Documentation

How Our Ratings Work

Every published review follows the same path. An editor visits unannounced or buys the product at retail, tests for at least two weeks, and scores four sub-criteria. The headline rating is the straight average, rounded to one decimal and printed beside the sub-scores so readers can see the maths.

Our scale is fixed across every category: 5 is exceptional and rare, 4 is genuinely good with small caveats, 3 is average, 2 is disappointing, 1 means avoid. Businesses cannot pay to alter a score, and corrections are published with a dated editor's note — never silently. The full story is in our method notes.

Knowledge Base

Short answers to the questions readers ask us most. For anything longer, see the FAQ.

• What does “Views” mean under a review? How many readers have opened the full review — a rough guide to what's popular, not what's best.
• What do bracketed numbers like “(3)” mean? The count of verified reader reviews behind a round-up verdict. The editor's score out of five always appears on the full review page.
• How do categories work? Every review sits in one of six: Travel, Health, Creative, Ideas, Lifestyle or Technology. Filter them on the listings page.
• Can a score change after publication? Yes — if a business clearly improves or declines, we re-test and update the review with an editor's note. Scores are snapshots, not tattoos.
• Do you delete bad reviews? No. Scores stand unless the facts were wrong, in which case we correct and annotate.

Commenting

Starharbor Ratings keeps discussion deliberate rather than instant. There are no open comment threads — experience shows they reward the loudest voice, not the most useful one. Instead:

• Readers share experiences through Write a Review. Verified submissions are published with your name attached.
• Businesses reply through the contact page (topic “Business reply”). Verified replies appear beneath the review, clearly labeled.
• Corrections from anyone are checked by an editor and, when upheld, published with a dated note.

Everything published under a review has a real name behind it. Anonymity is where fakery hides, so we don't offer it.