How to check a contractor's reviews before hiring

The ten-minute check

Most of this can be done from your phone before the first call.

• License: search the contractor's name or license number on your state licensing board's site. Make sure the trade matches (an electrical license does not cover plumbing).
• Insurance: ask for a certificate of insurance showing general liability and, if they have employees, workers' compensation. A legitimate contractor sends this routinely.
• Reviews: read the verified-only score and the most recent ten reviews. Skip the oldest; ownership and crews change.
• Replies: read the two lowest-rated reviews and the responses. Specific, calm replies are a good sign.
• Consistency: the business name on the license, the insurance certificate and the review profile should match.
• Address and phone: a real service area address and a phone number that is answered as the business.

Reading reviews for a service business

Service reviews are more useful than product reviews because they describe a process. Look for mentions of showing up on time, explaining the work, the estimate matching the bill, cleaning up, and what happened when something went wrong. A review that says only "great job" could be about anyone.

On RooVello every review shows how it was collected and whether the reviewer was a verified customer, and every business shows a separate verified-only score. Imported reviews a business brought from another platform are labeled and count at reduced weight, so a profile cannot be inflated by uploading an old export.

Questions to ask on the first call

The answers matter less than how readily they come.

• Who will actually be on site, employees or subcontractors, and are they covered by your insurance?
• Is the estimate fixed or an hourly rate, and what could change it?
• Who pulls permits, and is the permit cost in the estimate?
• What warranty do you give on labor, in writing?
• Can you send two recent customers for the same kind of job?

Red flags

Walk away from a contractor who asks for the full price up front, will not put the scope in writing, offers a discount for a review, or cannot produce a license number. A large deposit is normal for materials; full payment before work is not.

Frequently asked

How many reviews does a contractor need before the score means anything?

Three counted reviews is the minimum before RooVello shows a label instead of "Not enough reviews", and the score keeps a built-in pull toward 3.5 that fades as reviews accumulate. In practice, read the reviews themselves until a business has a few dozen.

Are reviews on the contractor's own website trustworthy?

Treat them as testimonials, which is what they are: the business chose which ones to show. The FTC's review rule prohibits a business from presenting a site it controls as an independent review source.

Should I trust a contractor with no reviews?

New businesses have no reviews, and many good small contractors never ask for any. Lean harder on the license, the insurance certificate and references. Then write the first review so the next person has something to read.

Can a contractor remove my negative review?

Not on RooVello. Businesses can reply publicly and can flag a review for a moderator with a stated reason, but cannot remove or hide it. Every removal is made by a moderator, carries a reason code, and can be appealed once by the writer.