dissatisfied ones away from reviewing.
- Review itself or a competitor, or have employees, relatives or agencies do so.
- Pressure or threaten a reviewer into changing or withdrawing a review.
Legal basis: 16 CFR Part 465, the consumer reviews rule of the US Federal Trade Commission.
A review obtained by breaking any of these rules is taken down.
Reconsideration
Every review filed on Feedback Bureau is read by a moderator before publication, and each rejection is recorded with its reason. To have a decision looked at again:
- Send a message through the contact page.
- Give the company’s name and the email address you filed with.
The review is then examined a second time.