text: HomeStars Forum - Topic - is homestars really Credible?
  I have noticed that you will remove negative reviews from companies that are your home stars winners?? Is this because these contractors are paying you to be a part of your web site, I checked the background of a person that left a negative review, that is now under you apparent review, and I can tell by the lingo used and my knowledge of the industry that the complaint was legitimate. Obviously you will remove bad reviews for your paying customers to protect your interests so how credible is your little review website??? I'm sure this comment will go under your review and disappear as well very soon. We will be watching.
  Hi Brutec, all companies who list on our site, whether premium or basic listings, can contact us to have reviews investigated for legitimacy. The review is then taken down and an email is sent to the author to confirm that they are a real customer of the company. So long as we determine the review is genuine it will go back up on the listing.
  We take the legitimacy and trustworthiness of the information on our site extremely seriously and work hard to make sure we have information that is both useful and truthful for homeowners.
  Collen I notice you do not show your face in your avitar…..Hmmmmm, proud of our chosen livlihoods are we??
  Colleen is super awesome at her job and everyone loves her. She works really hard at meeting the needs of contractors and home owners so please don't egg her on. It's not necessary and certainly adds no value to this conversation.
  "@HomeStars:"http://twitter.com/homestars
  Yup, and there you go violating the forum Code of Conduct.
  I own a business and had a competitor leave a negative false and damaging review of my business on YELP. I asked Yelp to make this person prove that this person was a customer by producting an invoice as I knew it was a competitor with a similar company name that we are having legal issues with. In his review he even went as far as to say that we were imitating the other company and named them and stated that we ripped him off for $20,000.00. We have enven had to call the police on this fellow and have a police report against him. Yelp will do nothing and lets his review stand and it is causing damage to our business. I commend Homestars for taking the time to ensure that customers are real as the Cyber bully can cause great damage to a business and is so easy for some one to do out of revenge. If you have business like Yelp that will do nothing about it, your business is damaged.
  Sheila's Window Toppers & More Ltd
  name in Scarborough
  As I found out recently, reading and writing reviews for all those sites (including HomeStars) is a waste of time.
  They are happy to show positive reviews, even when written by the business owner, and would not remove it, even if you let them know.
  They will not let you to leave the negative review (even if it can be proved by the pictures and the documents), because the business owner pays for the advertising.
  A simple question: if I hire someone based on the review from 'HomeStars' and the company ruins my property or runs away with my money, is 'HomeStars' going to return my money?
  So … do not waste your time, browsing such sites.
  Talk to your friends, or go and hire specialists from some big companies like Home Depot or Rona.
  "They are happy to show positive reviews, even when written by the business owner, and would not remove it, even if you let them know.
  They will not let you to leave the negative review (even if it can be proved by the pictures and the documents), because the business owner pays for the advertising."
  Scarborough (bluffs?)
  I doubt what you say is true. First off, you shouldn't mention other sites and this one in the same breath. Yelp, imho, is a veritable online slum run by dishonest couch potatoes who think that getting back to you with your concerns 3 weeks after your inquiry is a good response time. I have found them to be highly unethical and completely unintelligent in all my dealings with them.
  Homestars on the other hand is always there to immediately address concerns by well trained, polite staff. As to your allegation that Homestars will delete bad reviews just because a premium member asks that it be done, what is more likely is that you simply failed to make your case. If you can't prove, by documentation, on a balance of probabilities, that a company did the work you said they did, then in all fairness to the 'process', your complaint should not stand and the review removed.
  Sorry that your experience with a tradesman, regardless of how you happened upon them, was anything less than stellar.