Customer review guidelines
Customer reviews open on Top8Reviews alongside business profiles. These rules apply from the first review, to positive and negative reviews alike.
What a review should be
A review describes your own experience with a business, within the last two years, in your own words. Say what you bought, what happened and how the business handled any problems. Specific detail helps other readers far more than a star rating alone.
What is not allowed
We remove reviews that are fake or written by anyone other than a genuine customer, reviews written or paid for by the business or its competitors, undisclosed incentives, coordinated campaigns, threats, hate, harassment, personal information about individuals, spam and promotional content, and reviews about something other than the customer's experience of the business.
Critical reviews are welcome
A negative review that describes a relevant experience and follows these rules stays up, just as a positive one does. Businesses cannot pay to remove reviews, and an automated risk score on its own is never a reason to suppress legitimate criticism.
Incentives and relationships
If you received anything in return for your review, such as a discount, a gift or entry into a draw, or if you have a personal or business relationship with the company, you must say so in the review. Businesses may not offer incentives that depend on the review being positive.
Verification labels
A label on a review names the exact check that took place: Email confirmed, Identity checked or Experience evidence reviewed. A review without a label has passed our automated checks but has not been verified further. We never use a general Verified badge.
Moderation and appeals
Reviews may be published straight away, held for a moderator, or rejected with the reason given. Anyone can report a review, and every report is decided against these rules with the reason recorded. Reviewers and businesses can appeal a decision, and an appeal is handled by a different moderator.