How disputes work
Reputation is earned by performance, defended by process. Businesses can dispute reviews and Reddit mentions on HomeClip — with proof. Here's how.
The 7-day grace period
Every new signal (Google review, Reddit comment, FB review) is publicly visible immediately but is held for 7 days before counting toward the Trust Score. The business is notified at the moment the signal is captured.
Filing a dispute
The business chooses one of six reasons:
- Factually inaccurate — specific claims aren't true
- Not a customer — no record of working with this person
- Identity confusion — confused with another business
- Resolved offline — addressed directly with the customer
- Threat or fraud — defamation, extortion, fake content (4h fast-lane)
- Other — anything else
The business uploads proof (text logs, invoices, photos, police reports for threats). The signal's Trust Score contribution is paused while we review.
SLA
- Threat/fraud reports: 4 hours
- HomeClip Pro subscribers: 24 hours
- Free listings: 7 days
Possible outcomes
| Outcome | Score impact | What you see |
|---|---|---|
| Upheld | Signal counts fully | “⚖️ Dispute reviewed: upheld” |
| Removed | Signal deleted | Signal disappears from public view |
| Annotated | Signal counts fully | Business's public response shown alongside |
| Reduced | Signal counts at 50% | “⚖️ Reduced weight after review” |
Anti-abuse
- Max 3 active disputes per business at a time
- Repeat false claims throttle future disputes
- Repeat valid claims prioritize a business's future disputes
- Threat reports bypass the queue and reach a human within 4h
Transparency
Every resolved dispute is logged with the reviewer's notes. Once per quarter we publish anonymized statistics on disputes filed, upheld, removed, and annotated.