The TheReviews Guide
How our editors work
Customer reviews tell you how a business treats its customers on an ordinary day. A visit from one of our editors is one more ordinary day, written up by someone who does it for a living and who paid like everyone else.
The rules
- Nobody knows we are coming
- Editors book under their own name or a partner's, in the normal way, with no mention of TheReviews. They do not announce themselves on arrival or during the visit. If a business works out who they are, the editor says so in the write-up.
- We pay, every time
- TheReviews pays the full bill: the room, the meal, the treatment, the service charge and the tip. Each write-up states what we bought and, where it helps a reader, what it cost. Editors keep the receipt and the receipt is checked before anything is published.
- No free stays, meals or upgrades
- Editors accept nothing from the business before, during or after a visit. An unasked-for upgrade or a dessert on the house is noted in the write-up and taken into account, and if it changes the visit enough we go again another time.
- No business can ask for a visit, or pay for one
- There is no form, no fee and no list to join. Businesses on paid plans are treated exactly like those on the free one, and our commercial team never learns where the editors are going. A business that offers money, gifts or hospitality in exchange for a visit or an accolade is told no, and will not be visited while that offer stands.
- Every word is written by the editor who visited
- The write-up is the editor's own, in their own words, from their own notes. Nobody else drafts it, and no writing tool or text generator is involved at any stage. Our desk checks facts, spelling and length, and anything more than a small correction goes back to the editor.
- It does not change the score
- A visit sits above the reviews on a profile but it is not a review. It does not count towards the TheReviews score, the star average or the review totals, and it is not included in the ratings we publish for search engines. The score stays the published formula applied to customer reviews and nothing else.
How accolades are decided
Most visits carry no accolade. The editor who went proposes one, a second editor reads the write-up and the receipt, and both have to agree. If they do not, the lower one stands. An accolade describes the business as we found it, measured against others of its kind and price, not against the most expensive place in town.
Recommended
Good at what it sets out to do. We would send a friend.
Editor's Pick
Among the best of its kind in the city. Worth planning around.
Exceptional
Rare. Worth a journey for its own sake.
Every accolade is checked again at least once a year, usually by a different editor. When one goes up, comes down or is removed, the change is written to the public log on that profile with the reason.
Reporting a conflict of interest
If you think an editor knew the business, was given something, or should not have written a visit for any other reason, email email@thereviews.net with the business name and what you know. A senior editor who had no part in the visit looks into it and replies within five business days. If the report is upheld, the visit is withdrawn and the reason goes into the public log. Businesses can use the same address; a report is not a way to have a fair visit removed.
Questions about the visits
Can a business reply to a visit?
Yes, once, in public, in the same way it can reply to a review. The reply sits under the write-up. A business cannot edit, hide or remove the visit itself, and cannot pay to have it changed.
What if the business has changed since you went?
Every write-up shows the month of the visit. Accolades are checked again at least once a year, and sooner if a business changes hands, moves, or the reviews from customers start telling a different story. A visit that is more than a year old is marked as due a return visit.
Can a visit be taken down?
Only by our editors, and only with a reason, for example if the business has closed or a return visit found something different. The withdrawal and the reason go into the public moderation log on the profile.
Do editors review places they know?
No. An editor does not visit a business where they, their family or a close friend works, owns a stake, or has been a paid supplier. They also do not visit a business they have written about for anyone else in the last two years.