FreeIndex News

I have a negative review on my page that I believe was put there by a rival tattooists friend. Can I get this removed?

Still no book.Have you showed the email to Martin I am sure he will be very interested of his beds getting stolen vehicle been used and factory left open .I have got evidence on my phone from Ian Reymond .

How do I "delete" message in the Inbox? Also there are far too many of these, how can I reduce the number,I'd rather not have all these notifications please?
More importantly for my title Quirky Claus I placed the llustrations on your site, but the Gallery will 'not' scroll correctly through these, and just hops between the cover and another one!
Not very good Freeindex, you ask for us to utilise the service to its full capacity, then when we do, not all the features work!!!
Please can you assist?
Also, is there a way of getting rid of the "Inbox" on here and have a massively reduced number of messages - only sent to my AOL account please?

There is only one word for this HONISTY if you don't pro try honesty with in your business you should not be running a business full stop. well done freeindex for putting the system in place.

I am glad freeindex take the reviews issue so seriously . It protects us from nasty attacks from competitors who will go to any lenths including deformation of character and slander just to promote there own business in our areas. I welcome constructive criticism from our customers as well as positive feed back? It helps us to provide a unique service to our customers ?
Unfortunately thous who post nasty reviews will use another computer from a bogus account in order to protect their identity? Or ask someone else to post a negative review about our company just to promote their own business's in our areas.

Reviews don't come easy. I've always found that only about 1 in every 5 clients will bother to come on and leave feedback, so when you see a company getting two and three reviews a day, and the review is stuffed with very high praise and a lot of useful keywords, it's obvious they're writing their own. The more cunning individuals will farm it out to friends and family, or use internet cafes to get round the IP filter, so in the end we have to hope the public can see through the mist and decide which review pages are to be trusted. Google on the other hand, doesn't care about the validity, and they'll just show that big fat number in the search results, and for a lot of people that carries weight, so we're still some way from a fool proof method of weeding out the fakes. Maybe a photo with the clients is in order, to bring some degree of control to the situation?

The system works, I had someone leaving malicious personal attacks on my reviews (not even a customer). Many thanks to the free index team who reviewed them promptly for me, and immediately removed them.

Good to know you are looking after your users best interests. Thank you very much and for your dedication to making the site excellent to use..

Great idea! Really pleased that this has been implemented.

Great

Good idea,This is a good policy that will weed out the black hatters in the community. Keep up the good work!
www.ukscrapcars.net

Brilliant - Its a pity that more sites have not adopted this simple method of weeding

I do a lot of sisters nails and they will probably use the same computer to leave feedback!

How do we remove a review?

I continue to struggle to get reviews from my clients, whilst some are happy to email me a note of appreciation It remains a problem for them to sign up to another site and post that appreciation. consequentiality i use freeindex less and less and no longer vocalize it's usefulness

HI Freeindex Team
It's a good idea although we have missed out because a lot of our clients are OAP's with no internet so cannot leave us a review when we particularly want to reassure elderly and disabled people that they can trust us. We treasure our elderly clients and give them 10% off labour and pass on all our trade discounts to them. We have just updated our website and asked our clients to leave reviews on our Blog and on our Freeindex listing and we currently have 11 very good reviews and still counting! We had no problem with the link we sent them - just copied exactly the profile number showing in the browser when we are on our Freeindex page. Thanks Freeindex - we are starting to get regular enquiries through your service and really appreciate it.

Good idea, and I'm glad I know about it as I have allowed a customer to use my lap top to leave a review before. I will have to remember not to do that in the future

Good idea. Personal attacks are not what this site is about but about the standard of the products and services provided. High standards & products are the issue

Brilliant policy as I have had problems with a rival company making up fake email addresses and leaving fake negative reviews about my company without even having to declare details of when and where they used my company. they alos have made up fake positive testamonies about their own company, about time this was stamped out.

I can understand where you are coming from. I have in the past asked clients after gaining their exam results to leave a review from my premises. I will make sure any further reviews are done from their own PC.

Good idea

good idea keep up the good work

good idea, for revewing i.p addresses is also a good thing to display

I have had the same problem as Beuty wedding my customers did their reviews from our premises. I will contact them and see if they can do them again from their homes.

Brilliant - Its a pity that more sites have not adopted this simple method of weeding out all the review fakers.

This lady has never complained and now 6months later shes complaining, has not called me and i have rung and her son was rude and abrupt i have recording of this call

I too had the same problem with a couple of my reviews being flagged up when these were done by bone fide clients completing the reviews on my premises. But I see there is a solution now and will contact them and see if they will go in on their own computers to update and this will remove it.

This is a good policy that will weed out the black hatters in the community. Keep up the good work!

Great idea, a fab policy

Excellent idea.

Great idea. One site I approached accepted anonymous reveiws so anyone could destroy your business overnight if they so wished without ever dealing with you, Time this was sorted. Now we can rest assured that positive or negative reveiws can be used as a real indication to the public of the quality of service being provided.

Quite a useful policy, but my immediate problem is of a different pedigree. I've come to the realization that I will always be at a disadvantage with respect to my Listing Position, as my professional body frowns upon its members asking clients for reviews or referrals. I'm starting to wonder if this is the right market place for me...

This is all a good idea but I have sent the link to 3 of my clients in order that they can post a review and none of them can access the webpage as they get a message saying it does not exist!!

Hi there

I have only just looked at your email, and it is good that you look at good or bad reviews and put counter flags on if from the same IP address. But the reviews we have are from genuine clients who we ask to write the review when and if they visit our office (hence the same IP Address. We are sorry for this and we will make sure they write on their own computers if they have one

I too agree that this is a good idea but if you would consider a small area whereby we could send a reminder email to our customers to leave feedback it would be most helpful, as we have the utmost difficulty is getting people to post any sort of feed back.

I think, it is a very good Idea.

Well done, good move on this new policy

Great Idea
Regards
PA Lloyd Painting, Decorating, Graphics and Line Markings.

I agree that this is a good idea but wondered if you might consider a small area whereby we could send a reminder email to our customers to leave feedback for our companies or am I missing it. I have looked for it??

I have a client without a computer and she wanted to write a review on mine, but I do understand your policy of course.

Regards

Good idea

Excellent idea but It can depend on your line of business. I have many customers that are old and have no interest in the internet but really value my service and are willing to offer a review but can only do so via my computer in the shop! I will lose out on these reviews even though they are genuine customers.

It's a good idea, explains why there are suddenly yellow triangles on reviews. Don't understand why some of my reviews have been flagged though, there's no way they could have come from the same computer, they don't even know each other. It's a real puzzle.

RE:You should ensure that they post their opinions on their own computers to avoid validity issues.
All very well if they are on the Internet, I can see where you are coming from but I am sure people will Know a fake review.As if it is too good to be true then usually it is.

It is a very good policy and makes sure that no one gets fraudulent reviews

Hi Free Index
Yes this is a good move for the whole of the service.
I always look at what other people have to say about a company. well done! I am firm believer that peoples opinions help to encourage other new customers to go to them if they have provided a good quality service.

I can totally understand your reason behind this action,but it has left me feeling a little embarrassed, as I now have two marked reviews both which are completely genuine.My clients asked me if they could use my laptop as they had tryed at home and had got confused with the process,I didn't realise that it would be a problem as they had to use their own account and veryfy it at home.In fact I would have alot more reviews but many of my clients have tryed but failed.At least I know now and can advise them on how to do it and to not use my PC.All in all I do agree that is a very good policy to maintain genuine reviews.Well done FreeIndex I have been more than happy with your services and think it is a brilliant way of promoting business.

i am pleased to hear of these changes as some low markings are put on peoples sites to bring about bed press. Well done freeindex team.

great

I have seen some reviews which read more like adverts than reviews so maybe this will work. But policing it is still going to be difficult.

Its best to see how long a company has been registered and has not had any negative feedback rather than seeing a company with lots of positive feedback which has obviously been input by themselves...keep up the good work freeindex... www.homecomms.co.uk

It has been blatantly obvious that a lot of the reviews have been self written, both on this site as well as many others. I have formed the opinion that any review written by a one off writer is generally fake. Also if the review is solely praise about a company without any kind of negative remarks, again I would hazard a guess that it has been self written.

I have had a negative review from a ex business partner, I have reported this and asked for it to be removed as he has lied and attacked me personally, but I have not yet received a reply from FreeIndex

Hear Hear! good work to the free index team, for taking action.
Regards Halina
Medium & Healer, Cheshire.
www.thetahealer.org.uk
07929 841223

I have just had a negative false review added and am hopping it will be removed as I have never seen Jane Austin as a client, nor read any of her books lol

Jane Austin is a false name, the review is malicious as I have never seen this client nor would I do what was stated. They do not state when my services were purchased (obviously they weren't lol)

I to am shocked when new companies get 50 reviews in the first week so am pleased that this is taken seriously

I hope to see the review removed ASAP

Thank you for realising this goes on and taking steps to stop it. This in turn helps a small business like mine compete with less honest businesses.
Ann Ashmore
Duckbillgifts.

Hi
i have several genuine reviews on free index, it does rather disappoint me when i see small company's with 50 plus reviews. Posted from there own computers as this still counts to there position on the listing . I believe it shouldn't be allowed have done free works on site and asked clients in return to put a honest review on free index , even then its difficult to get people to do it without reminding them. This is why i find it rather hard to believe these 50 reviews plus company's to be genuine. If they are genuinely from a client or customer id bet the company prep is looking over there shoulder.
Apart from the review issues am very happy with the free index service, many thanks free index team .
Michael Blake
M.B Roofing contracts
Andover
Hampshire
07956 693454 .

Thank you for taking steps to stop fake reviews. We know that Pneuma Springs Ltd in the book publishing section placed 9 reviews en-bloc to try and get to the top of the list. As you clearly realise, it is impossible for independent authors to do this.

Good job! Keep it up.

I feel as a transport provider dealing with customers on a daily basis your reviews are of the way forward within your business establishment. I think its a great idea that you can validiate the responses, comments and reviews left by the customer ....
Heels On Wheels prides itself on customer reviews , services and espically Free index highly recommended to all my customers for comments and to promote other companies and establishments .

It is a minefield....what to do for the best....I know someone who had a very negative experience with a client who subsequently left an awful review, which couldn't even be responded to never mind removed. I know that the review rules are in place to protect the client (and I applaud that every effort is made to make sure that it is genuine feedback) however, I do feel that we should be able to respond (objectively) to any negative feedback as what went wrong may not actually be all that bad or clients may have had unrealistic expectations. Plus, I have one review which is wonderful when it comes to the words but not when it comes to the scores (work that out!).
Overall, I have to say that this review system seems much fairer than previously. I direct ALL my clients to read my reviews and it reassures them that they will be booking a professional who truly cares about each job. It can, of course, have the opposite effect where a client thinks that you can't possibly live up to what's been said (I have had this said and proved them wrong!).

I think this is a great idea. As a company who uses your reviews system regularly with 97% good reviews its brilliant news. We would have made it 100% but one of our customers confused us with a rival company and gave us a slightly negative review which has stayed on our reviews page ever since with no way of getting it removed the customer Did wright a second review with 100% positivity but the original review still sits on a website with no way of having it removed.

very good service thanks

What happens then if you do work for two different customers and they both work at the same company and use there work email? There work email system will have the same IP address. This has happened to me and now has been flag up which does not give a good first impression.

Very good idea,especially for me as someone did post a personal attack,rather than a
professional one,and as i did not see the review for 4months, i know i lost custom
thru it,as it was the only review at the time.
So thanx for removing it FREEINDEX,my business has improved since you did so.
Your new policies should prevent any reoccurence of this sort of thing.

I think the new measures will enhance the site and the content.
I am very pleased about the guidelines regarding negative reviews.

great enhancement

A great idea this will let the public know they are getting professional trades people instead of cowboys.

Sounds great it will be better for the customers to find genuine tradesmen and stop the cheaters from trying to add bogus reviews. Well done good move

good idea Stop The False Reviews I could name one who does this so Its About time it was stopped 'Great'

great idea stops any bogus reveiws

A refreshing approach. So many trade organisations and sponsored sites give a false impression to the customers looking for genuine tradesmen. We have enjoyed the benefits of our reviews and look forward to continuing our relationship with Free index.

Well done, as others have said, it is obvious when some of these reviews have be written by the company in order to enhance their position. It takes alot of hard work to achieve good reviews and adopting these stricter procedures/monitoring will only enhance the genuine amongst us.

Good practise and policy. This it will strengthen the value of all feedback's regardless whether positive and negative.

Yes - totally agree with the move as it will strengthen the value of customer feedback. However you can't penalised a business if customers share a computer to right reviews. For goodness sake is everyone meant to have their own computer just to write a review - get a grip - you've got to have some appeal process for a business to prove the validity of genuine good/bad review.

Great move - some of the reviews are obviously not genuine.
You run a great site I would recommend it to anyone.
Keep up the good work.
Allan

Very good being fairly new to getting reviews on here although we have had a page for a while I appreciate only genuine ones can get used as it separates the "cowboys" out of our trade.

Well done

Great news, I decided to link to FreeIndex as it was exactly what I wanted - a review site customers could trust! My business has doubled which on talking to customers is largely due to the reviews so anything that keeps it trusted has got to be good news.

Keep up the good work!

i think this is a great step forward for freeindex and will only work in the favour of ot congratulations

I WOULD LIKE TO THANK YOUR TEAM FOR THE SUPPORT YOU HAVE COMMITED TO TOUCHSTONE LANDSCAPE GARDENS AND LOOK FORWARD TO A LONG AND PROSPEROUS FUTURE TOGETHER, HOW EVER I KNOW OF A COMPANY DISPLAYED ON YOUR SITE THAT COMPOMISES YOUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND WOULD APPRECIATE A MEMBER OF YOUR TEAM TO CONTACT ME ON THE COMPANY NUMBER SUBMITTED, BUT IN THE MEAN TIME I WISH YOUR TEAM MY BEST WISHES.

Brilliant. More of this stuff.

good move

Great idea,some customers leave you a 5 star reviev, then think they have you over a barrell and use the ability to change the score to a nagative review for their own purpose, many months later, as happened to ourselves, very annoying .

A fair and sensible policy, unfortunately a requiremt under the current times, as the minority spoil it for the majority

Great move Freeindex .. My respect for you just grows and grows!

I'm all in favour of this. I have seen some nasty and clearly suspicious negative reviews on other sites and felt very sorry for the company/individual concerned. There is definitely an opportunity for competitors to use these as a means of attack.
Fair play Free index
Cheers
Lee

Good idea!
In a negative review posted on my site, we are half accused of posting our own positive reviews. I haven't yet looked, but I'm very confident that our reviews have all passed your scrutiny. If not, I will investigate them thoroughly.
Well done, and keep up the good work.

very good, keep up the good work

Please see the Forum (Link above) for information on recent minor ammendments we have made to this policy.

have noticed that once i get positive reviews from my customers within a few days there seems to be a spurt of reviews from rival companies just to get back in the top 5

Several of my clients have posted reviews to my services from my computer. I asked them if they would and showed them 'free index' after their treatment with me. The flagging system makes me look bad and I would rather have them removed then have them flagged.

Hi Free Index.co.uk,
Thank you for the latest information and update with your T&C with regards to FreeIndex.co.uk. I could not agree with you more.
I would like to point out that I do have 1 review which I have noted has been flagged as Invalid as it say's this review might have been written on same PC as me - Blake Plastering. The review to which you are implying is from amandajblake, yes she is my sister - but the review she wrote to my Free Index account was for a Plastering job that I under took at her Boyfriends flat in Stoke Newington, London. This plastering job was skimming x 2 ceilings, plaster skim x 2 rooms (all walls) and Dot N Dab and skim the other wall. If you want I can telephone her boyfriend () and ask for him to leave a review. Also I can ask amndajblake to remove her review. I do not want any reviews on my account/free index which might seem un true.
Please can respond to my message regards to the latter. Thanks.
Sacha Blake
Blake Plastering

I have been a fan of FreeIndex for many years now and use it to promote my business before clients come and see me. I also have 21 positive reviews. I have also seen the latest posts regarding the fake positive reviews and can see both sides of the argument. Whilst there are some people who will undoubtedly complete their own reviews, I find myself in the same situation as some of the companies, in that a client who does not have easy access to a computer said she would fill in the review at my premises when she came for her dress fitting. This she did and then I find my review flagged with this "fake positive review" which doesn't look good against all the others which I have received. The only option my client would have had was to go to a library and complete the review there, so as not to have the same IP address as one at my premises. However, as this can cause too much hassle for some people, you can understand why they won't be bothered in the future to do these reviews, which kind of defeats the object of a site like this. I also have many hand written letter of thanks which I would have liked to turn into reviews for my business (some from elderly clients who don't even have a computer), but I obviously can't do this now and I am not impressed. I hope the FreeIndex team will take this into account and review this new policy? Sue Tye Dressed To Impress.

Freeindex can contact me direct the individuals that have placed references are VALID visit my office & premises ( timesheets , payslips, paperwork, etc...) So how a computer or team can make a judgement like that???
You wish to remove them go ahead but don't expect my business to circulate you details on my website or third connections anymore
Totally incorrect! Unprofessional! No thought for SME!!!

This policy in faulty. I placed one review on behalf of my customer because it was impossible for them to do so. With their permission. The new strategy adopted by Freeindex is not foolproof as they might like to think, but foolhardy as I am finding out. All my reviews are genuine, as are my customers. I object to this Big Brother approach.

I was horrified a minute ago when I saw the flags on the reviews of our business casting possible doubt on their validity! Although we are not a new business, it was a new venture to list with Freeindex. The reviews were placed by us with permission from the clients - we needed them published, as they were good reviews by genuine clients, whom we have photographs of to prove they exist - we photographed their weddings!!! They were to start up our new page. All of them are past clients who were kind enough to register a testimonial either with us, with Google, or with other business directories. To continually go back to these past clients and badger them to register with yet another directory to submit yet another review is impractical, in most cases impossible. In one case, believe it or not, the past client is now disabled, according to them currently without computer, and cannot go anywhere else without great inconvenience. It went though my head to invite them to our studio to submit a review - but obviously it would have made no difference to Freeindex! It would have still been the same IP address! I appreciate Freeindex for the positive aspect of what they do. But to say this negative strategy of flagging using the word "valid?" is not casting doubt over the reviews is silly, of course by implication it DEFINITELY IS casting doubt over the reviews, to disagree with this would be nonsense. I can understand Freeindex's desire to do something, but surely this is counterproductive. I for one will have to arrange for all these genuine reviews to be removed, and then probably remove my listing out of disappointment and frustration. So what would Freeindex do if a business simply went to a bunch of different computers, is this really a foolproof measure? Of course it isn't. Heavy handed, and flawed it certainly it is. I know it is - from experience! You could have at least contacted the businesses concerned in private instead of taking such a public measure. Not impressed!

Good policy I'm all in favour, however we often get our reviews after our photography workshops have ended on the company laptop. This then shows up in the review field which in some way discredits the review.

Simple way. You must register to post an article. Each registration is verified by sending a verification code to a UK landline, then the registrant will have to enter this code to create the review. People can proxy IP addesses and fake User Agents, so you need to verify the input by an actual person. Also, if someone gets suspicious that some posts are falsely created then there should be a report button.

Re:Richard Waghorn - If you use a netbook and get them to review your business at their location, then you should get a different IP address depending on what the netbook is connected to, if you are using mobile broadband you will always get a similar dynamic ip address (although not always the same one, but if you are connecting to their wireless network then you will be giving out their ip address not your own, so this shouldn't be seen as fake feedback anyway.

Totally agree, makes it harder for genuine business to get ahead when 'mates do the work ' for you. Fair play Freeindex, long overdue.

I think that this is a really forward measure by a progressive company that is constantly seeking new ways to improve their service.

I would like to see a right of reply option when negative reviews are place

Another good move freeindex!!

I welcome any change which prevents competitors making up bad reviews and posting them having been the subject of this.

Hi i have had a couple of reviews with the valid sign on them,i am very concerned about this as the customers that left these reviews are previous customers posting new reviews.They thought that it would be good for my business for people to see that we are getting repeated business,many thanks if you can look into this

Hi I asked some of my clients to complete the reviews from the computer at my training centre. I found that this was much better than asking the client to complete the review at a later date as I have sent emails to other past clients and to date none have reviewed their training.
Also I found that 2 of the clients were not aware that they had to register hence had they not completed the review.
Therefore for my business I believe it is better to get my clients to complete their review during the course rather than leaving it to a later day.

Will this be a problem going forward?

nice work Freeindex!...
Good reviews come from good honest hard work..
Theres nothing more annoying than false reviews to win clients over or malicious reviews.. It only looks bad on Freeindex and makes everyone else real one become worthless..

Good idea Freeindex, especially regarding the negative reviews. I have heard of malicious reviews from false profiles, which is very damaging to a company.

Hello there, I have not been through all the posts, but I am concerned that I have 3 'valid?' against some of my reviews. 2 are from a husband and wife who I worked with individually(so would leave reviews on their home pc) and the other is a client who was happy to complete the review at my office following our consultation and her completing my feedback form. It does not sit well with me that my integrity may be in question, but understand there does need to be checks. Thanks

What about companies that turn off their review system so that they cannot receive a negative review when they steal money from their customers???

Excellent idea to stop people faking their reviews but isn't it quite easy to change your IP address and if so how will you stop that?

excellent idea

Very Good, keep up the great work, Adrian Fletcher, MD Titan Security Fencing Limited

good idea bye bye cowboys

Hi free index congratulations on your new policy you have now discriminated against thousands of customers who dont own computers that want to write a revue but cant because of either their age or financial situation a couple of my customers have gave revues which i typed in their presencea on my computer when they came to pay me for services and one of them is 55 and cant turn a computer on let alone type a revue good idea but very unfair

keep up the hard work freeindex top site love it
terry @ northcheshirebrickwork

Very good. Nice to see freeindex is continually improving hence getting bigger. Thanks

If all other sites were as fair minded in dealing with these issues and adopt similar policies. Thank you.

I have been listed on your site for some time, I totally agree all what you are doing to make this site fair and open to everyone in this profession.

Thank you once again

Good to see such a professional team

any company with negative reviews should be highlighted as it makes it hard for good company's like mine to get a honest review to the customer. lynx-locks bournemouth. keep up the good work.

The IP address idea is good but doesn't cope with dynamic IP addresses. So loads of reviews could be posted from one laptop but the IP addresses will be different .. how will you pick these up?

keep up the good work guys

Great site and excellent policy re Reviews. What a thoroughly professional firm you are at Freeindex. Silverdale Swim Schools is proud to be associated with you. Keep on forging ahead.

Well done team freeindex.Keep up the good work

Great work...no complaints from here. It only happens because humans will be humans. Keep honest guys and you will be fine. The site looks great FreeIndex, thanks for all the work you've been doing and the quickness of your response.

I think this is a positive move which will ensure validity and create an atmosphere of credibility. Well Done

I totally agree. Well done. Peter

I agree with anything that makes it a better service

Well done.

I agree in principle with what you are saying but what about the lovely cards and hand written letters that we get this feed back do not get put on the web.

Whole heartedly agree with this decision.

Love the site, keep up the good work

I agree with sorting the fake comments but like a few people have mentioned not everyone can use a PC and requires help or they have found us via other means and we ask them to leave us feedback on Freeindex. I carry a netbook with me when ever I make a follow up visit to a client and will often ask them to use my netbook to leave feedback, this does not make an entry false. There should be another way of vetting the comments made as to base it solely on an IP address can be unfair, may be a follow up phone call?

Having said all that I am always in favour of sorting the cowboys from any industry and agree with what freeindex are doing, keep it up.

i supply wigs for clients in my home office and many of them are elderly or have hairloss due to cancer/alopecia.they are so pleased with the results that they want to leave a review immediately.also the elderly ones dont really know how to use the internet so i let them use my computer with their children or assistant with them but now a few of my reviews are flagged making it look dodgy.i'm not impressed since the reviews are genuine.also some people will just go home and forget to go and write a review.

good

quality free index keep up the good work and kick the fakers in to touch

absolutely spot on

Well done with the follow up reviews. I agree that there is no point in having false entries other than boosting ratings

Like the follow ups on reviews. Fake good ones give prospective customers the wrong information and malicious ones do not help any business address any issues the customers may have. I ask people to provide reviews, good or bad so that I can improve my customer experience.

Keep up the good work freeindex team!!!Good to know you are on top of the fakers!!

Rob
Stylery Photography Studios

nice one freeindex, no point having reviews if there done by yourself falsely. keep up the good work

well said freeindex ,i notice that some business round my area had lot of reviews that appeared overnight.

Well done, about time too. Good to know free index are on the ball.

I had always presumed that this was the way it was, however, I really appreciate this insight into the "dirty tricks" of some - even reading the comments, sounds to me like some knew very well what they were doing! .I can only ask my customers to write a positive review, following their purchase so I have it printed on my receipt & invoice and have to rely on them.

Yes I understand this and why you need to check up on reviews.
With regards to my reviews I see my clients sometimes several times and do ask them if they will post Reviews and on these occasions because I was at my computer they pput them on direct and there annd then. To save this problem happening again I will avoid clients/ customers using any pc or laptop of mine

i carry my netbook with me at all times so that my customers can leave feedback when the job is completed, freeindex has supplied me with many jobs, a lot of which many customers forgot to leave feedback for. Because of this i ask the customer to leave the feedback there and then if they so wish. I appreciate that you must make sure that all feedback is genuine.

Great news-much like anything else in the world these days, there are always those that look to exploit and devalue something in the progress. Well done FreeIndex for attempting to tackle this issue.

This is great in principle but quite a number of my clients contact me through Age Concern. Being old they invariably don't have computers or even an email address. Often delighted, a couple in this position have wanted to give me reviews so I have allowed them to use my laptop resulting in the validity question-mark.
However any of these can be verified since Age Concern ask them for feedback independently via the good old fashioned telephone.

Our customers have all been asked if they have the time to right a review in our store. Using our office computer. We do this as being a new business we appreciate all the feedback we can get as it helps us to grow and improve our business.
No of our reviews have been falsified, they are all genuine comments that we have worked hard to achieve.

Free index has proved positive so far, but we do have customers who would put reviews on the site but don't want to register, can a business owner do this for them without validity issues?

hi there, well that's fair and can i have some more leads.

I have always assumed this was the case and agree with the policy entirely, In my opinion Freeindex is excellent in bringing in business for me. The "slight" problem I have is that some of my clients are a little wary when providing a review and invariably only provide a personal name and not a company name & sometimes forget to click on the confirmation email they receive, this tends to sometimes leave me with reviews that are not actually live for other prospective clients to see.
I think Freeindex is a very useful tool & it's free!.

Is this why I'm back up to number one in the Gardener's category again? Or have you re-regionalised it? There really wasn't any point me competing with someone in Durham for work...

Well done Freeindex! Companies that give themselves "fake" reviews says something about their business no doubt!

The only downside to the IP address policy is that multiple users of a shared computer in a workplace can't leave individual reviews.

I think it is a good idea, but I have found like a few people on here that I have allowed customers the use of my laptop when they have been satisfied to post their reviews. This has now lead to a few of my reviews also being flagged as 'valid?' I think this is wrong. If anything they should be removed and ask the customer to resubmit using a relatives computer instead.

i think using the ip address is a very good idea, it's the most effective and sure way... well done

As some reviewers are reluctant to post their real name on the website due to the sensitive nature of hypnotherapy can they use a false name for public viewing or initials but keep their real name "on file " for verification ?

Excellent

Great news. Work hard to get customers to post reviews. Nearly all say they will but forget etc etc. Angry when I hear of businesses posting their own / getting someone they know to. Keep up the good work.

sounds excellent there seems to be too many full 5 reviews appearing.
If you actually see the customers question its easy to understand getting a full 5 should be relatively rare.

I had a client use my computer as he was with me at the time and it meant the review got done!

A good idea but I have a lot of pupils from the same family so will cut down on my reviews. But all in a good cause. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK.
Dave

Yeah that is good news ,I know there are companies who get their friends to do them false reviews to boost them up the list. Also there are companies who aren't even qualified.I try and post pictures of my work done so people can see im trained and ABLE TO DO what i say i can, Thats why im abit down on the plumbing list, but number 2 in Gas

Good idea and fantastic site. Keep it up!

FAIR PLAY.

Great progress.....can only get better from here.

Thats great news for companies like ours who do not try to cheat the system. It does make you feel cheated when some companies falsify information to win business.

Glad to hear this, I've often noticed reviews all posted on the same day and thought it suspicious! I have allowed customers use of our computer to post reviews in the past though (usually when they've come in to settle their bill) so I must remember not to do that in future!

Keep up the good work FreeIndex!

Thats great news for companies like ours who do not try to cheat the system. Keep up the great work.

Because of the nature & confidentiality of the Service I offer I seldom request reviews. However, I believe it is important that there is some form of regulation around feed back and reviews.

wonderful news. Well done FI team and keep up the good work.

cant argue with that, it can only help consumer confidence

Again common sense and fairness prevails on freeindex. Keep up the good work

Excellent constructive inclusion into feedback / review policy

This is a very good move though I did have a problem with the link to my listing not working properly so asked people to do reviews on my mobile lap top at completion of the job for a while. I also do a lot of repeat work for company car users so have some flagged reviews which i'm not happy about it as I've worked very hard to get people to review which is not easy.

Good call- nice to see the site being run professionally
Keep up the good work
Best Regards
Duncan

This is a great idea and has my full support we go to a lot of trouble to give our client the best service possible and of course value their feedback. It does make you feel cheated when some companies take it on themselves to falsify information to win business.

Very nice! When I first registered I went through other companies' prfiles and saw 5 or 6 reviews added same day. It's quite obvious that they're fake in case of companies that provide services that require time to accomplish each job. I'm sure this new policy will help customers to ge to "the right door". Thank you FI

Whilst I understand that you must take precautions to keep the reviews genuine, I am somewhat perturbed to find some of my reviews now flagged with a 'valid?' tag. I photograph weddings and pregnancy portraits and unsurprisingly, have some repeat custom in that respect. Some of my clients will have written reviews from the same computer when i have photographed their wedding, and then pregnancy, but it now casts suspicions over their reviews

Excellent idea! Everyone is a fair disposition. Good work people!

Fantastic - I cant wait to see this new system implemented. Good work guys!!

I think this is a great idea,makes it fairer for the genuine companies that are out their.

I think this is a great idea. After all we need to know that this site is working positively for us or there would be no point in having it. Keep up the good work!

Really good idea hopefully ensuring only bona-fide customer reviews!
Sally

Great idea in principle. However I have had clients who work for the same company and posted reviews from a company PC. These have been flagged up as questionable as they are from the same IP address.

Tony (Tony Cummings cv services)

I am in complete agreement with Marc from Evolution Tattoo. Most clients, once they have received their service are disinclined to write reviews; sometimes the only way to get the reviews is to capture it in the moment which could be when they come to you.
This sort of reviewing method will be difficult to police, and it will end up giving genuine reviews a lack of credibility.

Excellent policy, would go as far to say should have just implemented the policies without advising members ad any company i breach be deleted? But that is just my cynical side ;o)

well done free index team.you seem to be on the ball and keeping free index a good honest source of leads.thanks for helping me to get my buisness started.much appreciated.
many thanks
Gavin ( GM ROOFING )

I think this is a really good idea in principle. Unfortunately for me I had asked a few customers to do a review when they came to me for an appointment. Therefore It appears that I have some invalid entries. I believe however that this is a good thing for freeindex to be doing and I will ask my clients to resubmit the reviews form their own computers.

Regards
Marc

Absolutely right a fair playing fiels for all

This is a very good idea. I've always been concerned about other local competitors writing a malicious reviews!

I also think that before someone write a review on the site, we should be contacted by Freeindex team to say that someone (named)has reviewed our services and we should then accept or deny that review without seeing it. This way we should now our customers!

good idea hopefully i will go to number 1 hahaha there are alot of cheats on here.1 is spyder aerials woodbridge his location is fake and the numbers do not work please do something

Thank you.
I agree Well done for sorting this.
Regards
Hemel Shipping Limited

great idea

Your policy is great.

great idea

Nice to know the site is being policed...well done

This policy move is obviously common sense.well done.

Fantastic news, now all the cheats who write their own will be caught out. However freeindex needs to make clearer the difference between the same ip address as company and computer used to review previously. New clients should not confuse this because year on year repeat business with the same company may wish to review us again. Maybe the repeat business text should read this maybe repeat business which clearly defines a positive feedback

well done FreeIndex, this will hopefully make the review better and more realistic... a great help to all... thanks you.

I am pleased that you are doing this, not all my customers carry out reviews for me which is a shame, but I know that my new customers have seen my reviews and their comments are positive.

Regards,

Mick Legg.

What a great idea, sounds fair to all involved.

That sounds Fair Enough.

Yes, quite right! Keep customer comments accurate.

Definitely agree, this is a positive step forward. It does, however, need to take into account big companies, universities and public libraries, that have hundreds of computers using the same IP address. I, for one, give a very generous student discount as well as corporative discounts etc. Hopefully, this issue could be address in the not so distant future

Excellent FreeIndex Team

Good Idea !
:O)

About time too!

Excellent news!!

totally agree too many people getting fake reviews

Well done Freeindex team!!

great, keep the standards high, every genuine user will benefit.

Well done guys

excellent idea....

Fantastic!

good news

Completely agree this is an excellent idea and extremely fair. Will only harm those who are trying to be deceitful, so win win all the way for those who are trying to make an honest living. Well done and thanks.

It is positive that free index is addressing this issue as it shows they are trustworthy. Keep up the good work for real people trying hard.

Excellent ideas. We work hard to give good customer service and are proud of our reviews and the testimonials on our website. This will definately help.

NICE ONE FREEINDEX!
its hard to get people to leave reviews anyway, so this actually makes the ones you get even more valuable!
like the statement" this reveiw was wrote on the company's computer"
SHAME FEEL THE BURN LOL

This is a very positive step forward to try to prevent people abusing the system. Unless a review can be trusted as genuine the site as a whole falls short of expectations and therefore is not likely to be trusted for a second visit.
Other sites that perform a similar function (one very well known and nationally advertised one springs to mind) have a big problem with false recommendations.

Keep up the good work.

This is Excellent news, and will benefit those who dont abuse the system. Great

Very good, it means a lot for people to be able to trust the reviews.

Hi The FreeIndex Team

Thank you for your email.

Of course I understand the reasons on this. As I tend to have clients come to my home, when asking them to do reviews at times they are able to use my computer which tends to be on.

At no time have I or my clients done anything that is false.

I shall now make it clear to my clients who I send out reviews to that they are unable to work from my system.

Thank you for raising this point to me.

Regards

Trish Rawlins

Sounds good

Good news. Its about time someone tackled this issue. Hopefully it will let prospective clients know that the reviews they are reading are honest and from a legitimate source.

Great news. Glad to see youve set some firm but clear and fair rules

This is a great move to ensure a fair process for all

10 out of 10 keep on top of the fakes. I work hard for good possitive feedback.

Thank you for a positive step forward. We have been the subject of a malicious unsubstantiated review and have had to remove your reviews from our website and, in fact, any links with your directory, because of the potential damage to the business. This does not help you and it certainly does not help us. As a small business we cannot afford legal action and rely on as much free publicity as we can get. Thank you for taking the initiative.

May I just say about the 'Fake Positive Reviews'... not before time. I have noticed certain members who have a number of reviews and they look very similar in style and spelling mistakes.
Thanks for taking forward steps to help the honest people registered on your fantastic site.

sounds fair to be honest

Cant agree more. our business runs on good feedback and good customer service,

GREAT MOVE, ENSURES THAT YOUR POSITION IS A VALID ONE FOR THE WORK CARRIED OUT.

Good idea.

Very Good

good idea

great.

good idea it,s about time

well done, this is a good move...

Excellent.....

Excellent idea. Well done and keep up the good work

make it more genuine this way great

Good news. Well done.