Building trust through clear, fair standards

1. Core Principles

Tellacity operates on three foundational pillars:

• Trust: We prioritize verified experiences over anonymous noise. Reviews backed by proof carry more weight.
• Transparency: Consumers deserve the truth, and businesses deserve to know who is reviewing them. We do not hide negative feedback or sell removed reviews.
• Fairness: Both sides have a voice. Consumers can share their experiences, and businesses can respond publicly. Moderation is neutral and evidence-based.

2. General Rules for Everyone

Whether you are writing a review or replying to one, these rules apply to all users:

• Be Honest: Content must be factually accurate and reflect a genuine first-hand experience.
• Be Respectful: We have zero tolerance for hate speech, harassment, discrimination, threats, or obscenity.
• Stay Relevant: Keep content focused on the consumer experience. Do not use reviews for political rants or personal vendettas unrelated to the business transaction.
• Protect Privacy: Do not post sensitive personal data (like private phone numbers, addresses, or financial info) of others.
• No Spam: Promotional content, repetitive posts, and malicious links are strictly prohibited.

3. Guidelines for Consumers

Your reviews help others make better decisions. To ensure your feedback is helpful:

• Provide Proof (Recommended): Upload receipts, invoices, or booking confirmations. Verified reviews are trusted more and are harder to dispute.
• Write Detailed Reviews: Explain why you liked or disliked the service. "Great job" or "Terrible" is not as helpful as specific details.
• One Experience, One Review: Do not post multiple reviews for a single transaction to manipulate a score. You can update your existing review if the situation changes.
• Conflict of Interest: You cannot review a business you own, work for, or is a direct competitor to your own business. Family members of owners are also restricted.

4. Guidelines for Businesses

How you respond to reviews says as much about your business as the reviews themselves:

• Engage Professionally: Responses should be polite and solution-oriented. Avoid getting into arguments or insulting customers.
• No Fake Reviews: Soliciting fake positive reviews or paying for reviews is a banning offense. Asking real customers for honest feedback is allowed and encouraged.
• No Retaliation: You may not threaten, harass, or penalize a customer for leaving a negative review.
• Employee Reviews: Do not ask employees to write reviews about your business or your competitors.

5. Verified vs. Unverified Reviews

Tellacity distinguishes between verified and unverified content:

• Verified Reviews: The reviewer has submitted valid proof of purchase/experience (e.g., receipt, invoice) or used a verified invitation link. These reviews are highlighted and trusted more by our algorithm.
• Unverified Reviews: Allowed, but flagged as "Unverified". If challenged by a business, the reviewer must provide proof within a set timeframe, or the review may be removed.

We encourage all users to verify their reviews voluntarily to build a stronger reputation.

6. Dispute & Moderation Process

We use a combination of automated systems and human moderation:

• Flagging: Community members or businesses can flag content that violates these guidelines.
• Investigation: Our team reviews the flag. For factual disputes (e.g., "This person was never a customer"), we may ask the reviewer for proof.
• Decision:
  • If proof is provided, the review stays (unless it violates other rules like hate speech).
  • If no proof is provided upon request, the review may be removed.
  • Content violating hate speech/harassment policies is removed immediately.

Note: We do not remove reviews simply because they are negative. Disagreement with an opinion is not grounds for removal.

7. Enforcement Actions

Violating these guidelines results in consequences:

• Content Removal: Reviews or replies breaking rules will be deleted.
• Warnings: Users or businesses may receive formal warnings.
• Consumer Ban: Repeat offenders may be banned from posting reviews.
• Business Penalties: Businesses caught manipulating reviews (e.g., buying fakes) may receive a "Consumer Alert" badge on their profile warning users of suspicious activity, or be removed from the platform entirely.

8. Appeals

We understand that moderation mistakes can happen:

• If your content was removed, or a flag was rejected, you may appeal the decision once.
• Appeals must include new information or evidence not previously considered.
• Decisions made after an appeal review are final.

9. Why These Guidelines Matter

A review platform is only useful if it is trusted. When consumers cheat, businesses suffer unfairly. When businesses cheat, consumers lose money and trust.

By strictly enforcing these guidelines, we ensure that Tellacity remains a valuable resource for finding great businesses and for businesses to build a genuine, hard-earned reputation.

10. Final Word

Tellacity is a community. We rely on you—our users and business partners—to uphold these standards. Be honest, be fair, and help us create a marketplace where the truth wins.

Thank you for being part of Tellacity.