How to spot a 'Fake' Five-Star Review

When you are looking for a contractor, your first instinct is likely to check the major review platforms. Seeing a "10/10" rating or a sea of five-star reviews on sites like Checkatrade or Bark can feel like a green light. However, it is important to remember that these platforms are often "trader-centric"—the contractors are the ones paying for the listings.

Relying solely on stars is a risk. Even with top-tier ratings, homeowners can still experience rising costs, poor workmanship, or even threatening behaviour. To protect yourself, you need to look beneath the surface.

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The Red Flags of Manipulated Reviews

Not all five-star reviews are created equal. Here is how to spot the ones that might not be telling the whole story:

• The "Burst" Pattern: If a builder has twenty glowing reviews all posted within the same week, but nothing for months before or after, proceed with caution. Genuine work tends to be spread out.

• Vague Praise: Watch out for short, generic comments like "Great job" or "Highly recommend" without any specific details about the project. Real homeowners usually mention the specific problem solved (e.g., "fixed the leak in the Victorian bay window").

• The Missing Middle: A profile with fifty 5-star reviews and two 1-star reviews—with nothing in between—can be a sign of a trader who manages their reputation by pressuring dissatisfied customers to remove 3-star or 4-star "average" feedback.

• Photo Discrepancies: Check if the photos attached to reviews look like real UK homes or if they look like high-resolution stock imagery.

Moving Beyond the "Star" System

Because reviews can be faked or manipulated, they should only be your starting point. To truly vet a contractor, you need to move from passive reading to active due diligence.

Properly’s Brief Builder is designed to help you with this. By creating a detailed, professional brief from the outset, you can see how a contractor responds to specific technical requirements rather than just relying on their past "likes".

The Properly Checklist for Vetting

Before signing a contract, we recommend these three steps to verify a trader's "real-world" reputation:

1. Independent Verification: Use Properly to check information aggregated from Companies House, insurers, and multiple independent directories rather than just one review site.

2. Ask for "The Boring Work": Don't just look at their best project. Ask for a reference for a job they did two years ago to see how their workmanship has held up over time.

3. Check the Quote, Not the Stars: Use our Quote Checker to see if their pricing is realistic. A "five-star" builder who provides a suspiciously low quote may be planning to hit you with "rising costs" once the job starts.