Help / Reputation and proof

Responding to Props

Respond yes, delete never. Here is how to do it well.

You can respond to any Prop, in public, on your profile. You cannot delete or hide one, and neither can we on request. The record stands as customers left it, because if you could quietly remove the bad ones, the good ones would mean nothing.

How to respond well

• Stay calm and plain. A short, even reply reads better than a long defense.
• Own your part. If the job ran late, say so and say what you did about it. Honest beats spotless.
• Add the missing fact, not an argument. The reader is deciding whether to trust you, not refereeing a fight.
• No name-calling, no private detail about the customer. You are talking to everyone who reads it later.

Who actually reads your response

Rarely the customer who left the Prop. Usually the next homeowner, six weeks out, weighing whether to call you. A calm, specific reply to a hard Prop can win that homeowner more than a wall of glowing ones, because it shows how you handle a problem in writing, for everyone to see. A contractor who answers a tough review with grace looks more trustworthy than one with a suspiciously perfect record.

Flagging fraud

If a Prop came from someone who was never your customer, or it breaks the rules, flag it from the Prop itself. A real Prop can only come from a verified, signed, completed job, so a fraudulent one usually matches no job you ran, and that mismatch is what review checks. Flagging asks for a check against the job record. It is not a delete button.

Disputes are different

A Prop from a real customer that you believe is unfair is a dispute, not fraud. Respond on the record first. If you still believe it breaks the rules, flag it with your side of the story. We review against the job record and the rules, not against who complains louder. A low rating from a real job stays, because that is the system being honest.

For how Props are earned in the first place, see Your Props and reviews.