ConsumerAffairs Review Guide

Who uses ConsumerAffairs

Consumer-facing companies in areas such as home services, warranties, finance, senior care and moving, and the shoppers who research them. ConsumerAffairs earns money from Authorized Partners, which it marks with a blue check; companies that do not pay are labeled as not yet authorized.

Claim your profile

1. Search for your company profile on ConsumerAffairs and click the 'Are you this business?' button, which leads to the sign-up page.
2. Alternatively, use the Contact Us page and choose the option to claim your free business account; a team member then contacts you to get started.
3. If you cannot find your profile, ConsumerAffairs points businesses to the general inquiry form on the Contact Us page.
4. Basic accounts are free for businesses that qualify and do not expire.
5. To become a paying Authorized Partner later, use the Upgraded Plan Feature section of your account profile, or the general inquiry form if you have no account yet.

Official guidelines: consumeraffairs.com

Replying to reviews

Companies with a free basic account or an Authorized Partner account can respond to reviews publicly or privately. A public response appears directly under the review; the site shows one public response per review per company, and the company can update it at any time. Private messages to the reviewer are sent through the ConsumerAffairs platform, which relays replies between the business and the consumer.

• Basic account holders learn about a new review before it is published and can contact the reviewer privately during the holding period, then respond publicly or privately once it is posted.
• During the holding period, any company with an account can ask ConsumerAffairs to publish the review before the five business days end.
• Authorized Partners can also contact reviewers directly by email or other contact details tied to the reviewer's account, and can feature one to three reviews labeled as featured by the company.
• Reviewers do not have to change or remove a review because a company asks. ConsumerAffairs says companies should not pressure reviewers and should keep outreach focused on addressing the concern.
• A reviewer can post an update after an issue is resolved; the original and updated review and rating are shown side by side.

Official guidelines: consumeraffairs.com

Review rules

In our own words. The official page is the rule that applies.

• Anyone who submits a review on the website must register for an account. ConsumerAffairs also collects reviews for Authorized Partners by email, phone, third-party consumer panels and social media.
• Every review goes through moderation, which ConsumerAffairs says usually takes 24 to 72 hours, then a holding period of five business days before publication.
• Moderation checks for problems such as profanity, sensitive information, threats or the wrong company name, and reviews flagged as duplicates, spam or fake are not published.
• The guidelines ask for firsthand, factual detail (usually over 100 words) and rule out profanity, threats, personal insults, email addresses, phone numbers and links.
• A review must be unique: not one already posted on another site, and not a second review of the same experience with the company.
• Companies working with ConsumerAffairs may not offer anything of value to influence reviews or otherwise interfere with them, and software filters out reviews that look fake or generated at a company's direction.
• The overall satisfaction rating is a weighted average of ratings from the most recent 24 months, weighted by time and verification.

Official guidelines: consumeraffairs.com

Reporting a review

ConsumerAffairs's own process, step by step.

1. The ConsumerAffairs pages we checked do not describe a way for businesses to flag or dispute a published review.
2. Reviews are screened before publication, and those flagged as duplicates, spam or fake are not published.
3. With an account, a business sees a review during the holding period and can contact the reviewer to resolve the issue before it posts; the reviewer may then update the review.
4. The terms of use say ConsumerAffairs may edit, refuse to post or remove any content at its sole discretion.
5. The Contact Us page offers a general inquiry form, but says it is not for complaints or comments about companies.

Official guidelines: consumeraffairs.com

Tips

• Claim the free basic account so you see new reviews during the holding period.
• Use the holding period to reach out privately and try to resolve the problem.
• Keep each public response factual and calm, and update it when the situation changes.
• Never pressure a reviewer to remove or change a review, and never offer anything of value for a review.