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Review & Verification Policy

Last updated: 28th September 2026

DesiDo is operated by ALARAY Ltd, trading as DesiDo, registered in England and Wales under Company No. 11717869.

Reviews are an important part of DesiDo. We want couples and other users to be able to make informed decisions based on genuine experiences with wedding and event suppliers.

We take reasonable and proportionate steps to prevent, identify and remove fake reviews, concealed incentivised reviews and misleading review information.

This Policy explains how reviews work on DesiDo, how reviews may be verified, how suppliers and users can report reviews, and the action DesiDo may take where reviews or ratings are manipulated.

This Policy forms part of the DesiDo Terms & Conditions.

1. Who Can Leave a Review

1.1 You must have a registered DesiDo account to submit a review. Your account must satisfy DesiDo's applicable account-verification requirements, such as email verification or an approved social sign-in method.

1.2 Reviews must be based on a genuine first-hand experience with the supplier being reviewed. A genuine experience does not necessarily require a completed booking or for the supplier to have provided the entire wedding or event service. A genuine experience may include, for example:

making a meaningful enquiry with a supplier;
receiving and discussing a quotation;
entering into a booking or contract;
paying a deposit;
receiving all or part of a service;
experiencing a cancellation;
dealing with a supplier before, during or after an event; or
another genuine customer interaction.

1.3 You may only review your own experience. Reviews submitted on behalf of someone else may be removed unless DesiDo has expressly permitted this.

1.4 Users may generally submit one review per supplier. Where available, users may update or amend their existing review rather than submitting additional reviews about the same supplier.

2. What We Expect From Reviews

Reviews should honestly and fairly reflect the reviewer's experience and personal opinion. Reviewers should:

provide truthful information;
describe their own experience;
avoid knowingly misleading or exaggerating material facts;
ensure the review relates to the correct supplier; and
avoid including unnecessary personal or confidential information.

A review does not breach this Policy simply because it is negative or because the supplier disagrees with it. DesiDo applies its review standards to both positive and negative reviews.

3. Reviews We Do Not Allow

DesiDo prohibits fake, misleading and manipulated reviews. Users and suppliers must not submit, arrange, encourage or assist with any of the following.

3.1 Fake reviews – Reviews about experiences that did not genuinely occur.

3.2 Self-reviews – Suppliers, business owners, employees, contractors or people acting on behalf of a supplier must not review their own business.

3.3 Competitor reviews – A supplier, employee or person acting on behalf of a supplier must not submit a review intended to unfairly damage a competing business.

3.4 Reviews submitted as another person – Users must not impersonate another customer or create accounts intended to make reviews appear to have been submitted by independent customers.

3.5 Review manipulation – This includes:

creating multiple accounts to influence ratings;
buying or selling reviews;
organising coordinated fake-review campaigns;
exchanging fake reviews between businesses;
arranging fake negative reviews against competitors;
using automated systems or bots to submit reviews;
artificially increasing or decreasing ratings or review counts; or
otherwise interfering with DesiDo's review system.

4. Incentivised Reviews

DesiDo does not permit concealed incentivised reviews. Users must not submit a review in return for an undisclosed:

payment;
discount;
refund;
gift;
free product or service;
upgrade;
competition entry;
preferential treatment; or
other financial or non-financial benefit.

Suppliers must not offer an incentive in return for a particular rating, a positive review or the removal of a genuine negative review.

5. Asking Customers for Reviews

Suppliers may invite genuine customers to review their experience on DesiDo. However, review requests should be neutral. Suppliers must not:

only invite customers they expect to leave positive reviews;
discourage dissatisfied customers from reviewing;
make rewards dependent on leaving a positive review;
pressure customers to remove genuine negative reviews; or
otherwise manipulate which customers are encouraged to leave feedback.

For example, suppliers may ask: “Tell others about your experience with us on DesiDo.”

Suppliers should not ask: “If you loved us, leave us a 5-star review.”

6. Reviewer Identity and Privacy

Reviewers may be offered the option to display:

their first name;
their initials; or
their review anonymously.

Choosing to appear anonymous publicly does not make the reviewer anonymous to DesiDo. DesiDo may retain information associated with the reviewer's account where necessary to operate, verify and protect the review system.

Private account information and verification documents will not normally be displayed publicly. Personal information is processed in accordance with the DesiDo Privacy Policy.

7. Account Verification

All reviews must be submitted through an eligible registered DesiDo account. Account verification helps DesiDo identify the account submitting a review. It does not, on its own, prove that the reviewer has used or interacted with the supplier. This is separate from experience verification.

8. Verified Experience

Some reviews may display a Verified Experience badge. A Verified Experience badge means that DesiDo has reviewed supporting information which, in our reasonable assessment, indicates that the reviewer had a genuine experience or interaction with the supplier. Supporting evidence may include:

a booking confirmation;
invoice;
contract;
receipt;
payment confirmation;
quotation;
relevant email correspondence;
relevant messages; or
other documentation reasonably demonstrating a genuine interaction.

DesiDo may decide whether the information supplied is sufficient for a Verified Experience badge.

9. What “Verified Experience” Means

A Verified Experience badge confirms that DesiDo has reviewed information reasonably supporting the existence of the interaction or experience. It does not mean that DesiDo:

endorses the reviewer;
endorses the supplier;
guarantees the review is correct in every respect;
has independently proven every factual statement;
has verified every opinion expressed by the reviewer; or
has decided which party is correct where the reviewer and supplier disagree.

For example, evidence may establish that a reviewer genuinely booked a supplier. It may not independently establish whether that supplier was, in the reviewer's opinion, rude, late or difficult to communicate with.

10. Reviews Without a Verified Experience Badge

A review does not need to receive a Verified Experience badge in order to be published. Reviews without a Verified Experience badge may still appear on DesiDo where they otherwise comply with this Policy. The absence of the badge does not mean DesiDo considers the review false. It means that DesiDo has not completed the evidence-based verification required for that badge.

11. Providing Verification Evidence

When submitting a review, users may be given the opportunity to:

upload supporting evidence immediately;
confirm that they can provide evidence if requested; or
continue without providing evidence where permitted.

Where a reviewer chooses to provide evidence later, or where a review has been reported, DesiDo may request appropriate supporting information. DesiDo may also request evidence where suspicious activity or another review-integrity concern is identified.

12. How Verification Evidence Is Used

Evidence submitted to DesiDo for review verification is used to assess whether a genuine experience or interaction occurred. Verification evidence is not intended for public display. It will not normally be shared with the supplier. Access may be restricted to authorised DesiDo personnel involved in review moderation or investigation.

Reviewers should remove unnecessary personal information before uploading documents where possible, including:

bank details;
card details;
full home addresses;
identification numbers;
unrelated third-party information; and
other information that is not necessary for verification.

13. How Long We Keep Verification Evidence

Verification evidence is normally retained for up to six months after the verification process or any related review dispute has been concluded. Evidence may be retained for longer where reasonably necessary in connection with:

an ongoing complaint;
an investigation;
suspected fraud or review manipulation;
a legal claim;
a legal obligation; or
another documented reason requiring continued retention.

After the applicable retention period, supporting evidence will be securely deleted or anonymised where appropriate.

DesiDo may retain a separate moderation or audit record recording matters such as whether a review was verified, the type of evidence considered, the decision made, the date of the decision, and relevant moderation actions, without retaining the original supporting evidence indefinitely.

14. Reporting a Review

Users and suppliers may report reviews using the reporting tools available on DesiDo. Reporting reasons may include:

I do not believe this reviewer had a genuine experience with this business;
false or misleading factual information;
competitor or conflict-of-interest review;
offensive, threatening or discriminatory content;
personal or confidential information;
suspected incentivised or manipulated review;
review relates to the wrong business;
duplicate review; or
another concern.

Anyone reporting a review may be required to confirm that the information provided is accurate to the best of their knowledge.

15. What Happens When a Review Is Reported

Reporting a review does not automatically result in its removal. DesiDo may:

review the report and take no further action;
request further information from the person who reported it;
request supporting information from the reviewer;
request relevant information from the supplier;
place the review under further verification;
temporarily restrict the review where appropriate;
retain the review;
remove the review;
ask the reviewer to amend particular content;
redact limited personal or confidential information; or
take another reasonable and proportionate action.

DesiDo aims to review reports promptly. More complex reports may take longer where additional information is required from either party.

16. Supplier Disagreement With a Review

A supplier does not have an automatic right to have a review removed simply because:

the review is negative;
the supplier disagrees with the customer's opinion;
the supplier considers the rating unfair;
the parties remember events differently; or
the review could adversely affect the supplier's reputation.

Where a genuine authenticity or policy concern exists, DesiDo may investigate and consider information provided by both the reviewer and supplier.

17. Reviews Under Investigation

Where DesiDo has reasonable grounds to investigate the authenticity or compliance of a review, we may temporarily restrict the review or exclude it from relevant rating calculations while the investigation takes place. DesiDo will not automatically restrict a review merely because a supplier reports it. Any interim action will be based on the circumstances and the information available.

18. Supplier Responses to Reviews

Suppliers may respond publicly to reviews where this functionality is available. Supplier responses must:

relate to the review;
be truthful;
remain professional;
respect the reviewer's privacy; and
comply with DesiDo's Terms & Conditions and this Policy.

Supplier responses must not contain:

threatening or abusive language;
discriminatory content;
personal attacks;
private contact information;
unnecessary financial information;
confidential customer information;
intimidation or threats of retaliation; or
attempts to improperly pressure a reviewer into removing or changing a genuine review.

DesiDo may restrict or remove supplier responses that breach this Policy.

19. Editing and Redacting Reviews

DesiDo will not normally rewrite or materially change a reviewer's substantive opinion. Where there is an issue with particular review content, DesiDo may:

ask the reviewer to amend it;
temporarily restrict it;
remove the review; or
redact limited information where appropriate.

For example, DesiDo may remove a publicly displayed telephone number, home address or other unnecessary personal information. Any DesiDo redaction should not materially alter the meaning of the review.

20. Ratings and Review Information

DesiDo may display information derived from reviews, including overall ratings, category ratings, review counts, rating distributions, and other aggregated review information. DesiDo takes reasonable steps to ensure that published review information accurately reflects reviews that are eligible to be included.

21. Calculating Ratings

Supplier ratings are calculated from eligible published review ratings using the calculation method applied by DesiDo. Where a reviewer does not provide a rating for a particular category, that missing category should not be treated as a zero unless DesiDo clearly states otherwise.

If a review is removed, excluded or reinstated, DesiDo may recalculate the overall supplier rating, relevant category ratings, total review count, rating distributions, and other related review information.

22. Removing Reviews

DesiDo may restrict or remove a review where we reasonably believe that it:

is fake;
is not based on a genuine experience;
was submitted by the supplier or someone acting for the supplier;
was submitted by a competitor or person acting for a competitor;
was submitted in exchange for a prohibited or concealed incentive;
contains materially false or deliberately misleading information;
is abusive, threatening or discriminatory;
contains unlawful content;
improperly reveals personal or confidential information;
relates to the wrong supplier;
duplicates another review;
results from manipulation of the DesiDo review system;
breaches this Policy;
breaches the DesiDo Terms & Conditions; or
must be removed to comply with applicable law.

Where DesiDo reasonably requests evidence during an authenticity investigation, failure to provide that information may be taken into account. Failure to provide evidence does not automatically prove that a review is false. DesiDo will consider the circumstances as a whole.

23. Supplier Review Manipulation

Suppliers must not attempt to manipulate their DesiDo reviews, rating or reputation. This includes:

reviewing their own business;
asking employees, friends or family to pose as customers;
buying reviews;
commissioning fake reviews through agencies or other third parties;
arranging fake negative reviews about competitors;
offering concealed incentives;
creating fake customer accounts;
pressuring users to remove genuine negative reviews;
selectively soliciting reviews only from satisfied customers; or
otherwise attempting to interfere with review information.

Suppliers are responsible for review activity carried out on their behalf by employees, representatives or third parties where appropriate.

24. Action DesiDo May Take

Where DesiDo identifies serious or repeated breaches of this Policy, we may take proportionate action including:

removing reviews;
excluding reviews from rating calculations;
correcting affected ratings or review counts;
issuing warnings;
restricting review privileges;
restricting supplier review functionality;
suspending user accounts;
suspending supplier accounts or listings;
permanently removing accounts or listings in serious cases; or
taking other action reasonably necessary to protect the integrity of DesiDo.

25. Detecting Suspicious Reviews

DesiDo may use manual and technical measures to detect suspicious review activity. These may include considering:

account activity;
unusual review patterns;
multiple related accounts;
unusual increases in review activity;
repeated or duplicated wording;
suspected conflicts of interest;
verification information;
reports received from users and suppliers; and
other indicators of review manipulation.

DesiDo may update these methods as the Platform develops and new risks are identified.

26. Review Risk Assessment

DesiDo periodically reviews the risks of fake reviews, concealed incentivised reviews, manipulated ratings, misleading review information, and other abuse of the review system. Our assessment may consider:

how reviews are submitted;
the types of businesses listed on DesiDo;
previous reports and investigations;
patterns of suspected manipulation;
changes to DesiDo functionality; and
emerging review-manipulation techniques.

DesiDo may adjust its review processes where new or increased risks are identified.

27. Review Decisions and Further Information

Where appropriate, a reviewer or supplier may contact DesiDo if they believe a moderation or verification decision was made incorrectly. DesiDo may reconsider a decision where relevant new information is provided. This does not mean DesiDo is required to reinstate a review or response that breaches this Policy, our Terms & Conditions or applicable law.

28. Legal Complaints

The normal Report Review process should be used for concerns such as suspected fake reviews, competitor reviews, inappropriate content, privacy concerns, or other breaches of this Policy.

Where someone believes a published review raises a separate legal issue, including alleged defamation, they should contact DesiDo directly and clearly identify:

the review concerned;
the statement complained of;
why they consider it unlawful or defamatory; and
any other information reasonably required to assess the complaint.

DesiDo may operate a separate procedure for legal notices and may request further information before taking action.

Legal complaints: legal@desido.co.uk

29. Commercial Relationships With Suppliers

A supplier's commercial relationship with DesiDo does not give the supplier control over reviews about their business. A supplier cannot pay DesiDo to remove genuine negative reviews or obtain favourable review treatment. Where DesiDo introduces paid supplier services, subscriptions, advertising or promotional features, those arrangements will not determine whether compliant positive or negative reviews are published.

30. Changes to This Policy

DesiDo may update this Policy from time to time to reflect:

changes to the Platform;
changes to our verification or moderation processes;
changes in applicable law or regulatory guidance;
emerging review-manipulation risks; or
improvements to the way DesiDo operates reviews.

The most recent version of this Policy will be published on the DesiDo Platform with its latest update date. Material changes may also be communicated to users or suppliers where appropriate.

31. Contact Us

For questions about reviews, verification, reporting or moderation:

DesiDo – Operated by ALARAY Ltd – Company No. 11717869
Email: hello@desido.co.uk