Review Policy

1. Purpose of this policy

Customer reviews are one of the most valuable signals on Destinali. They help potential customers make informed decisions and help honest businesses build a public reputation they deserve.

This policy exists to keep reviews trustworthy. We do not manipulate ratings in favour of paid listings, remove negative reviews on request, or allow businesses to game the system. Every review is held to the same standard regardless of the business's plan tier.

2. Who can write a review

2.1 Account requirement

To write a review on Destinali, you must have a registered account with a verified email address. Anonymous reviews are not accepted.

2.2 First-hand experience

You may only review a business you have personally used or visited. Reviews must be based on genuine, first-hand experience with the business.

2.3 Conflicts of interest

The following people may not review a business:

• Current or former employees, contractors, or agents of the business
• Business owners or their immediate family members
• Competitors or their employees
• People reviewing in exchange for payment, discounts, or other compensation
• People reviewing at the direct request of the business owner

2.4 One review per business

Each account may submit one review per business. Submitting multiple reviews of the same business, whether through one account or multiple accounts, is not permitted and may result in all reviews being removed and the account suspended.

3. Review standards

All reviews must meet the following standards to be published:

3.1 Honesty

Reviews must accurately reflect your genuine experience. Do not exaggerate, fabricate events, or describe experiences that did not happen.

3.2 Relevance

Reviews must be about the specific business being reviewed — its products, services, staff, premises, or customer experience. Reviews about a competitor, unrelated topics, or general commentary unrelated to the business will be rejected.

3.3 Appropriate language

Reviews must be written in a respectful tone. Strong negative feedback is permitted and protected, but the language used must remain civil.

3.4 No personal information

Reviews must not include the personal information of any individual, including staff members: full names (other than first names where relevant), phone numbers, home addresses, or social media handles.

3.5 Recency

We encourage reviews that reflect a recent experience (within the past 2 years). If your experience is significantly dated, note this in your review so other readers can account for it.

4. What's not allowed

• Defamatory content — false statements of fact presented as true, without reasonable basis
• Hate speech — content targeting a person or group based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or other protected characteristics
• Threats or harassment — content that threatens, intimidates, or is designed to harass any individual
• Promotional content — reviews that advertise another business, include referral links, or are primarily promotional in nature
• Spam — repeated, meaningless, or template content
• Irrelevant content — reviews about the wrong business, or about a general topic unrelated to the business experience
• Legal claims — reviews that contain specific allegations of criminal conduct (e.g. fraud, theft) without a factual basis. You may describe your experience factually; you may not make unsubstantiated criminal allegations
• Private information — content exposing private personal data of staff or owners
• Fabricated experiences — reviews describing events that did not occur

5. Fake and incentivised reviews

5.1 What we consider fake

A fake review is any review that does not reflect a genuine, first-hand customer experience. This includes:

• Reviews written by the business owner or their associates under a customer account
• Reviews coordinated through review-swapping schemes with other businesses
• Reviews purchased from third-party services
• Reviews generated by artificial intelligence without genuine human experience behind them
• Reviews written about a business the reviewer has never visited or used

5.2 Incentivised reviews

A business may not offer any benefit — discounts, free products, cash, or any other form of compensation — in exchange for a review, positive or negative. A review written after receiving an incentive is considered a fake review regardless of its content.

5.3 Consequences

Detection of fake or incentivised reviews will result in removal of all affected reviews, suspension or permanent termination of the business listing, and suspension of all associated user accounts. In serious cases, we may report activity to relevant authorities.

6. Moderation

6.1 Review queue

All reviews are submitted to a moderation queue before they are published on a business listing. We review submissions for compliance with this policy.

6.2 Moderation timelines

We aim to process submitted reviews within 2 business days. During high-volume periods, this may take up to 5 business days. You will receive an email notification when your review is published or rejected.

6.3 Rejection

If a review is rejected, we will notify the reviewer with the reason. The reviewer may edit their review to address the issue and resubmit, unless the review was rejected for fabrication or a serious policy violation, in which case no resubmission will be accepted.

6.4 Automated checks

We use automated systems to detect patterns consistent with fake reviews, spam, or coordinated activity. Automated flags are reviewed by a human moderator before any action is taken.

6.5 No rating manipulation

Destinali does not adjust, inflate, or suppress ratings for any business for any commercial reason. The displayed star rating is a direct average of all published reviews.

7. Business owner responses

Business owners on any paid plan (Featured or Premium) may post a public response to any review on their listing. Responses are subject to the same content standards as reviews.

7.1 Permitted responses

Responses may thank the reviewer, provide context, address specific concerns raised, or describe steps taken to resolve an issue.

7.2 Not permitted in responses

• Threatening, insulting, or retaliating against the reviewer
• Demanding that the reviewer change or remove their review
• Disclosing the reviewer's personal information
• Disputing factual claims in a way that includes false statements
• Promotional or advertising content

Responses that violate these standards will be removed. Repeated violations may result in the business losing response privileges.

8. Flagging a review

Anyone — including business owners and visitors — may flag a review they believe violates this policy.

8.1 How to flag

Use the flag option on any published review. You will be asked to select a reason and may provide additional context. All flags are reviewed by our moderation team.

8.2 What happens after flagging

We aim to investigate flagged reviews within 5 business days. We will notify the flagger and the reviewer (if the review is removed or kept) of the outcome by email.

8.3 Abuse of the flagging system

Flagging reviews solely to harass reviewers or to remove legitimate negative feedback is a violation of our Terms of Service. Repeated bad-faith flagging may result in the business losing flagging privileges.

9. Appealing a moderation decision

9.1 Reviewer appeals

If your review was rejected and you believe the decision was incorrect, you may appeal by emailing hello@destinali.com with "Review Appeal" in the subject line. Include the business name, the date of submission, and your reason for appeal.

9.2 Business owner appeals

If a flagged review was kept and you believe it contains a genuine policy violation that was missed, you may escalate to hello@destinali.com. Provide the specific section of this policy you believe the review violates and the evidence supporting your position.

9.3 Appeal timelines

We aim to respond to appeal submissions within 7 business days. Our appeal decision is final. We do not enter into ongoing correspondence about moderation decisions.

10. Review removal

A published review may be removed in the following circumstances:

• The review is found to violate this policy following a flag investigation or appeal
• The reviewer requests removal of their own review
• A valid court order or legal process requires removal
• The business listing is permanently removed from the platform
• The review is determined to be fake or incentivised following an investigation

We do not remove reviews because the business asks us to, because the business has resolved the complaint with the customer, or because the review is old. Businesses are encouraged to respond publicly to resolved complaints to provide context for future readers.

11. Changes to this policy

We may update this Review Policy from time to time. Material changes will be communicated to registered users by email at least 14 days before they take effect. The updated policy will be posted on this page with a revised "Last updated" date.

Your continued use of the review feature after the effective date constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.

12. Contact

For questions about this policy or to report a serious review abuse issue:

• Email: hello@destinali.com
• General contact: destinali.com/contact

For urgent matters involving defamatory content or privacy violations, please mark your email as URGENT and we will prioritise your request.