It only takes one fake review to ruin a reputation. Most websites post everything instantly, they take no responsibility for the result and AI is likely to make things worse. We do things differently.
Referenceline has almost 30 years' experience - starting with freepost forms to collect reviews and a phone number (0870 870 1000) to call for information.
Referenceline.com was our first website and Reputations.net is our new site, but delivering the same values and principles as before.
We've worked with Trading Standards since 1998, helping to set up and run 9 Trusted Trader schemes, and we're an approved member of their Buy With Confidence scheme.
One fake review is enough to scare prospective customers. When they see a terrible review, they don't know who to believe, so it's probably safer to choose someone else. Why take a risk?
Even if the business has written a reply, they might think "they would say that, wouldn't they!"
The reputation is probably the most valuable asset of any business and we'll help defend it. In one case, we blocked 600 attempts by one person over a period of several weeks trying to leave a fake review.
Whether this is a disgruntled employee, a hacker or a malicious competitor, we don't just protect the business from damage. We protect the public from misinformation.
We show each review to the business before it's published. It's only fair.
We're all busy people - in meetings, on the road, half way up a ladder, or simply concentrating - the last thing we need is the extra pressure of checking emails constantly. The business can release the review for immediate publication at any time, otherwise it will be published automatically after 48 hours.
The business can extend publication by another 48 hours, if they need a little more time. They don't have to ask the customer to do this.
This gives them more time to investigate or resolve any problems and any genuine customer should encourage and welcome their efforts to do so.
The customer can extend publication for as long as they like, and as often as they like, so the business has more time to put things right where this may be needed.
Customers have the same right as businesses to see what's about to be published, so we also hold business replies for 48 hours.
In particular these replies should not include the customer's full name or other details that might identify them unless they have agreed to this.
Spin the dials to choose one of the simple pincodes we suggest, so it's easy for you and your customers to remember. Change the code as often as you like.
When reviewers give us the correct code, we'll accept their review.
It often makes sense to get 3 quotes before making a choice, especially for larger job. But we don't normally accept reviews about the 2 businesses you didn't choose because this would overwhelm the website and open up the floodgates to manipulation by competitors. We'd make an exception where a business behaved illegally or in breach of a code of practice.
Businesses and customers can both upload photos, but customers must approve any photos uploaded by the business to confirm that they are genuine (not AI!!) and to make sure that they don’t include anything private.
Our messaging service makes it easy to reconfirm important documents such as estimates, quotations or terms and conditions. These are stored as part of the record of the conversations and can be downloaded at any time.
Disagreements and misunderstandings will happen from time to time. We're more likely to trust a firm (and a review site) where we can read the occasional low rating, perhaps from an unreasonable customer.
So we ask both businesses and consumers to act reasonably. Consumers should not use reviews to make misleading or exaggerated claims. Businesses should not apply pressure on a customer to change their review just because they don't like it.
Business replies are a great opportunity to expand on any special or challenging aspects of the work, so that potential customers can appreciate the finer details of the work or difficulties overcome that might not have been mentioned by the customer.
In case of a serious disagreement, the review can be flagged for escalation to ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution).
It's important to use the messaging service to keep a record of all conversations and to upload all relevant documents or photos before using this option.
Businesses should use these options to delay or escalate reviews sparingly. We monitor such activity in order to ensure the safe operation of our site and we may publish statistics to show how often they are used.
Even if a review is taken down after a while, the chances are that it has already been read many times, stored by the search engines or screenshotted by competitors. The damage can never be fully undone.
Businesses can block fake reviewers, but they can't block a genuine customer just because they don't like what they have to say. Anyone with an invoice or confirmed order can leave a review.
Sometimes it's important to reword a review to be clearer or fairer, so the 48 hour delay gives customers the chance to get it right. If the review is edited, then we add another 48 hours before it's published.
Our secure private messaging service make it easy for businesses and customers to discuss any issues and correct any misunderstandings before the review is published.
10 photos can be uploaded for each review and with plenty of space for captions for each photo. A series of photos to show the stages of work with helpful comments at each stage can be very useful.
We also include space for you to keep your own private notes. All of this material is saved securely and can be downloaded at any time.
