Policy

Moderation policy

You sign in before you post, your post goes live straight away, and anything that breaks the rules below comes down afterwards. The rules are the same whether a post is glowing or angry.

Nothing here is running yet. Reviews, comments and votes all need the account service, which is not switched on, so no post has been made and none has been moderated. This page is published in advance so the rules are visible before the first post rather than written after an argument about one. It is written in the present tense because that is how it will read on the day it starts.

Last updated Sep 22, 2026

How it works

There is no approval queue. We chose identity over waiting: you sign in with an account you already have, your post appears immediately, and if it breaks a rule it is removed. That gets useful corrections onto the site the same day instead of a week later, and it means a bad actor is a person we can ban rather than an anonymous one we have to keep screening.

• Sign in first. Reviews, comments, corrections, claims, event submissions, new listings, removal requests and sponsor inquiries all ask you to sign in. We never see or store a password.
• Posts go live at once. Nothing waits for a person to read it first.
• Rules are enforced afterwards. Everything in the next section applies exactly as it would in a queue. The difference is when we apply it.
• Removing is one action. A post that breaks a rule is taken down with the rule recorded against it. A user who abuses the site is banned, and every item they have posted comes down in the same step.
• Volume is capped. Ten submissions per person per day, so a single account cannot flood the site faster than anyone can look.
• Votes are not moderated one by one. They stay anonymous, are deduplicated by day, and obvious vote flooding is discarded.

The rules

A post stands if it is on topic, appears to come from a real person's own experience, and breaks none of the rules below. A post is removed only for one of these reasons:

1. Not a real experience. Written by the business, an employee, a family member, a competitor, or someone paid to write it. Reviews that mention a payment or incentive are removed.
2. Off topic. About a different business, a political point, or nothing to do with the listing.
3. Private information. Names of non-public staff, phone numbers, addresses, license plates, or photos of people who did not agree.
4. Harassment, threats, slurs, or hate.
5. Spam or ads. Links to other businesses, coupon codes, repeated text.
6. Copied text or photos the poster does not have the right to use.
7. Illegal content or content that describes illegal acts against the business.

A post is never removed for being negative, for a low rating, for being critical of a sponsor, or because a business asked. Bad grammar, strong language, and unpopular opinions are all fine.

What we do not do

• We do not edit the substance of a review. We may fix formatting or trim an off-topic paragraph, and if we do, the review shows "edited by moderator."
• We do not show a rating unless it is built from reviews approved under these rules.
• We do not let sponsors, claimed owners, or advertisers see, approve, or delay reviews before they post.
• We do not write or solicit reviews, and we do not offer anything in exchange for one.

Logging

Every moderation decision is logged with the post, the rule applied, the date, and who decided. Most posts go live with no decision to log, so where a decision exists it is a removal, and the entry says whether it was made automatically or by a person. Removed posts are kept in the log for 12 months so a removal can be reviewed. We plan to publish a short count each quarter: posts received, posts removed, and removals by rule.

Timing

Reviews and comments go live immediately. Corrections you make to a listing you have claimed appear on the next rebuild of the site, usually the same day. Removal requests are honored within 48 hours. A post reported as breaking a rule is looked at within 72 hours, and sooner when it names a person or looks like a threat.

Business replies

A claimed owner can reply once to each review. The reply is labeled as from the business, follows the same rules, and is moderated the same way. Owners may not use replies to identify or threaten reviewers.

Flagging a post

Anyone can report a post by emailing support@verdevalleydirectory.com with the page link. Because posts are not screened before they appear, reports are how most problems reach us, and they are read. A report is still checked against the rules above: a report alone does not remove a post, and the number of people complaining is not one of the rules.

Appeals

If your post was removed, you get an email with the rule that applied. To appeal, reply to that email or write to support@verdevalleydirectory.com within 30 days and say why you think the rule does not apply. A fresh look is done within 7 days, and the answer is final. If a business believes a review breaks a rule, it uses the same process and gets the same answer as anyone else.

Legal takedowns

Copyright notices and court orders go to support@verdevalleydirectory.com. We remove content when the law requires it and note the removal on the page.