1. Purpose

Reviews are intended to help homeowners make more informed decisions when choosing professionals and to help professionals build a genuine reputation through their work on Fixena.

Fixena aims to make reviews:

• genuine;

• relevant;

• fair;

• transparent;

• based on real experiences; and

• resistant to manipulation.

Reviews may also contribute to a professional’s Fixena history and, where applicable, their Fixena Trusted status.

2. Who can leave a review?

A homeowner may leave a review where they have had a genuine interaction or completed job with a professional through Fixena.

Where possible, Fixena may restrict reviews to users with a verifiable connection to the relevant professional or job.

This is intended to reduce fake or misleading reviews.

Professionals may also be able to review homeowners where Fixena introduces such functionality, subject to separate rules.

3. Reviews should reflect genuine experiences

Reviews must be based on the reviewer’s genuine experience.

Reviews should be:

• truthful;

• relevant to the service;

• based on the reviewer’s own experience

• reasonably accurate; and

• expressed in good faith.

Users must not knowingly submit false or misleading reviews.

4. Prohibited reviews

Users must not submit reviews that:

• are completely fabricated;

• are based on an experience they did not have;

• impersonate another person;

• contain deliberately false allegations;

• are designed to manipulate a professional’s rating

• are submitted in exchange for payment or another benefit;

• are submitted by a competitor pretending to be a customer;

• are duplicated repeatedly;

• contain another person’s private information

• contain passwords, financial information or other sensitive information;

• contain threats or harassment;

• contain discriminatory or abusive material;

• promote unrelated products or services; or

• deliberately attempt to damage someone’s reputation through false information.

5. Reviews and incentives

Professionals must not offer homeowners money, discounts, gifts or other benefits in exchange for a positive review.

Similarly, homeowners must not demand a payment, discount or other benefit in exchange for removing or changing a genuine review.

Fixena may permit legitimate incentives for leaving a review, provided the incentive does not depend on the review being positive and this is clearly disclosed where required.

6. Negative reviews

A professional may receive a negative review.

A negative review is not, by itself, a breach of Fixena’s policies.

Homeowners should be able to describe genuine problems with:

• workmanship;

• communication;

• punctuality;

• pricing;

• cleanliness;

• reliability;

• the scope of work; or

• other relevant aspects of their experience.

Professionals should respond constructively where they believe a review is inaccurate or unfair.

7. Professional responses

Where functionality allows, professionals may respond to reviews.

Responses should:

• remain professional;

• address the relevant issue;

• avoid personal attacks;

• avoid revealing private homeowner information; and

• avoid threatening or intimidating the reviewer.

Professionals must not publish private information about a homeowner in response to a review.

For example, a professional should not disclose:

> “The reason we were late was because the homeowner was receiving medical treatment.”

Even if true, that could disclose private information that is not appropriate to publish.

8. Retaliation is prohibited

Professionals must not retaliate against a homeowner because they:

• left a negative review;

• complained about work;

• requested a refund;

• reported a professional;

• contacted Fixena; or

• exercised a legal right.

Retaliation may result in suspension or removal from Fixena.

9. Review manipulation

Fixena may investigate unusual patterns of reviews.

This may include:

• multiple reviews from linked accounts;

• reviews from people who did not use the professional;

• sudden coordinated review activity;

• repeated reviews;

• reviews apparently exchanged between professionals;

• reviews created to manipulate rankings; or

• other suspicious activity.

Fixena may take reasonable steps to protect the integrity of the review system.

10. Verification of reviews

Where possible, Fixena may identify reviews associated with a verified Fixena job or genuine platform interaction.

For example:

✓ Verified Fixena job

may indicate that Fixena can confirm that the reviewer and professional were connected through the platform.

A verified review does not mean that Fixena agrees with every statement contained in the review.

It indicates that the underlying interaction can be verified through Fixena’s records.

11. Review moderation

Fixena may review or moderate content where necessary to:

• enforce this policy;

• comply with law;

• protect users;

• prevent fraud;

• remove illegal content;

• protect privacy;

• address abuse; or

• maintain the integrity of the platform.

Fixena does not intend to remove a review simply because it is negative.

12. Removal of reviews

Fixena may remove or restrict a review where it reasonably believes that the review:

• is fake;

• is materially misleading;

• violates these policies;

• contains unlawful or seriously abusive content;

• exposes private information;

• is duplicated;

• was generated through manipulation;

• was submitted by someone without a genuine connection to the experience; or

• otherwise undermines the integrity or safety of the platform.

Where appropriate, Fixena may request information or evidence before making a decision.

13. Disputing a review

A professional who believes a review is inaccurate or violates this policy may report it to Fixena.

The professional should explain:

• which part of the review they dispute;

• why they believe it is inaccurate or inappropriate; and

• any relevant evidence they can provide.

Evidence may include:

• photographs;

• invoices;

• quotations;

• messages;

• job records;

• appointment information; or

• other relevant documentation.

Fixena may investigate but does not guarantee that it will remove a disputed review.

14. Fixena does not act as the judge of every dispute

Fixena may moderate reviews for policy, safety, privacy and platform-integrity reasons.

However, Fixena is not necessarily able to determine who is legally or factually correct in every disagreement between a homeowner and professional.

For example, where a homeowner says:

> “The workmanship was poor.”

and the professional says:

> “The work was completed correctly.”

Fixena may not be able to establish the technical truth without an independent assessment.

A disagreement does not automatically mean that either review should be removed.

15. Reviews and professional reputation

Reviews may contribute to a professional’s Fixena profile.

Depending on the platform functionality, this may include:

• average rating;

• number of reviews;

• review history;

• verified reviews;

• completed jobs; and

• other reputation indicators.

Fixena may use review information as one factor when calculating or displaying a professional’s trust indicators.

Reviews will not necessarily be the only factor considered.

16. Fixena Trusted status

Reviews may contribute to eligibility for a Fixena Trusted status.

However, a professional’s trust status may also take account of:

• verification;

• qualifications;

• registrations;

• insurance;

• completed Fixena jobs;

• response history;

• platform conduct; and

• other relevant information.

A high review score does not automatically mean that a professional is Fixena Trusted.

Similarly, Fixena Trusted status does not guarantee future workmanship.

17. Reviews and the Home Passport

Where appropriate, a homeowner may choose to retain information about a completed professional job within their Home Passport.

This may include:

• the professional;

• work completed;

• date;

• invoice;

• warranty;

• certificate;

• photographs; and

• review.

The homeowner remains in control of information stored within their Home Passport, subject to the applicable Fixena functionality and permissions.

A professional’s public Fixena review profile is separate from the homeowner’s private Home Passport.

18. Reviews after direct repeat work

A homeowner may be able to review a professional following work that began through Fixena, including later work forming part of an ongoing relationship.

The precise eligibility rules will depend on how Fixena’s repeat-job and Trusted Home Team functionality develops.

Fixena will aim to ensure that reviews represent genuine experiences rather than allowing unlimited or artificial review generation.

19. Professional reviews of homeowners

Fixena may introduce a facility allowing professionals to leave feedback about homeowners.

If introduced, this will be subject to appropriate rules concerning:

• accuracy;

• relevance;

• privacy;

• discrimination;

• retaliation;

• moderation; and

• access to information.

We will publish additional guidance before introducing such functionality.

20. Legal responsibility for user-generated reviews

Reviews are submitted by users and represent the reviewer’s experience and opinion.

Fixena does not automatically adopt or endorse the statements contained in user reviews.

Users remain responsible for the content they submit.

Fixena may remove content where required by law or where it breaches applicable Fixena policies.

21. Changes to this Reviews Policy

We may update this policy as review functionality develops or legal requirements change.

Changes may be made to address:

• new review features;

• verified reviews;

• professional responses;

• homeowner/professional feedback;

• moderation processes; or

• changes in applicable law.

22. Contact Fixena

Questions or concerns about reviews can be sent to:

Fixena Ltd

Email: hello@fixena.co.uk