How reviews work

What the badges mean

Verified job: The job is confirmed and a record backs it: a contract the homeowner signed, an invoice, a permit, or a payment record, or a document the reviewer uploaded that a staff member opened and checked. The page behind every stamp lists what was checked and when. Documents are never shown publicly.
Invited by business: The customer used a one time link the business sent. Invites prove a relationship but not the details, so they are labeled separately from Verified Job. Businesses cannot preview, approve, or block invited reviews.
Resolved by business: The reviewer says the business made things right after the review. The original review stays, with the badge added.
Claimed: The owner claimed the business with its Washington L&I or Oregon CCB license number and a code sent to the phone on the state record. Claiming lets them reply and edit the profile. It never lets them remove reviews.
License active · checked: Taken from Washington L&I or Oregon CCB public data, with the date we checked. We check claimed licenses every morning; the state can take days to post a change, so it is not real time. A license a business typed in and nobody checked is labeled not checked.

How ratings are calculated

The number on each profile is the plain average of every published review. Nothing is hidden or weighted on the profile itself.

Search ranking uses a confidence adjusted score, so one five star review cannot outrank forty strong ones. The formula adds four imaginary reviews at 3.6 stars to every contractor:

(4 × 3.6 + sum of ratings) ÷ (4 + number of reviews)

Profiles also show the last 12 months separately when it differs from the all time average, because crews and owners change.

Reviewers can add follow up updates and change their star rating later. The original rating stays on record and is shown next to the update.

Job facts are optional answers from reviewers: what the project cost, how long they waited for work to start, and how much deposit was asked up front. Profiles show the most common answer and how many reviewers gave one. When two or more reviewers report a deposit over half the price, the profile shows a caution, because many states limit contractor deposits.

What gets removed, and what does not

Moderators remove a review only for a threat or harassment, personal information, a proven fake, spam or a review of a different business, or a court order or copyright notice. A proven fake means the evidence shows the reviewer was never a customer, works for the business or a competitor, or was paid for the review.

Moderators do not remove a review because it is negative, because the business disagrees, or because anyone paid. No plan changes this.

Automatic checks look for phone numbers, email addresses, street addresses, links, repeated text, bursts of reviews from new accounts, and reviewers whose email domain matches the business. Reviews with personal information wait for a moderator before they go live. Everything else publishes immediately and gets a second look.

Every removal is counted on the contractor's profile by reason, and site wide totals are in the transparency report.

When a contractor disputes a review

The owner reports the review and explains why, for example that there is no record of the customer.
The review stays visible with a note that the business reported it.
A moderator can ask the reviewer for proof of the job. The reviewer gets 14 days.
If proof arrives and checks out, the review becomes Verified and the report is closed. If no proof arrives, the review stays up with the note that the business reported it. It is removed only when evidence shows it is fake.
Both sides get a notification with the outcome. Removed reviewers can edit and ask for another look.

Owners can always reply publicly instead. A calm, specific reply often does more than a removal would.

Review invites

A claimed business sends a one time review link from the app when a job is finished. Reviews from those links are labeled Invited. The business cannot see, approve, or hold the review. Fair rules: send the link after every job, offer nothing in return, and never ask only the happy customers. Profiles show how many finished jobs got a link and how many reviews came from one.

Privacy

Reviews show a display name and city, never an email or street address. Photos have location data and camera details removed before they are saved. Proof documents and claim documents are visible only to the person who uploaded them and to moderators. You can delete your account and everything you posted from your settings.