For Businesses
Collecting Reviews
Reviews are the part of your listing you cannot write yourself. You can, however, make sure the customers who had a good job are the ones who remember to say so.
What is allowed
Do This
- Ask every customer, not only the ones you expect to be happy
- Ask once, shortly after the job, when the detail is fresh
- Include a link on your invoice, your email signature or a leave-behind card
- Explain what a useful review covers: the quote, the work, the timing, the result
- Reply to reviews, warmly to the good ones and factually to the bad ones
Never This
- Offering a discount, a free service or any other incentive for a review
- Asking only customers you already know were delighted
- Writing reviews yourself, or having staff, family or an agency write them
- Reviewing a competitor, or paying anyone else to
- Pressuring a customer to change or delete a review, including by withholding work
A script that works
How to Ask
Short, neutral, and sent to everyone:
"Thanks for using us for your rug. If you have two minutes, a review on RugRate helps other people in the building know what to expect — the good and the bad. Here is the link."
Note what it does not do: it does not ask for five stars, it does not offer anything in return, and it does not promise the review will be positive.
Replying to a Bad Review
Prospective customers read the replies more carefully than the reviews.
Answer the specific thing
A generic "we are sorry you feel that way" reads worse than no reply. Address the actual complaint: the invoice, the delay, the stain that came back.
Put the facts on the record
If the written quote covered a different scope, say so plainly and without heat. Everyone reading can see both sides.
Say what you changed
The most persuasive reply a prospective customer can read is one where something went wrong and the company fixed its process.
Never publish customer details
No addresses, no phone numbers, no personal circumstances. Take specifics to a private channel.
Review FAQs for Businesses
Can I offer a discount for a review?
No. Incentivised reviews are removed when we find them, and a pattern of them affects the listing. It also biases exactly the signal customers came here to read.
Can I choose which customers get asked?
You can decide when to ask, but cherry-picking only your happiest customers is review gating, and it is against the rules. Ask everyone or nobody.
A review is unfair. Can I get it removed?
Unfair is not the same as against the rules. Reviews come down when there was no real job, when they are abusive, when they identify someone, or when they come from a competitor. Otherwise, reply publicly — a calm factual reply persuades readers more than a deletion would.
Can I reply to every review?
Yes, and it is worth doing. Replies are public and attached to the review permanently.
Do reviews affect my transparency score?
Indirectly. Customers are asked whether the final invoice matched the quote, and that question feeds the quote-accuracy part of the score. Star ratings themselves do not.