1. What reviews are for
Reviews tell the next homeowner what it was like to deal with a pro. They help only if they are real. This policy explains how we keep them real and fair, to homeowners and to pros. It is part of the Terms of Service and the Pro Agreement.
2. Who can write a review
Only the homeowner who posted a request can review a pro for that request. We allow a review when either of these is true:
- you told us you hired that pro for the request; or
- that pro unlocked your request and sent you a message.
A review can be written 24 hours after you and the pro first connected. The wait exists so that a fake request, unlock, and review cannot all happen in one sitting. You can review a pro once for each request. A review has a rating from 1 to 5 stars and optional text of up to 2,000 characters. It is shown with your first name and last initial and the date.
Pros cannot write reviews of their own work, and neither can their owners, staff, or family. People who work for or own HireHelpers do not write reviews of pros.
3. How ratings are counted
A review is marked "Hired on HireHelpers" when the homeowner confirmed that they hired that pro for that request. A pro's star rating and review count are calculated only from reviews with that mark. Reviews without it are still shown on the pro's page, but they are not counted in the rating. This keeps ratings tied to people who say they actually hired the pro.
The mark reflects what the homeowner told us. We do not inspect the work or check that payment happened.
We show reviews as soon as they are posted. We do not hold a review back for a pro, and we do not order, hide, or show reviews based on whether they are positive or negative.
4. Rules for reviews
A review must be honest and based on your own experience with that pro for that request. A review must not:
- be written in exchange for money, a discount, a gift, or anything of value, or be conditioned on a positive rating;
- be written by someone with a financial interest in the pro, or in a competitor, or by a pro about themselves or a competitor;
- be fake, copied, or posted for someone else;
- include personal information about other people, such as phone numbers or home addresses;
- include threats, harassment, hate speech, or unlawful content, or infringe someone's rights;
- be about something other than the pro's work or conduct.
5. Rules for pros
Pros must not offer or give anything of value for a review or for a positive rating, ask only happy customers for reviews, pressure or threaten homeowners about reviews, ask a homeowner to remove or change a review, or take legal action to remove a review without a good-faith legal basis. Pros cannot pay us to remove, change, or promote a review. Pros must not use homeowner contact details to ask for reviews except to reply about the request they came with.
6. When we remove a review
We may remove a review that breaks the rules above or the Terms. We remove a review because of what it contains or how it was made. We never remove a review because it is negative, because the pro complained, paid, or says the problem was fixed, or to improve a rating. A pro cannot make a review disappear by resolving a dispute. A homeowner can ask to have their own review removed, and we will handle that request.
To report a review you think breaks the rules, email [email protected] with a link to the pro's page and say which rule you think it breaks and why. We look at the review against this policy and tell you what we decided. The review stays visible while we look unless it is clearly unlawful or exposes someone's private information.
7. Your right to speak
Nothing in our terms stops you from sharing a truthful opinion about a pro or about us, on HireHelpers or anywhere else. We do not take a review down because it is critical of us.
8. Changes
We may update this policy with the notice described in the Terms. The Legal page lists changes.