Removing or Modifying a Review on the BPN Website

BPN does not remove or modify reviews except in very specific situations.  We do accept updates to a previous post.

BPN's reasons for removing a review

Once a review has been published on the BPN website, we will only remove it for one of the reasons listed below. BPN does not remove reviews for any other reason. 

1. Deceptive reviews

If BPN determines that a review of a business was posted by the business owner themselves, posing as a client, or posted by a friend, relative, employee, or colleague who did not disclose their relationship to the business, the review will be removed. Multiple instances of this will result in the removal of all reviews of the business and BPN will not accept further posts about the business.  See Deceptive Reviews.
 

2. Compensated reviews

If BPN determines that a review was posted in exchange for any type of compensation, the review will be removed. "Compensation" includes reviews posted in exchange for a favor, reviews posted to fulfill a school obligation such as parent volunteer hours, and reviews from booster groups who use their parent accounts to post reciprocal reviews of each others' businesses. Multiple instances of this will result in the removal of all reviews of the business and BPN will not accept further posts about the business. See Compensated and Reciprocal Reviews.

3. The business does not want to be reviewed on BPN.

Schools and businesses can request that ALL their reviews be removed from the BPN website and we will not accept further reviews of them. This is often because the business had negative reviews and requested removal in accordance with BPN's Negative Review Policy, but it can also happen if the business has closed or left the area.

4. Reviews that contain factual errors

Occasionally parents post a review of a business under the wrong business name, or mistakenly describe services that a business does not actually provide.  If you notice a post that needs to be corrected, please contact us. 

5. Reviews that do not meet BPN's policies

BPN has sometimes approved a review for publication that, on further examination, does not meet one of our policies. Please contact us if you see a post that does not appear to meet BPN's policies.

When BPN removes reviews 

Reviews that meet one of the reasons above will either be edited or removed at BPN's discretion.  When all reviews of a business are removed because the business requested it, or because multiple deceptive or compensated reviews were discovered, BPN will remove all reviews but retain the profile page of the school or business along with this note: "All reviews have been removed from this page and new reviews are not being accepted.  For more information see Removing Reviews from the BPN Website."

The reasons we do this:  (1) So that parents who use BPN will know that new reviews of this business will not be accepted, and (2) So that parents who posted reviews of the business in the past will know why their reviews no longer appear on BPN. 

Withdrawing a favorable review you posted in the past

Sometimes parents post a favorable review, and later ask to withdraw it because their opinion of the school or business has changed.  BPN does not remove reviews for this reason, but see the next section about posting an update.

Updating a review

If you have a published review on the BPN website and your opinion has changed, you can contact us about posting an update to your previous review. We will either add your update to the end of your existing review, or ask you to post the review yourself, depending on the circumstances. 

Why we have this policy:

  1. Parents rely on BPN for unbiased reviews that were posted by other parents not for personal gain, but in the spirit of helping their fellow parents.  BPN does not accept reviews that are posted to promote a business, or in exchange for a favor.
  2. We don't want parents to withdraw a minority opinion once they see how others are responding.  Most responses are posted without the benefit of knowing how others will respond, and outlier reviews have the beneficial effect of increasing the range and diversity of advice on BPN. 
  3. It isn't fair to the business or school to retroactively withdraw a good review that has been posted in the past. If you've changed your mind about a school or business that you reviewed favorably in the past, please contact us about posting an update to your previous review.
  4. Occasionally, a business or school has pressured parents to retract unfavorable reviews. We believe that negative reviews are useful for the parent community. Our Negative Review Policy restricts the type of criticism that can be posted, because we want to be fair to schools and businesses. All negative posts are reviewed by moderators to make sure they meet our policies. But we do not remove negative reviews while retaining good reviews of a business. Negative reviews can only be removed if it is later determined the review does not meet our policy, or if the school or business elects to remove all reviews and not be reviewed on BPN, per the the Negative Review Policy.