How we vet providers
No one is listed as verified until two real customers vouch for them. Here is the exact process, the questions we ask, and how a single bad experience moves the score.
Three steps before a provider goes live
Provider names two past customers
During sign-up, the applicant enters contact details for at least two customers who hired them for boat work. We do not accept references from family members or employees.
Each customer gets a private, unique link
We send the reference request by email or text. The provider never sees the link, so only the invited customer can submit a review.
We score the answers and admin-approve
Once two references land, our scoring algorithm weighs each answer. Outlier negatives like 'way over quote' or 'way over time' are penalised harder. An admin then reviews and flips the listing live.
The questions behind every verified badge
We keep the form short but specific. References rate price behaviour, fairness, quality, timeline, and overall satisfaction. Providers cannot fill it out themselves.
How a 5-star review can still drop below 5
Quality is the base, but price and timeline behaviour skew the final number. Outlier negatives are weighted extra so a single bad experience genuinely moves the rating.
- Base score
- Starts with the overall quality star rating (1–5).
- Under quote or faster
- +0.25 bonus for 'came in under quote' or 'faster than quoted'.
- Over quote or late
- -0.60 penalty for 'over quote' or 'longer than quoted'.
- Way over / way late
- -1.20 heavier penalty for 'way over quote' or 'way over time'.
- As quoted / on time
- No skew — the score rests on the quality rating.
We watch for signs of fake reviews
Our admin dashboard flags reviews that share an IP address or device fingerprint with the provider, arrive suspiciously fast, or come from the same network. Admins can unpublish flagged reviews, which instantly recomputes the provider's public rating.