Building Trust With HomeStars
Trust at HomeStars is not just a belief,
it’s the foundation of every decision we make.
At HomeStars, our mission is to connect homeowners with companies they can trust. For the past 10 years, were have worked very hard to be the most trusted resource for Canadians who are looking to hire home professionals, and shall continue to do so well into the future.
Reading reviews from other homeowners is an important way our homeowners assess the trustworthiness of a contractor. In addition to reviews, HomeStars has developed another way to help our community assess the reputation of a contractor.
Our new system is called the Star Score. It takes into account not only the ratings given by people who have hired contractors, but also other aspects of a contractors performance that homeowners may not be aware of.
Nancy Peterson, Founder and CEO of Homestars explains Star Score in this video:
What is Star Score?
Star Score measures the trustworthiness of the hundreds of thousands of contractors on our site. This new Score is calculated out of 100% much like exam scores, and takes into account many variables that we know through experience to be critical when choosing a trustworthy home professional.
The Score each contractor is given is defined by a number of important aspects of a contractors’ performance and changes dynamically, as the contractors’ business evolves. Here’s how it all works:
- Average rating is no longer a straight average of all reviews ever posted to a contractor profile. Reviews are now weighted based on a number of critical factors such as age of the review and reviewer attributes
- Recency measures how long it’s been since the company last had a review published
- Reputation measures whether a company has ever tampered with reviews or bullied homeowners to remove reviews
- Responsiveness measures how responsive companies are to homeowner requests
See here for a full overview on the origins of Star Score. This article explains in detail how the system works.
How Submitting A Review Works
We work hard to be the most trusted resource for homeowners who are looking to hire home contractors. We want to connect homeowners with companies they can trust. HomeStars has a dedicated team of people who work to validate the reviews we receive. We want to hear from you so that any information that may indicate a company might not be trustworthy can be passed on quickly to our readers.
When you submit a review it travels through a series of automated checks that weed out fake reviews and spam. It then arrives at HomeStars to be read by one of our Integrity Analysts to ensure it meets our guidelines.
In fact, over 20% of reviews submitted are not published because they do not meet our guidelines. Very few review sites are as careful as HomeStars at ensuring reviews are authentic. You might be asked to send in information to verify your review. The information provided will never be shared with the company or anyone else. Investigations of reviews are done to help provide only the best and most trusted content.
HomeStars has a dedicated team of people who work to validate the reviews we receive as well as provide homeowners with as much valid information as we can on the companies they are looking to hire.
Review Investigations
Review investigations are conducted by our Integrity Analysts. We investigate reviews for a variety of reasons but also at random, to ensure we are publishing the best possible content for our readers. If you receive an Investigation email please read the email to see what we need from you. Our Integrity Analysts are here to provide assistance with this process and can answer any questions you might have.
Write the most thorough review you can
Many people are reluctant to write a review that contains details that might reflect poorly on the home professional they hired, and in many cases, this is understandable. A through and honest assessment - even if it’s a negative one - is helpful for companies who might continue to make the same mistakes without knowing, as well as other homeowners.
Check out this article for tips on how to write a helpful review and effectively rate your home professional.
Be anonymous, if you prefer
You now have the option to not publish your username on a particular review. If you choose to be anonymous, that review will not be included with all your other reviews on your user profile.
When writing a review about a poor negative experience, remember to keep the details to the job and refrain from making it personal. Your review should not be emotional, insulting or defamatory. Everyone makes mistakes and most want to learn from them. So let your voice be heard—and hopefully your unpleasant experience will not be relived by others.