Flagging & Moderation Policy

This Flagging & Moderation Policy explains how content on Shop-Rate.com (“Website”), operated by Shop Rate Solutions LLC (“we,” “our,” or “us”), may be flagged, reviewed, and acted upon. It works alongside our Review Guidelines and Terms of Service.

1. Our Moderation Approach

Shop-Rate is a platform for genuine, first-hand experiences working at repair shops and other mechanic workplaces. We use a combination of automated checks, AI-assisted review, and human review to keep listings and reviews accurate and to enforce our Review Guidelines. We do not remove content simply because a business disagrees with it or receives criticism.

2. How Content Gets Flagged

Content may be flagged for review in several ways:

• Automated verification. When a new shop is added, we automatically attempt to verify that the business exists using a third-party business-lookup service. Listings that cannot be verified are surfaced for closer review.
• Anti-bot and duplicate checks. Reviews submitted without an account pass through an anti-bot check, and submissions are limited per device to reduce spam and duplicate content.
• Automated language filter. An automated filter may screen or mask profanity and certain offensive language.
• Administrator flagging. Our moderators may flag a shop listing or review that appears to violate our guidelines so it can be investigated or monitored.
• User and business reports. Anyone may report a review or poll comment using the “Report” button shown on that content, or by using the contact information below.

AI-Assisted Report Review

Reported content may be analyzed by an AI model to help our moderators prioritize reports. The AI may automatically dismiss reports it judges to be low-risk; content remains published when a report is dismissed. The AI does not permanently remove content on its own — removals are decided by our moderators. If you believe a report was dismissed in error, contact us and a person will review it.

3. What We Review

When content is flagged, we may assess it against our Review Guidelines and Terms of Service, including whether it involves:

• Fake, fraudulent, or incentivized reviews
• Reviews not based on a genuine first-hand experience
• Personal attacks, threats, harassment, or hate speech
• Private or personally identifying information
• Spam, advertising, or duplicated content
• Undisclosed conflicts of interest
• Duplicate or inaccurate business listings
• Illegal content or activity

4. Actions We May Take

Depending on the outcome of a review, we may take one or more of the following actions at our discretion:

• Leave the content in place if no violation is found
• Flag a listing for continued monitoring
• Re-run business verification on a listing
• Merge duplicate or near-duplicate shop listings
• Remove a review or an entire shop listing and its reviews
• Remove a poll comment or job listing
• Restrict, suspend, or terminate an account

5. Author Controls

Reviewers can edit or delete reviews linked to their account at any time from their account. Deleting a review removes it from the associated shop listing and updates that shop’s ratings.

Reviews submitted without an account are not linked to anyone and cannot be edited or deleted by the author, unless the author signs up on the same device within two hours of submitting and the review is linked to their new account. To request removal of an anonymous review you wrote, contact us.

6. Business Owner Options

Business owners may respond to reviews through approved account features and may report content they believe violates our guidelines. We do not remove reviews solely because a business disagrees with them. Business owners may not threaten reviewers, attempt to identify anonymous reviewers, or offer incentives for positive reviews.

7. How to Report Content

To report a review or poll comment, use the “Report” button on that content. To report a listing, job listing, or anything else, or to add more detail, contact us at shopratesupport@gmail.com with a link to the content and a brief description of the concern. Reports are reviewed according to our internal procedures. Submitting a report does not guarantee that content will be removed.

8. No Guarantee of Monitoring

While we make reasonable efforts to moderate content, we do not pre-screen every submission and cannot guarantee that all guideline-violating content will be identified or removed. Reviews reflect the personal opinions and experiences of individual users, not those of Shop Rate Solutions LLC.

9. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Flagging & Moderation Policy as the Website grows and community needs change. Continued use of the Website after updates become effective constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.

10. Contact

Questions about this policy or a moderation decision may be directed to shopratesupport@gmail.com.