Reviews policy

Who can write a review

• Only the homeowner whose job a trade took through us (it took the job online, was put through on our Job line, or was the price they picked), and only once they mark that trade “Hired” on their jobs page. Marking it “Not hired” later deletes the rating.
• About 14 days after a trade took a job posted online, we also email the homeowner a private link to review that trade (it works for 90 days), and 3 days after a Job line job we text once to ask who they hired.
• One review per job and trade. The homeowner can change their own rating and review.
• The trade can reply once, publicly.
• Trades can’t write, buy or ask for reviews on our site, and we never write or pay for reviews. We don’t offer anything for a review, good or bad.

What we publish

• Every review that meets this policy is published straight away, good or bad. We don’t edit reviews, and we never hide or take down a review for being negative.
• The homeowner’s first name if they give one (else “A homeowner”), the trade, the postcode district, the date, and “Hired through the Job line” or “Hired through Linesteward” for a job we matched.
• A trade’s rating is the average of its published reviews, to one decimal place, with how many there are. “No reviews yet” when there are none.

What we take down

A trade can report a review. It stays up while a person looks at it. We take a review down only if it breaks these rules: it is abusive or discriminatory, holds someone’s personal details (like a phone number or address), is not about the job, is spam or an advert, or was not written by the homeowner. A review also comes down when the trade gets its credits back for that job (we accepted the job wasn’t real, so it isn’t a job we matched). We keep a note of every review we take down and why.

After 12 months

We delete jobs and homeowners’ details 12 months after the job was posted. Reviews stay published, without the job or the homeowner’s name. A homeowner who deletes their details at once deletes their reviews too.

Something wrong?

If you think a review is fake or breaks these rules, email support@linesteward.com with the trade’s name and the review.