User Review and Comment Policy

One of the biggest problems that other review and complaint sites face, is user-generated content pollution. If left unchecked user reviews and comments can become a breading ground for flame wars, fake positive reviews and fake complaints. My goal with Merchant Maverick is to fix all of that. I'm more focused on quality reviews and comments rather than quantity.

I know all of you merchants will appreciate reading user reviews that are authentic, and all of you providers will know that any complaints left on MerchantMaverick.com will be from legitimate business owners that have used your services.

General Rules

I'll keep the general rules short and sweet.

• Be cool. Critical is fine, but rude is not.
• Add value to the conversation.
• Be descriptive."This company sucks!" is not enough info.
• No self-promoting on another provider's review.
• No personal attacks.
• No name dropping.
• No flame wars.

If you have any questions or suggestions, let me know.

Positive User Review

Definition: Any type of praise for a specific merchant service provider is considered a positive review.

Rules: Positive user reviews will only be published if they are fully-disclosed. Full-disclosure includes, full-name, company name and a valid email address.

If the merchant can provide proof that they've worked with the merchant service provider within the last 6-months, the review will be branded with the official Merchant Maverick “Authenticated Review” badge, and will be weighed heavily during the next rating update.

      (Authenticated Review Badge)

If the merchant declines to authenticate their review, it will still be posted without the badge, but won't be considered during the next rating update.

Negative User Review (aka Complaint)

Definition: Any type of complaint against a specific merchant service provider is considered a negative review.

Rules: I understand that some folks will not want to publicly display their contact information if they're posting a negative review, so full-disclosure will not be necessary in this case. However, the complaining merchant must provide a valid email address so I can privately contact them myself. I will then proceed to try and authenticate the negative review through the same authentication process listed in the positive review section. Without that type of verification, the complaining party's review will not be posted on MerchantMaverick.com.

*Note: Your contact information will never be disclosed to your provider.

Provider Rebuttal

Definition: A provider rebuttal is a response by a merchant service provider to a positive or negative review they've received on MerchantMaverick.com.

Rules: Provider rebuttals will only be published if they are fully-disclosed. Full-name, company name and contact information. No exceptions. The same authentication process will be exercised here as well. Authenticated rebuttals will receive the Merchant Maverick "Authenticated Rebuttal" badge.

      (Authenticated Rebuttal Badge)