Review Guidelines
In one line: How to write a review that helps kababayan, what we don't allow, and what happens when a review is reported.
Last updated
The short version
- Your own experience only. You visited or used the business yourself.
- Not if you're the owner, staff, family, a competitor, or the person who added the listing.
- No rewards for reviews, giving or getting.
- Think a business isn't licensed? Report it, don't review it. We check the register.
- Reviews go live right away for established accounts. Reported reviews stay up while we look, except for personal information, harassment or illegal content.
1. Who can review
You can review a business if you visited it or used its service yourself. On the form you tick:
This is my own experience. I visited or used this business myself and I'm not the owner, staff, a relative or a competitor.
That box is required, and it's a promise.
You can't review a business if you:
- own it, work there, or have claimed it (or are claiming it);
- are related to the owner or staff;
- run a competing business;
- suggested the listing to us (the system won't let you);
- were paid, or given a discount, gift or contest entry, to write it.
One review per business per person. You can edit your review any time. It stays live and shows as edited.
You need an account. Sign in with Google or with a link we email you. If you use Google, the name on your Google account becomes your display name, the name that appears publicly next to your reviews; the form shows it to you before you post, and you can change it there, or by emailing us, any time. If you sign in by email link, you choose a name the first time you review. You can also tick a box to show "via Google" next to your review. It's off unless you tick it, and you can ask us to take it off any time.
2. What makes a good review
- Say what you got and how it went. Dates, what you ordered, what the job was.
- Be specific and fair. A 2-star review with details helps more than a 1-star with none.
- Keep it about the business. 20 to 2,000 characters.
- Tagalog, English, Bisaya, Ilocano: write in the language you'd use with a friend.
3. What we don't allow
- Second-hand stories. "My cousin said…" isn't your experience.
- Personal information. No phone numbers, emails, addresses or web links; the form blocks them. Don't name private individuals. The first name of the staff member who served you is fine.
- Harassment, threats, slurs, hate. Including about someone's origin, accent, faith, gender or immigration status.
- Licensing accusations. "This electrician isn't licensed" is a factual claim about a real business. If you believe it, report the listing. We check the regulator's register and act. A review that makes a licensing claim is held or removed, and you're pointed to the report form.
- Anything illegal, and anything that advertises another business.
- Reviews for reward, in either direction.
- Reviews of unpublished or closed listings.
4. How reviews go live
We publish first and check after. That's how a small community site stays honest without a queue.
- A review from an account older than 24 hours goes live immediately, up to 3 reviews a day.
- A review from a brand-new account, or a 4th review in a day, is held for a quick look, usually within 2 business days, and stays off the page until then. You'll see: "Salamat! Your review is in. It gets a quick look before it goes live — usually within 2 business days."
- Every form has a bot check.
Payment, plans and "Featured" status never change how reviews are shown, what rating appears, or where a business ranks in ordinary results.
5. Reports, takedowns and appeals
Anyone can report a review with the Report link, including the business owner. Here's what happens:
- The review stays up while we look, unless the report is about personal information, harassment or illegal content. Those are hidden right away.
- We decide within 2 business days and email the reporter the outcome.
- A review comes down if it breaks these guidelines or the law. It does not come down for being negative, blunt or one-star.
- The business owner never learns who reported a review.
If your review was removed and you think we got it wrong, email ramuel@askpinoy.com within 12 months. We keep removed reviews for 12 months for exactly this reason, then delete them.
If you're a business owner and believe a review is false and damaging, report it with specifics: dates, what actually happened, anything that shows the reviewer wasn't a customer. We take that seriously and look within 2 business days. We won't remove a review only because you disagree with it.
6. Owner replies
Owners can reply once to each review, publicly, right under it. Good replies are short, warm and specific.
Owners can't edit, hide, delete or reorder reviews, and can't see who reported one.
A reply must not include a customer's personal information (a name beyond the one they used, a phone number, a visit date that identifies them, what they bought) and must not threaten or insult. We remove replies that do. A listing that keeps doing it is suspended.
7. Asking customers for reviews
Businesses may show a "review us on AskPinoy" card, QR code or link to all customers. Businesses may not:
- offer anything in return for a review;
- ask only the customers they think will be positive;
- write reviews themselves, or through staff, family or friends.
AskPinoy never pays for reviews, runs review contests, or sends review requests on a business's behalf.
8. Your reviews and your account
If you delete your account, your reviews are deleted too. That's the default. When you delete, you can instead choose "keep my reviews without my name"; they then show "A past member" as the author. We can only keep a review that contains no personal information. This is also stated on the review form.
9. Ratings
A business's rating is the average of its published reviews. Lists sorted by rating use a smoothed average, so one 5-star review doesn't outrank twenty 4.8s. Reviews are the reviewer's own opinion; AskPinoy doesn't verify what they say.
Questions: ramuel@askpinoy.com