Why was my review removed, and how do I appeal?

If a review you wrote has been removed, or hasn't appeared, it's natural to assume the business had it taken down. On Vouch Rate, that's not how it works. Reviews are removed only for a short list of published reasons, a person makes the decision, and you can appeal it.

If your review hasn't appeared yet

Most reviews publish straight away. Some are held for a moderator to look at first, for example when:

• automated checks spot something that might be personal information, a threat or promotional content;
• the review's authenticity checks raise questions, such as a brand-new account or several reviews arriving from the same network together.

Being held isn't an accusation. Many genuine reviews trip one of these checks for innocent reasons. A person looks at it and decides.

The reasons a review can be removed

A moderator can remove a review only on the grounds set out in our guidelines:

• No real experience. The review is made up, second-hand, or written by someone with no dealing with the business.
• An undeclared interest. It was written by staff, the owner, a competitor, or anyone else with an interest they didn't mention.
• A hidden incentive. The reviewer received payment, a discount or a gift and didn't say so, or the reward depended on the rating given. Reviews that disclose an incentive are not removed for it.
• Personal information. Names of staff who don't deal with the public, addresses, order numbers, phone numbers or payment details. Naming a customer-facing member of staff by first name is fine.
• Abuse or threats aimed at a person.
• Unlawful content, or content that puts someone at risk.
• The wrong business. The review is about a different company, or about something this business had no part in. If you posted your review on the wrong profile by mistake, this is the most likely reason. Write it again on the right one.

Where only part of a review is a problem, such as a phone number, it can be redacted rather than removed.

What is never a reason for removal

• The review is negative, or damaging to the business's reputation.
• The business objects to it, disputes it, or threatens legal action.
• The business pays for a higher plan, or is a customer of ours.
• The business and the reviewer disagree about what happened, and both accounts are plausible. That's what the business's public reply is for.

If a business threatens a reviewer with legal action to force a removal, that's grounds for us to note it publicly on the business's profile.

How to appeal a removal

You can appeal if we removed your review, or if we declined to remove one you reported.

1. Go to your account, find the review and choose "Appeal this decision". The decision and the reason you were given are attached automatically.
2. Respond to the specific reason given. Every decision cites the rule it relied on. "It was a genuine experience, and here is the order number" gives a moderator something to check. "This is unfair" doesn't.
3. A different, more senior moderator reviews it. They look at the same evidence plus anything you've added.
4. You get the outcome and the reasoning, whether the decision is upheld or overturned.

We count overturned appeals and publish the figures on our moderation page. A platform that never admits a wrong decision is either perfect or not counting.

If you're the business

Businesses don't appeal; they dispute. From your dashboard you can send a review to a moderator with private evidence, such as order records or correspondence. The review stays published while it's looked at. Disputing a review simply because it's critical breaks our business terms, and we record it when it happens.

The full process is on our appeals page.