Type Private Area served Canada Number of employees 60 Founded 2006 | Industry Home improvement Website HomeStars.com Headquarters Toronto Parent organization HomeAdvisor | |
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Key people Nancy Peterson, Founder & CEO Services Online marketplace, Review site | ||
Homestars com on performance reviews on improvement companies
HomeStars.com is a Canadian company, which publishes reviews written by homeowners about home improvement professionals such as repairman, contractors, renovators, and retailers.
Contents
- Homestars com on performance reviews on improvement companies
- Homestars u appliance repair 101
- Reception
- References
HomeStars was formed in 2006 by Nancy Peterson. The Globe and Mail ran a feature on the company shortly after its foundation. The company began as an online community of homeowners, sharing reviews of their personal experience to help other homeowners find reputable contractors. Each review can contain details on the delivery of the work, contractor’s work habits and the quality of the follow-up. Similar to other review sites such as TripAdvisor, contractors are able to respond to any reviews that are written about them.
The National Post announced in 2015, that HomeStars had over two million companies listed on its website and hundreds of thousands of consumer reviews about those contractors. In 2015, ProfitGuide ranked HomeStars as the 77th fastest growing company in Canada. Founder and CEO, Nancy Peterson, also won an award in 2015 as one of Canada's top female entrepreneurs, where she ranked in 71st position.
Homestars u appliance repair 101
Reception
The feedback on HomeStars is generally positive. The company has received praise for how it ensures its reviews are authentic. HomeStars detects fake reviews by a combination of a proprietary algorithm that detects suspicious activity and moderators who investigate reviews to ensure work was done. Once a negative review is published, some contractors may threaten legal action against the homeowner. If the homeowner then decides to remove the review, it will be flagged as ‘removed by author’, which acts a warning to others. Also, if HomeStars detects a contractor is attempting to post fake reviews or threaten homeowners, a suspicious activity flag will be posted prominently on their listing page.
While the company has received mainly positive feedback, some contractors have voiced their anger after receiving bad reviews. Peterson was quoted by The Globe and Mail saying "we're doing the right thing if companies hate us", when discussing negative comments about the website. Another article has suggested that when contractors provide inadequate services, it is only natural for the contractor to blame review websites and not their own poor services.
There have been a number of lawsuits where contractors had attempted to file defamation lawsuits against homeowners who had written negative reviews about poor work. HomeStars helps people understand the difference between a negative review and a defamatory review. HomeStars was criticized for publishing a high rating on a contractor who then went bankrupt and left customers who had made large down-payments with unfinished work.