Rating and Review Removal Policy

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Last revised: August 13, 2026

WPBay’s default position is to publish genuine customer feedback, whether it is positive, negative or somewhere in between.

We do not remove a rating or review merely because a seller disagrees with it, considers it unfair or believes it may affect sales. The same moderation rules apply regardless of the number of stars given.

We may remove, redact, restrict or temporarily hide a rating or review when it violates this policy, the WPBay Acceptable Use Policy, applicable law or the rights of another person.

Repeated or serious violations may result in the user losing the ability to submit reviews, account restrictions, suspension or termination.

How WPBay verifies reviews

WPBay normally allows customers to review products or services associated with an eligible order in their account.

Order eligibility helps us confirm that the reviewer had an opportunity to use the product or receive the service. It does not mean that WPBay has independently verified every statement made in the review.

When investigating a review, WPBay may consider:

  • order and account records;
  • download history;
  • licence registrations and activations;
  • product versions and update dates;
  • support tickets and refund requests;
  • service-order communications and deliveries;
  • evidence supplied by the customer or seller;
  • patterns suggesting duplicate, coordinated or manipulated reviews.

A rating may violate this policy even when it contains no written review.

What a review may cover

A review may describe a customer’s genuine experience with:

  • the purchased product or service;
  • installation, activation and ordinary use;
  • advertised features and compatibility;
  • documentation and included files;
  • updates, licensing and subscriptions;
  • required or recommended dependencies disclosed on the product page;
  • support that was included, promised or actually provided;
  • delivery, communication and revisions for a WPBay service order.

A product review should not be used to rate WPBay’s checkout, taxes, payment processing or platform support when the seller had no control over the issue. These matters should be reported directly to WPBay.

Ratings and reviews we may remove

Reviews without a genuine customer experience

We may remove a rating or review when there is reasonable evidence that the reviewer:

  • did not purchase, receive or genuinely use the product or service;
  • reviewed a different product, service or seller;
  • used a fake, duplicate, transferred or compromised account;
  • submitted multiple reviews for the same experience;
  • copied a review from another person or website;
  • participated in a coordinated review campaign;
  • is a competitor attempting to damage another seller;
  • materially misrepresented their experience.

Using AI to help improve spelling or wording does not automatically invalidate a genuine review. Using AI to fabricate a customer, purchase or experience does.

Fake, incentivized or manipulated reviews

Customers and sellers must not manipulate WPBay ratings.

This includes:

  • buying or selling reviews;
  • offering money, refunds, discounts, licences, gifts or additional support in exchange for a positive review;
  • offering a benefit only if a negative review is removed or changed;
  • asking employees, contractors, relatives or business partners to review without clearly disclosing the relationship;
  • asking only customers expected to leave positive feedback;
  • telling customers which rating or wording to use;
  • using bots, agencies or multiple accounts to influence ratings;
  • moving or reusing a review from one product on another product;
  • threatening a customer because of an honest review.

A seller may invite customers to leave an honest review, provided the request is neutral and does not suggest that only positive feedback is welcome.

Any material connection between the reviewer and seller must be disclosed clearly. WPBay may remove the review even when a relationship is disclosed if the review materially distorts the product’s overall rating or marketplace integrity.

Reviews used for coercion or extortion

A customer must not use a rating or review to obtain something they are not entitled to receive.

Examples include:

  • threatening a one-star review unless a refund is issued outside the applicable refund policy;
  • demanding unpaid customization or additional features;
  • demanding support that was never included or has expired;
  • asking for money, free products or extended subscriptions in exchange for changing a rating;
  • threatening reputational harm unless the seller complies with an unrelated demand.

A customer may explain that they intend to update a review if a genuine problem is resolved. That alone is not coercion. The surrounding circumstances and the nature of the demand will be considered.

Sellers are subject to the same principle. A seller must not condition support, updates, refunds or continued licence access on the customer removing an honest review.

Reviews unrelated to the listing

We may remove content that is not directly related to the reviewed product, service or associated seller support.

This includes:

  • political or personal commentary unrelated to the purchase;
  • criticism of another product or seller;
  • complaints about WPBay systems outside the seller’s control;
  • advertisements, affiliate links or promotional messages;
  • recruitment offers and unrelated business proposals;
  • content written mainly to direct traffic to another website;
  • arguments carried over from social media, forums or unrelated transactions.

Mentioning a competing product for a genuine comparison is not automatically prohibited, provided the comparison is relevant and not promotional, deceptive or abusive.

Reviews used only as support requests

Reviews are not a replacement for support tickets.

We may remove or ask the customer to edit content that consists only of:

  • configuration questions;
  • error logs without an assessment of the product;
  • requests for installation or customization;
  • demands for an urgent seller response;
  • passwords, credentials or private diagnostic information;
  • repeated copies of an unresolved support message.

A customer may still review an unresolved technical problem or their support experience. Customers are not required to contact support before leaving an honest review, although giving the seller an opportunity to investigate may help resolve the problem.

Complaints about support that was not included

A review may discuss support that was advertised, included in the purchased plan, promised by the seller or actually provided.

However, we may remove a review based solely on a seller refusing to provide:

  • support for a product clearly sold without support;
  • support after the disclosed support period expired;
  • installation, customization or development work that was not included;
  • support for an unsupported environment;
  • assistance unrelated to the purchased product;
  • continued service after the purchased service period ended.

A seller cannot avoid legitimate criticism by retroactively changing the support terms. WPBay will consider what was promised on the product page and in the applicable order at the time of purchase.

Abusive or harmful content

We may remove or restrict reviews containing:

  • threats, intimidation or harassment;
  • hate speech or discriminatory language;
  • obscene, sexually explicit or graphically violent content;
  • targeted personal abuse;
  • encouragement of violence, self-harm or illegal activity;
  • malware, phishing links or other dangerous content;
  • impersonation or deceptive identity claims;
  • spam or repeated disruptive content.

Strong criticism, frustration or blunt language is not automatically abusive. The review must remain focused on the product, service or customer experience rather than attacking a person.

Personal, confidential or security-sensitive information

Reviews must not expose information that could harm another person, business or website.

Prohibited information may include:

  • private names and contact details;
  • personal email addresses or phone numbers;
  • home or private business addresses;
  • passwords, API keys and access tokens;
  • purchase codes and licence keys;
  • order or payment details;
  • private support messages;
  • non-public customer or employee information;
  • server paths, security logs or vulnerability details that create a risk;
  • medical, financial or other sensitive personal information;
  • confidential business information or trade secrets.

WPBay may redact the sensitive information while preserving the remainder of the review when that is sufficient. If the sensitive content cannot be separated safely, the entire review may be removed.

Do not place credentials or secrets in evidence sent to WPBay. Redact anything that is not necessary for us to investigate the report.

Clearly false, misleading or unlawful content

A review may be removed when it contains an objectively false factual statement and reliable evidence clearly establishes that it is false.

A seller disagreeing with an opinion is not enough. Statements such as “I found the interface difficult,” “the plugin was too slow on my site” or “support was disappointing” are personal assessments and will not normally be treated as false.

Similarly, a seller’s inability to reproduce a reported bug does not prove that the customer’s experience was fabricated.

Content may also be restricted where required by law, a valid legal order or a properly supported report concerning defamation, intellectual property, privacy or other unlawful material. WPBay does not decide complex legal disputes merely because one party describes a statement as illegal.

Illegal content can also be reported under our Reporting Illegal Content procedure.

What is not normally grounds for removal?

WPBay will not normally remove a review merely because:

  • it gives a low rating;
  • the seller believes the rating is too harsh;
  • the product works for other customers;
  • the customer did not contact support first;
  • the customer received a refund;
  • the customer cancelled or did not renew a subscription;
  • the seller later fixed the reported problem;
  • the review contains spelling or grammatical errors;
  • the review is old;
  • the seller is concerned about its effect on sales;
  • the seller provides a different account of what happened.

A refund does not erase a genuine customer experience. A refunded review may remain if it accurately describes what happened before the refund.

If an order was fraudulent, unauthorized or reversed and there is no credible evidence of genuine product use, WPBay may remove the associated review.

Older reviews and product updates

A review does not become invalid merely because time has passed.

WordPress products may be used for years, and compatibility, updates and support can become important long after the original purchase. Customers are encouraged to update their reviews when their experience materially changes.

If a seller fixes a reported problem, the seller may respond with the relevant version number and release date. WPBay will not ordinarily delete the original review solely because the problem was fixed later.

Where a product has been completely rebuilt, transferred to a new owner or materially changed, WPBay may add context, archive an outdated review or invite the customer to update it rather than automatically deleting it.

How WPBay moderates reviews

Depending on the circumstances, WPBay may:

  • leave the rating and review unchanged;
  • ask the reviewer to clarify or edit it;
  • redact personal, confidential or dangerous information;
  • add a contextual label or moderation notice;
  • temporarily hide it while investigating;
  • remove the written review;
  • remove both the written review and star rating;
  • restore a previously removed review;
  • restrict the user’s ability to review a particular listing;
  • suspend or terminate accounts involved in serious or repeated abuse.

WPBay will not rewrite a review to make it more positive, less critical or more favorable to the seller.

If only one part violates this policy and the remaining review still accurately reflects the customer’s experience, we may remove or redact only the violating part. If the violation affects the basis of the entire review, the complete rating and review may be removed.

Seller responses

Sellers may respond publicly to reviews to:

  • clarify how a feature works;
  • provide troubleshooting information;
  • correct a factual misunderstanding respectfully;
  • identify a version in which an issue was fixed;
  • explain what support or compatibility was included;
  • invite the customer to continue through the proper support channel.

Seller responses must not expose customer information, insult the reviewer, threaten legal action without a legitimate basis, retaliate against the customer or offer compensation for removing criticism.

Seller responses are subject to the same moderation standards as customer reviews.

How to report a rating or review

To report a possible violation, contact WPBay at support@wpbay.com and include:

  • the product or service URL;
  • enough information for us to identify the review;
  • the specific part of this policy you believe was violated;
  • a concise explanation;
  • relevant evidence, such as order records or support communication;
  • any urgent privacy, security or safety concern.

Please report a review within 60 days of its publication or most recent update where practical. WPBay may still consider later reports, particularly where they concern fake reviews, manipulation, personal data, security risks or unlawful content.

A request stating only that a review is “unfair,” “incorrect” or “damaging sales” is not sufficient. Reports should identify a specific policy violation and provide any reasonably available evidence.

Review reports must not be used to continue a support, refund or personal dispute.

Review process and reconsideration

WPBay may examine relevant platform records and contact the customer or seller for additional information.

Where urgent privacy, security or legal concerns exist, we may temporarily restrict a review before completing the investigation.

When we remove or restrict a review, we will provide the affected user with an explanation where appropriate and legally required. We may withhold information that would expose another person’s private data, compromise fraud detection, create a security risk or violate a legal restriction.

A customer or seller may request one reconsideration by contacting support@wpbay.com within 30 days of the decision. The request should identify a factual or policy error or provide relevant evidence that was not previously considered.

After reconsideration, WPBay’s decision is final within our internal process. This does not limit any mandatory rights available under applicable law.

Review integrity applies to everyone

Customers must provide honest accounts of genuine experiences. Sellers must not create, purchase, pressure, reward or selectively suppress reviews.

WPBay may investigate broader account activity when one review reveals evidence of coordinated manipulation or repeated abuse. Severe violations may result in immediate restrictions without a prior warning.

This policy supplements the WPBay Terms and Conditions, Seller Agreement, Acceptable Use Policy and Dispute Resolution Guidelines.