1. When to read this

This guide is for two kinds of people. The reviewer who left a review and is being challenged on it. And the business owner who has a review on their profile that they believe should not be there. The process is the same for both, which is part of why it works.

The detail behind this process sits in the Review Policy and the Content Moderation Policy. This page is the practical walkthrough.

2. Before you flag

Most disputes never need to reach us. The fastest path to a good outcome is often a public reply from the business or a direct conversation between the two sides.

2.1 If you are a business owner

Reply to the review publicly first. Address the specific points. Acknowledge what went wrong if anything did. Explain what you have done about it. Many reviewers update their rating after a thoughtful reply. Some delete the review entirely. Either is a better outcome than a moderation dispute.

2.2 If you are a reviewer

Read the business's reply if there is one. If they have offered to make things right, consider whether the offer changes your view. Edit your review if your view has changed. The original text and rating are not set in stone.

2.3 When to escalate

Flag a review if the public reply did not work and you believe the content breaches the rules. Flag a removal if you believe the moderation decision was wrong. Do not flag because you disagree with someone's opinion. That is not what the dispute process is for.

3. How to file a flag we can act on

The quality of your flag affects how quickly we can resolve it. A specific, evidenced flag often gets resolved in days. A vague flag can sit in the queue while we ask follow-up questions.

3.1 Be specific about what is wrong

Identify the specific words, claim, or behaviour you object to. "The reviewer says we did not refund their money. We refunded on 14 March. Here is the bank receipt." beats "This review is false."

3.2 Share the evidence you have

If a reviewer says you charged a specific amount, share the receipt. If a reviewer says you said something, share the messages. If a business says you were never a customer, you may be asked for proof that you were. We do not require proof to post a review, but evidence is what moves a contested case.

3.3 Choose the right reason

The flag form lists categories. Pick the one that fits best. A reviewer flagging a hostile reply should pick "Harassment", not "Spam". A business challenging a false factual claim should pick "False statement of fact", not "Other".

4. What happens after you flag

Every flag gets read. The response depends on what the flag says and how serious it is.

4.1 Triage

A member of our front-line moderation team looks at the flag, the content it relates to, and the context around it. Serious flags (threats, illegal content, active harassment) jump the queue and are assessed within 48 hours. Other flags are usually handled within 7 days.

4.2 Asking both sides

For factual disputes, we usually ask the other side to respond before we decide. If a business says the reviewer was never their customer, we ask the reviewer for whatever support they can offer. If a reviewer says a business reply contained their personal phone number, we ask the business to explain. Both sides hear what the other said and have a chance to add to it.

4.3 The decision

We then make a call. The possible outcomes include leaving the content up, asking the reviewer to correct a factual claim, redacting specific words, removing the content, or in serious cases acting against the account behind it. Both sides get told the outcome and the reason.

4.4 Temporary unpublishing

For serious matters with credible evidence, we may take the content offline while the dispute is being worked through. This is not a decision; it is a pause. The content goes back up if the investigation supports keeping it up.

5. Appeals

Almost every decision can be appealed once.

5.1 Who can appeal

The reviewer can appeal a removal. The business owner can appeal a decision to leave a review up. The user whose flag was rejected can appeal that rejection.

5.2 How appeals are reviewed

A different member of our team than the one who made the first decision looks at the appeal. They start fresh: the content, the original flag, the original reasoning, and anything new the appealing party shared. The appeal decision is final on the Ratecrest platform.

5.3 Timelines

We aim to resolve serious appeals within 7 days. Most other appeals within 14 days. Where a matter is unusually complex, we tell you and explain why it is taking longer.

6. When we cannot resolve it

Sometimes a dispute goes beyond what a review platform can settle. We are not a court. We do not adjudicate defamation, breach of contract, or fraud in a binding way. Where a matter reaches that point, the right place to take it is outside Ratecrest.

• Defamation, contract, or personal injury. A Nigerian court is the right forum.
• Consumer rights under the FCCPA. The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission handles complaints. See the FCCPA rights guide.
• Data protection. The Nigeria Data Protection Commission handles complaints.
• Cybercrime. The Nigerian Police Force and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission handle reports.

Your case at Ratecrest can sit alongside any of these. A decision we make about a review is not a finding about your wider legal rights, in either direction.

7. What we do not do

• We do not remove reviews just because a business owner is unhappy with them.
• We do not remove reviews in exchange for payment, advertising spend, or any other consideration.
• We do not share a reviewer's personal contact details with the business they reviewed.
• We do not give paying businesses preferential treatment in disputes.
• We do not respond to threats of litigation alone. We respond to the underlying conduct, and to properly issued legal process.

8. If a dispute makes you feel unsafe

Reviews can sometimes attract retaliation. If a business has threatened you over a review, if you are being contacted at home or at work, or if someone has shared your personal data, do not handle that alone.

• Flag the offending content with "Urgent" in the note. We treat threats as serious and immediate.
• For physical threats, contact the Nigerian Police Force. Keep evidence (screenshots, messages, voice notes).
• For cyberstalking and threats sent through messaging apps, the offence is recognised under the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act, 2015.

We may temporarily hide a review and pause the related profile while we work through a safety issue. The pause is not a decision against you. It is a safety measure.

9. Questions

The contact form is the right way to reach us about a dispute or the dispute process itself. Write "Dispute" in the subject so the right team picks it up. For urgent safety matters, write "Urgent: dispute" and we will prioritise.