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Our Rules

We don't believe in 'small print' and we hope you will agree that our rules are mostly common sense but we welcome any suggestions on how to simplify them.

Consumers

We hope that our site will help you to make a more informed choice, but we're not responsible for the work of the listed firms and we don't give guarantees for the firms or for their goods or services.

We can't guarantee the accuracy of the information shown or of the opinions expressed, so please ask the firms to give you more information about any reviews which may be important to you and tell us about any misleading information.

The Site includes information and suggestions to help you make a more informed choice but these are for your general guidance only and do not amount to professional or legal advice. We recommend that you should make your own enquiries to satisfy yourself about anything that may be important to you, such as the firms' membership of schemes and associations, their financial status, the qualifications and experience of the firms and their people, and any guarantees.

We can't guarantee that we hear about every complaint. We aim to work with customers and firms to help reduce the number of problems, but some level of misunderstandings and disagreements is inevitable. We want to hear about any problems you may have, but please contact the firm first.  Firms are responsible for settling disagreements with their customers and we are not liable for this.  See our complaints procedure.

Firms

You agree that any customer may leave a review and that you will not influence their review in any way.  You agree that we may publish every review and we do not provide services to enable you to publish only the reviews that you like.

You are responsible for settling disagreements with your customers and we are not liable for this.  Your scheme or association may offer a dispute resolution procedure to help with this.

We will show you the full review of each customer.  Customers' identities are for your internal use only and must not be shown to third parties, in accordance with the Data Protection Act. We may contact your customers to discuss the work you have done for them and we may contact your professional body, scheme or association to share information with them.

You agree that we are the only owners of our marks and you have no legal rights over them. You may link your website to ours, using our logo and you may use our marks on your headed paper, vehicles, premises and so on, but you must remove our marks from anything you no longer use and from any vehicle before you sell it. You must not claim or imply that your firm's registration with Referenceline represents any sort of vetting, approval, guarantee etc. You must not misuse our marks, use any mark that copies, or is similar to, our marks, or do anything that we feel may damage them or our reputation. We may ask you to give us examples of how you are using them, or planning to use them and you must follow any instructions we give you and we will not agree to any use that we feel is unsuitable.

General

We hope you like our website and services, but they are provided "AS IS" and "AS AVAILABLE" and you use them at your own risk.  As far as the laws allow, Referenceline excludes all guarantees and representations. In particular:

The views expressed by firms and customers are theirs, not ours, and we don't accept any responsibility for any mistakes, omissions or inaccuracies in the content provided by them. 

We don't guarantee the performance, completeness, security or availability of our websites or services, whether for reasons within our control (for example to carry out maintenance, service or development work) or for reasons outside our control (such as changes affecting the internet or postal services and practices).

You agree to all of our rules and that these rules replace any other agreement, including any written agreement between us. You agree that no other rules apply, including any terms and conditions which you might otherwise use in purchasing services or entering into agreements with others.

You agree that we may change these rules at any time without notice, so please check our rules regularly.  If you don't agree to be bound by all of our rules, then please don't use our website or services. By continuing to use our website, you agree that you accept all of our rules, including any revisions.

You agree that you have read and accepted these rules, without modification. These rules make up the complete agreement between you and us. Any change is only valid if published on our website or confirmed by us in writing. The rules are divided into separate topics with headings, but the topics and headings do not influence the rules, which apply in full. We are continuously improving our Websites and Services.  We may change the content, price, Rules or any other aspect of our Sites or our Services at any time without notice. If you are concerned about any change, please let us know.

If a rule, or any part of a rule, is not valid, this will not affect the other rules, or any other part(s) of that rule. We will not lose any right that we have under these rules if we do not fully use it or if we delay using it. Unless otherwise specified, the terms "includes", "including", "e.g.,", "for example", and other similar terms are understood to include the term "without limitation" immediately thereafter.

You cannot transfer any of your responsibilities or rights under these rules to anyone, including any subcontractors or agents. You are responsible if your agents, subcontractors or employees do anything that you must not do under these rules. We may transfer our responsibilities or rights under these rules to selected subcontractors or agents.

We may use credit reference agencies or other organisations to check the information you give us. We may, at our sole discretion, publish the full details of any individual or firm that we reasonably believe may be associated with any attempt to abuse our system including, but not limited to, the submission of false references. We have registered the domain www.namingandshaming.com for this purpose.

Any notice you or we give under these rules must be sent by post or delivered by hand to us at: Referenceline Ltd, 3 Huron Drive, Liphook, Hampshire, GU30 7TY, or to you at the address you have given to us.

Intellectual Property Rights

Referenceline Limited owns the copyright and database rights in the websites and Apps, including survey structure, the review content including ratings, text, images and videos, the methods of analysis, searching and presentation of results.

The website may include information which is the intellectual property of others and has been licensed to us.  We respect the intellectual property rights of others, so if you believe that anything on our Websites infringes a copyright which you own or control, please let us know.

You may copy or print information from our website for your personal use only, but you may not use our site, or any information we provide, for any commercial purpose without our written consent. You may not copy, reproduce, license or sell any information that you obtain from our site or reports and you may not use the information, software, products or services on our Site to create any product or service.

We welcome any suggestions, comments or other feedback about our site and services.  You agree that your feedback is not confidential and becomes our sole exclusive property, including all intellectual property rights.  You agree that we do not have to acknowledge your feedback or compensate you in any way. By adding content to the website, you confirm that you have the right to give Referenceline permission to use and publish it (including the agreement of anyone identifiable), that it isn't offensive or defamatory and that it doesn't infringe any UK laws.

Links

Our site provides links to other websites which are not operated by Referenceline, but contain information or services which may be of interest. We do not monitor or control either the sites or their content, which may change significantly or become unavailable without our knowledge. We do not endorse either the content or the operators and owners of such sites and we don't imply any association of Referenceline with them (unless otherwise stated). If any link is broken, or you are concerned about the content of any linked site, please let us know.

Definitions

Certain words are used within these Rules, with or without capital letters, with the following meanings:

• We, us, our means Referenceline Ltd, or any other organisation or person we may transfer our rights to.
• You means Consumers, Customers, Partners and Website users.
• Consumers means people who are looking for information about firms.
• Customers means consumers to whom you have made a commitment to provide a service, including where that service was not delivered either in part or in full.  It does not include consumers with whom you have communicated without entering into a firm commitment.
• Website users means people who access our website.
• Partners means organisations (including trade associations, trading standards and others) with which Referenceline works to offer services to their members, to consumers or to others.
• Marks means our name, logo, taglines and other devices.
• Meet, meeting means a discussion either in person or via videoconference, as agreed between the parties.
• Response(s), Reference(s) or Review(s) means the feedback sent to us by Customers.
• Rules means our terms and conditions.
• Our Site(s), our Website(s) means any websites operated by us including www.referenceline.com and www.reputations.net.
• Our Services means other activities of Referenceline that may not involve the Website, such as printed reports, emails etc.
• Work means the goods or services supplied by firms to their customers.

Disclaimers

You must write and tell us promptly if you believe that we have made a mistake.

We accept liability if you are injured or die as a result of our proven negligence. In respect of any other claim, including any claim for negligence, the most that we will be liable for is the amount you have paid us in the previous 12 months, or £1,000, whichever is the larger amount.

We are not liable for any loss of data; loss of business or contract; loss of opportunity or expected profit; loss of goodwill or damage to reputation; losses suffered by third parties; or any indirect, consequential, exemplary or special damage arising from the use of our websites or services, however these may happen and whether these were forseen, or could have been forseen, or were known, or otherwise.

We are not liable if we cannot carry out our responsibilities under these rules for any reason outside our reasonable control, including power or computer failure, changes in postal practices, postal problems and industrial dispute.

We don't warrant that our websites (including the servers that make it available) and services will be free of errors, viruses or bugs.  You agree that it is your responsibility to carry out virus checks and use any procedures that you may need to meet your own requirements for the accuracy and storage of data.

Disputes

If any dispute arises in connection with these rules, a director or other senior representatives of the parties with authority to settle the dispute will, within 14 working days of a written request from one party to the other, meet in a good faith effort to resolve the dispute.

If the dispute is not wholly resolved at that meeting, the parties agree to enter into mediation in good faith to settle such a dispute and will do so in accordance with the CEDR Model Mediation Procedure. Unless otherwise agreed between the parties within 14 working days of notice of the dispute, the mediator will be nominated by CEDR. To initiate the mediation a party must give notice in writing (‘ADR Notice’) to the other party[ies] to the dispute, referring the dispute to mediation. A copy of the referral should be sent to CEDR.

If there is any point on the logistical arrangements of the mediation, other than the nomination of the mediator, upon which the parties cannot agree within 14 working days from the date of the ADR Notice, where appropriate, in conjunction with the mediator, CEDR will be requested to decide that point for the parties having consulted with them.

Unless otherwise agreed, the mediation will start not later than 28 working days after the date of the ADR Notice.

This agreement is governed by the laws of England and Wales. No party may commence any court proceedings / arbitration in relation to any dispute arising out of this agreement until it has attempted to settle the dispute by mediation and either the mediation has terminated or the other party has failed to participate in the mediation, provided that the right to issue proceedings is not prejudiced by a delay.

Data Protection Registration

Referenceline Ltd is a limited company No. 3341732 registered in England at 3 Huron Drive, Liphook, GU30 7TY. We are committed to protecting the privacy of individuals, including consumers, customers and employees. We are registered with the Data Protection Registrar: Z7698138. We do not sell, trade or rent personal information such as individuals' name, address, telephone number and e-mail address. We don't publish customers' names and addresses. If you have any concerns, please email our Data Protection Officer at support@referenceline.com

About Us

We provide consumers with a directory and independent review service about businesses. This involves relationships with various bodies including trade associations, trading standards, regulators and others through a number of websites including:

• www.referenceline.com
• www.reputations.net
• www.trustedtrader.info

Consumers

Please be careful and responsible, especially when online. When contacting a firm for the first time, don't provide any more information than is necessary until you are confident about the person you are dealing with. We don't monitor or control the privacy policies of third parties, including registered firms. Ask questions before giving any personal information to anyone. Remember that any information given on message boards, through email, or in chat areas can be collected and used by others.

Personal Data

This privacy policy applies to customers of businesses that use our services and to visitors to our website(s) and it explains how we use your personal data and your related rights.

This policy does not apply to businesses listed on our websites, including legal and trading names, addresses, email addresses, reviews or any other business information. The publication of contact details such as postal addresses, email addresses and phone numbers is essential to the function of our directory services. Where appropriate, businesses should use contact details that are separate from the personal data of individuals. This includes phone numbers, email addresses (ie sales@example.com rather than john.smith@example.com) and in some very limited cases may include the use of PO boxes rather than the full postal address. Please contact support@referenceline.com to request any change to business contact details.

We may change this policy from time to time and if we make significant changes, we will make that clear on our websites, so that you are able to review the changes before you continue to use our services.

When we act as Data Processor

When a business or body enters personal details on our system, (for example to invite a customer to leave a review, or to send a consumer a message), then we are acting as data processor for them. We will not publish the names or personal details of consumers or use them for any other purpose unless you otherwise agree.

When a business or body gives us data that may be linked to an individual as part of the information required to operate our websites or services, for example in the Trading Name or email address, then we are acting as data processor for them. If you are adversely affected by this, you should contact the data controller and we recommend that you should provide generic, rather than personal, contact details wherever possible (eg sales@example.com, rather than john.smith@example.com). You may also contact support@referenceline.com to advise us of your concerns.

In either case, the business or body is the data controller and you should contact them with any questions relating to privacy.

When we act as Data Controller

When you register with our website(s), then we act as data controller in relation to your personal data and any other information you provide, including staff names or reviews. We automatically collect personal data using cookies and your IP address. Please direct any questions to us at support@referenceline.com

The personal data we collect

We collect:

• Your name and address, email address and phone number.
• Your IP address, the web site from which you visit us, the web pages you visit and the date and length of your visit.
• Your review and any related correspondence, including text descriptions, text reviews, ratings, images, videos, copies of contracts etc.
• Where a review is submitted on behalf of someone else (for example by a carer) then we also collect their details.

We do not collect special category data such as racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, health conditions. Read the ICO guide to special category data.

Why we collect your personal data

We won’t publish your name unless you have asked us to do so.  Instead, we use your personal data:

• To invite you to leave a review and to contact you about your review
• To generate anonymous trends and analysis – for example by age, by gender or by location. These statistics are not personal data as they are anonymised and you will not be identifiable from them.
• To assist in the verification of genuine transactions, the resolution of disputes, the prevention of fraud and to bring or defend legal claims.
• To help us manage and secure our websites, including an understanding of how visitors use our websites.

Legal basis for the processing

When we act as data controller, the information is necessary for our legitimate interests which include:

• Collecting and publishing reviews
• Validating genuine customers
• Researching and analysing consumer and industry trends
• Encouraging conciliation, enabling dispute resolution and supporting legal claims
• Securing, managing and improving our websites

When we act as data processor, we treat personal information with the same care, but the responsibility for the legal basis lies with the data controller.

When we process your personal data on the basis of your consent, you may withdraw your consent by following the unsubscribe link in our emails or by contacting support@referenceline.com

How long we keep your personal data

Unless you agree otherwise, we keep:

• Your name, email address and phone number for 10 years. This allows us to contact you in relation to your review during that period.
• The details of the property or vehicle to which the service relates indefinitely. This allows us to compile a history of the property or vehicle, rather than of the individuals.
• The anonymized demographic data indefinitely. This allows us to compile anonymous statistics including customer ages, gender and experience as well as customer loyalty by industry or area.

We may keep personal data for longer in some cases, including where there is a statutory, regulatory or other legal need to do so.

Where personal data is included within the information provided to us under contract with another data controller, we do not keep that personal data when the contract expires unless the business registers with us and authorises us to act as a data controller.

Where more than one retention period applies to the same personal data, the longest period will apply.

Where we obtain your personal data

We obtain your personal data from businesses, as their data processor and from you, as data controller, when you submit information to our websites, communicate with us, or otherwise provide personal data to us; from your accounts on other websites, including Facebook or Twitter, when you give us permission to do so and automatically when you use our website, using cookies or similar technologies.

How we share your personal data

We may share your personal data:

• With the business you have reviewed, so that they can identify you as a genuine customer.
• With trading standards ..., regulators, dispute resolution providers, professional bodies, fraud protection agencies, insurers, legal advisors or other third parties to help monitor standards, prevent fraud and other risks and assist when disputes arise.
• With our employees or service providers, as necessary for them to carry out their duties including customer support and website services.
• With professional advisers ... or in connection with any reorganisation, merger or acquisition of part or all of our business.
• With regulators, government authorities or the police, as required by law or in response to their reasonable requests.
• Where you have agreed or asked us to
• Exceptionally at our discretion when we believe it appropriate to do so. For example: when we believe that the law requires it or to identify, contact or bring legal action against someone who may be breaking our rules or injuring Referenceline's rights or property.

When we share your personal data (including transfers outside the European Economic Area) with others, we require them to sign contracts which include the obligation to handle your personal data consistently with this privacy policy.

Cookies and similar technologies

Like most websites, by using our site(s) you agree that we may use cookies and other similar technologies to provide our services to you. You can find helpful information on the Information Commissioners website. https://ico.org.uk/

We may use the following types of cookie:

• Functionality: to allow you to navigate the site and use our features
• Analytics: to understand how you use our site(s), and to improve our services.
• Customer preference: to remember your preferences and help make your experience as simple and personal as possible
• Targeting: to deliver ads or other information which may be relevant to you
• Third parties: to allow you to interact with third party services such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

If you want to delete any cookies, the help section in your browser should provide instructions on how to do so on your computer, but some functions on our site(s) may be affected or not work at all.

The law gives you the right to require us to

• Send you a copy of the personal data we hold about you. We will provide the first copy free of charge, but we may make a charge for additional requests.
• Correct any inaccurate or incomplete personal data that we hold about you and to require us to restrict our processing of your personal data while we verify its accuracy.
• Erase your personal data on certain limited grounds (including where they are no longer necessary for the purpose for which they were collected or where we rely on consent, which you withdraw, and there is no other legal ground for the processing)
• Restrict our processing of your personal data which we no longer need, rather than requiring us to erase that data, where you require us to retain that personal data in relation to legal claims
• Consider your objection to our processing of your personal data on the grounds of our legitimate interests and to require us to restrict our processing of your personal data while we do so. We might not have to cease processing if we are able to show a reason which overrides your interests. This includes where that legitimate interest relates to legal claims, regulatory issues or the verification of genuine feedback.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact support@referenceline.com.

Complaints

If you are not happy with the way we respond to any complaint about the way we use your personal data, please contact the Information Commissioner’s Office https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/

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