Reviews & Ratings

How reviews of your listings are published and checked, how to reply, what happens when a review is on hold, and how to earn the "Accurate listings" and "No hidden fees" badges.

For the public version of these rules, which renters and buyers see, read How reviews work.

How reviews reach your listings

Anyone with an account can review your listing, once, while it's live. Drafts and hidden or deleted listings can't get new reviews. You and members of your team who manage the listing can't review it.

Everyone, signed in or not, can read all of a listing's published reviews from See all on the listing page. Signed-in readers can mark a review Helpful, and click it again to take the vote back.

Reviews are published as soon as they're posted. Before a review is saved, an automatic, rule-based check (tuned for English, Swahili and Sheng) runs on the text:

• Personal details are removed: phone numbers, email addresses, M-Pesa transaction codes, KRA PINs and national ID numbers.
• Accusations are held: a review that accuses someone of a crime or dishonesty, such as theft or fraud, waits for our team (see on hold).
• Abuse is removed: slurs, threats of violence and extreme abuse are removed automatically, and the author is told why.

Strong opinions about your service ("slow to reply", "the caretaker was rude") are allowed and are published. The author can edit their review for 48 hours after posting, and edits are checked again. After that the review is locked, though the author can still delete it.

Verified visits

A review shows "Verified visit" when the reviewer booked a tour of that listing and you marked the tour Completed. We match the tour by the reviewer's account or by the email address they booked with.

Verified-visit reviews count 1.5 times as much in your rating and badges, and each badge needs at least 1 of them. So after every tour that went ahead, open the tour request and set its status to Completed (see Managing submissions). If you mark it after the visitor has already reviewed, their review becomes verified when they next edit it within the edit window.

Only mark tours that actually took place. A tour you mark as a Missed (They didn't come) or cancel never makes a review verified.

When a review about you is on hold

If a review is held because it reads as an accusation:

1. We email the listing's contact address with an excerpt and a link to the review.
2. Sign in and open that link to read the full review and post your reply. Your reply is shown under the review if it's published.
3. Our team decides whether to publish it. We aim to decide within 48 hours, and the email tells you by when.

A held review is not public and does not count towards your rating or badges unless it is published. Reply calmly and stick to facts; don't contact the reviewer to pressure them.

Replying to a review

You, or a team member who manages the listing, can post one public reply to each review.

1. Sign in and open the listing, or the link in our email.
2. Under the review, choose Reply. On the public listing page it's in the review's actions menu (the … button at the top of the review).
3. Write your reply (10 to 1000 characters) and choose Post reply.

You can correct your reply for 48 hours after posting it (Edit reply); after that it's fixed. Replies get the same check as reviews: personal details are removed, and a reply with abuse or threats is not posted.

What makes a good reply

• Thank the reviewer and refer to what they actually said.
• If something went wrong, say what you've changed. Future renters read replies as closely as reviews.
• If there was a misunderstanding, explain it briefly without arguing.
• Don't include anyone's personal details, including the reviewer's. Invite them to contact you through the listing instead.

Reporting a review

If a review breaks the rules, for example it's not from a real visit, is about a different listing, or is spam, choose Report review (on the public listing page, open the review's … actions menu first) and pick a reason. Reports go to our moderation team, who remove reviews that break the rules.

A report never hides a review by itself, and we don't remove honest negative reviews because a lister disagrees with them. The best answer to a fair but critical review is a good reply.

Your rating

Each listing has a rating, and so do you as a lister. Both are weighted averages of published reviews:

• a new review counts in full, and its weight falls steadily to 25% at 24 months, then stays there. Improvements you make show up quickly;
• verified visits count 1.5 times as much;
• below 3 published reviews, the listing or lister shows "New" instead of a number.

Your lister rating includes reviews of every listing you own, including listings you've taken down, and reviews that name you as the agent. Taking a listing down does not remove its reviews from your rating.

Earning the badges

Badges are worked out automatically from your reviews across all your listings, with the same weighting as your rating. They are recalculated every night and whenever a review changes, so you can gain or lose one at any time. They can't be bought or requested.

Accurate listings

• Weighted average for "listing matched reality" of 4.5 or higher out of 5,
• over at least 5 reviews that gave that rating,
• including at least 1 verified visit.

How to earn it: use current photos of the actual unit, state the real price, size and condition, and update or remove a listing as soon as it changes or is let.

No hidden fees

• No more than 5% of answers (weighted) say the reviewer was asked for a fee they weren't told about upfront,
• over at least 5 reviews that answered the question,
• including at least 1 verified visit.

Reviews that skipped the question or answered "Not sure" don't count either way. Your profile's fee list also shows a plain count of the answers, for example "1 of 12 reviewers reported unexpected fees". How to earn it: put every charge in the listing (deposit, agency or viewing fees, service charge, water, garbage) and don't add new ones later.

Badges and search order

When a visitor searches without choosing a sort, results are in "Recommended" order. Listings from listers with badges rank higher: two badges above one, one above none. Among badge holders, a better rating helps slightly. Within each group, newer listings come first.

When a visitor chooses another sort, such as price, newest or best rated, results follow that order exactly, with no badge boost. Featured listings are marked "Featured", and on the All listings page up to 4 featured listings are shown first whichever sort is chosen.

Asking for reviews

• Ask everyone you showed round, not only the people you think were happy.
• Mark their tour Completed first, so their review counts as a verified visit.
• Don't offer money, discounts or anything else for a review, and don't review your own listings or ask friends or family to. Our Terms require reviews to reflect a genuine experience and prohibit reviews given in exchange for payment or benefit.

Common questions

Can I delete a negative review?

No. If it breaks the rules, report it. Otherwise, reply to it.

Can the reviewer change their review?

For 48 hours after posting. After that it's locked, though they can delete it.

Why does my listing say "New"?

It has fewer than 3 published reviews.

I improved my service. How soon will my rating show it?

Straight away for new reviews, which count in full. Older reviews count less each month, down to 25% after 24 months.

Next steps

• Managing submissions: handle tour requests and mark them completed
• Property management: keep listings accurate
• How reviews work: the public page