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Diner Review Policy

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Diner Review Policy

Last updated: 7 August 2026

1. Purpose of this Policy

BookMyTable reviews allow diners to share genuine feedback about their experiences at Business listed on the BookMyTable website, mobile applications and related services (“Business”).

Reviews are intended to:

  • Help diners make informed dining decisions
  • Recognise Dining venues that provide positive experiences
  • Give Business constructive and useful feedback
  • Promote transparency and accountability and
  • Support a trustworthy Business-discovery community.

This Review Policy applies to ratings, written reviews, photographs, Business responses and other review-related content submitted through BookMyTable. The Policy should be read together with the BookMyTable Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

2. What is a BookMyTable review?

A BookMyTable review may include:

  • A rating from 1 to 5.
  • Written feedback.
  • Ratings for particular aspects of the experience.
  • Photographs, where this feature is available.
  • Other information requested through the review process.

Reviews may appear on the Businesses BookMyTable listing, elsewhere on the Platform and in BookMyTable promotional material, subject to this Policy and the licence contained in our Terms and Conditions. A review represents the reviewer’s personal opinion. It does not represent the opinion of BookMyTable.

3. Who may submit a review?

BookMyTable aims to accept reviews from diners who have genuinely experienced the Business  being reviewed. Where review verification is available, a diner may be invited to submit a review after a reservation made through BookMyTable has been marked as completed or honored. A verified reservation is evidence that the diner had a reservation at the Business. It does not amount to an absolute guarantee regarding every aspect of the diner’s experience.

BookMyTable may use reservation information, Account activity and other reasonable signals to determine whether a review qualifies as a verified review. Business listed for discovery or viewing only may not be eligible to receive reviews unless BookMyTable introduces another reliable method of experience verification. BookMyTable may decline or remove a review where it cannot reasonably verify that the reviewer had a genuine experience with the Business.

4. Verified review labels

Where appropriate, BookMyTable may label a review as a Verified Booking or use another verification indicator. This means that BookMyTable found a corresponding reservation or another reasonable verification signal. It does not mean that BookMyTable:

  • Independently investigated every statement.
  • Endorses the reviewer’s opinion.
  • Guarantees the accuracy of every detail.
  • Guarantees the quality or safety of the Business.

BookMyTable must apply verification labels consistently and must not allow an Business to purchase or influence a verified status.

5. Positive and negative reviews

BookMyTable publishes both positive and negative reviews that comply with this Policy.

A review will not be removed merely because:

  • It is negative.
  • A Business disagrees with it.
  • It affects a Business overall rating.
  • It describes poor food or service.
  • It is embarrassing to the Business.
  • The Business offers the reviewer compensation after publication.

Business participating on BookMyTable accept that genuine critical feedback forms part of a fair and transparent review system. BookMyTable may remove or restrict a review only where there is a reasonable basis under this Policy, the Terms and Conditions or applicable law.

6. Standards for diner reviews

6.1 Reviews must be authentic

A review must reflect the reviewer’s genuine and personal experience.

Reviews must not be:

  • Fabricated or misleading
  • Submitted for a the reviewer did not visit
  • Written on behalf of another person without authority
  • Purchased, sold or traded
  • Submitted using multiple Accounts
  • Coordinated to manipulate a rating
  • Generated in bulk using automated tools; or
  • Submitted by a person with an undisclosed material conflict of interest.

A reviewer must not accept payment, gifts, discounts, complimentary meals or other benefits in exchange for a particular rating or favourable review. Where a meal or experience was complimentary or incentivised, this must be clearly disclosed.

6.2 Reviews must be relevant

Reviews should focus on the diner’s experience, including:

  • Food and beverage quality
  • Service
  • Value
  • Ambience
  • Cleanliness
  • Reservation handling
  • Accessibility
  • Waiting times and
  • Whether disclosed promotions or arrangements were honored.

Reviews should not focus on unrelated personal disputes, political opinions, private employment matters or events that did not form part of the dining experience.

6.3 Reviews should be helpful

A helpful review explains the reason for the rating and provides enough context for other diners and the Business to understand the feedback. BookMyTable may choose not to publish ratings without meaningful supporting information, particularly where the rating appears suspicious or abusive. Reviews should be reasonably clear and based on specific observations.

6.4 Reviews must be respectful

Reviews must not contain:

  • Threats or intimidation
  • Harassment or bullying
  • Hate speech
  • Discriminatory abuse
  • Obscene or sexually explicit material
  • Malicious personal attacks
  • Graphic or disturbing material
  • Celebration or encouragement of violence 
  • Content intended primarily to humiliate another person.

Strong criticism is allowed, but it must relate to the dining experience and must not become personal abuse.

6.5 Reviews must respect privacy

Do not include another person’s:

  • Surname or full name
  • Personal telephone number
  • Email or residential address
  • Identity or passport number
  • Payment information
  • Photograph without appropriate permission
  • Private medical information 
  • Other identifying or confidential information.

A Business staff member’s first name may be used where reasonably necessary to describe the experience, provided it is not used to harass, threaten or expose that person. BookMyTable may redact personal information or remove content that creates an unreasonable privacy risk.

6.6 Reviews must be lawful

Reviews must not:

  • Infringe copyright, trade marks or other intellectual-property rights
  • Contain unlawful content
  • Promote illegal goods or services
  • Contain fraudulent statements
  • Breach a court order
  • Amount to extortion or blackmail 
  • Include content that the reviewer has no right to publish.

A reviewer is responsible for the content they submit.

6.7 Reviews must not contain advertising or spam

Reviews may not be used to:

  • Advertise another business
  • Promote referral codes or commercial links
  • Recruit customers or employees
  • Repeatedly post the same content
  • Manipulate search results 
  • Promote unrelated products or services.

7. Serious allegations and urgent safety concerns

A public review is not always the correct channel for an urgent or serious complaint.

If a concern involves suspected:

  • Food poisoning or serious illness
  • Criminal activity
  • Immediate danger
  • Violence or harassment
  • Serious discrimination
  • Fraud 
  • Regulatory non-compliance

the diner should report the matter to the Business and the appropriate authority where necessary.

A reviewer may describe a genuine experience, but should avoid presenting an unproven allegation as an established fact.

BookMyTable may temporarily restrict a review containing a serious allegation while requesting clarification or supporting information. This does not mean that BookMyTable has concluded that the allegation is true or false.

BookMyTable may disclose relevant information where required by law or reasonably necessary to protect a person’s safety or legal rights.

8. Conflicts of interest

The following people must not submit a review unless the relationship is clearly disclosed and BookMyTable expressly permits it:

  • Business owners
  • Business employees
  • Former employees reviewing an employment dispute
  • Close family members of owners or employees
  • Competitors
  • Suppliers or service providers
  • Marketing agencies 
  • Anyone acting on behalf of the Business or its competitor.

Business must not submit reviews about themselves or competitors. Business must not pressure employees, friends, relatives or suppliers to submit misleading reviews.

9. Establishment incentives and review manipulation

Businesses may encourage diners to provide honest feedback, but may not:

  • Require a positive rating
  • Offer a benefit only for a positive review
  • Discourage dissatisfied diners from reviewing
  • Ask diners to remove genuine criticism in exchange for a refund or benefit
  • Submit reviews through false Accounts
  • Selectively invite only diners expected to provide positive feedback
  • Threaten or harass a reviewer
  • Manipulate reservation status to prevent an eligible review 
  • Attempt to artificially increase or decrease ratings.

A neutral incentive offered for any honest review must be disclosed and must not depend on the rating or content. BookMyTable may remove manipulated reviews, adjust ratings, suspend review features or restrict a Business that attempts to interfere with review integrity.

10. Establishment responses

Where the response feature is available, a Business may respond publicly to a review.

Business responses must:

  • Be professional and relevant
  • Address the feedback rather than attack the reviewer
  • Protect the diner’s personal information
  • Avoid disclosing booking contact details or private communications
  • Avoid threats or retaliation
  • Avoid incentives intended to manipulate the review and
  • Comply with the same standards that apply to reviews.

A Business  may state its perspective or correct a factual issue, but it may not disclose confidential diner information to win a public dispute. BookMyTable may moderate or remove Business responses that breach this Policy.

11. Privacy and display names

Reviews may be displayed with:

  • The reviewer’s first name
  • A chosen display name
  • The month or date of the dining experience
  • The review date
  • A verified booking indicator and
  • Other non-sensitive review information.

BookMyTable will not publicly display the reviewer’s private contact details. Relevant booking information may be used internally to verify the review and investigate disputes. Business may already hold contact information necessary for the reservation, but may not use that information to harass the reviewer or for unrelated marketing without a lawful basis. Personal information will be processed in accordance with the BookMyTable Privacy Policy and POPIA.

12. Moderation

BookMyTable may use automated systems and human review to identify content that may breach this Policy. BookMyTable is not required to approve or publish every submission and cannot guarantee that every review will be checked before publication.

We may:

  • Publish a review
  • Delay publication while investigating
  • Ask the reviewer for clarification
  • Request supporting information
  • Redact personal information
  • Restrict photographs or particular content
  • Remove a review or response
  • Reject a submission
  • Place a warning or explanation on content 
  • Restrict an Account or Business  review privileges.

Where practical, BookMyTable should make the smallest reasonable intervention. We will not change the meaning of a review to make it more positive or negative.

BookMyTable will not rewrite a published review on the reviewer’s behalf. Minor formatting, technical or privacy-related adjustments may be made where necessary without changing the substance.

13. Reporting a review

Diners and Businesses may report a review or response that they reasonably believe breaches this Policy.

A report should include:

  • The Business name
  • The review date
  • The reviewer’s displayed name
  • The reason for the report
  • The specific part believed to breach the Policy 
  • Any relevant supporting information.

Reports may be sent to:

Email: info@bookmytable.co.za
Subject: Review Policy Report – [Business name]

Reporting a review does not guarantee its removal.

BookMyTable will assess the content against this Policy and not merely according to whether a party agrees with the opinion expressed.

14. Investigation process

When investigating a report, BookMyTable may consider:

  • Whether the reviewer had a corresponding reservation
  • Reservation status and timing
  • The content of the review
  • Supporting information supplied by the parties
  • Signs of manipulation, duplication or coordinated activity
  • The reviewer’s and the Establishment history on the Platform
  • Privacy and safety concerns 
  • Applicable legal obligations.

BookMyTable may contact the reviewer or the Business for further information. Neither party should submit unnecessary private or sensitive information during an investigation. BookMyTable aims to acknowledge a review report within 3 business days and decide it within a reasonable period, depending on its complexity.

15. Removal or restriction of reviews

A review may be removed or restricted where BookMyTable reasonably determines that it:

  • Is not based on a genuine experience
  • Cannot reasonably be verified
  • Contains false or misleading material presented as fact
  • Contains prohibited personal information
  • Is abusive, threatening or discriminatory
  • Contains spam, advertising or irrelevant content
  • Was submitted in exchange for an undisclosed benefit
  • Results from a conflict of interest
  • Manipulates or attempts to manipulate ratings
  • Infringes another person’s rights
  • Breaches this Policy or the Terms and Conditions
  • Creates a serious safety or legal risk 
  • Must be removed under applicable law or a lawful order.

Where only part of a review is problematic, BookMyTable may request that the reviewer submit an amended version rather than removing the entire review.

16. Reviews that will not ordinarily be removed

A review will not ordinarily be removed merely because:

  • It is negative
  • It gives a low rating
  • The Business disputes the reviewer’s opinion
  • The Business has resolved the complaint
  • The reviewer received a refund
  • The Business has changed management
  • The review is commercially inconvenient
  • It reduces the Business average rating.

A resolution between the reviewer and Business does not automatically erase the reviewer’s original experience. The reviewer may voluntarily update or withdraw the review where the Platform allows it.

17. Editing or withdrawing a review

Where this feature is available, a reviewer may:

  • Correct a genuine mistake
  • Add an update
  • Amend the review after a resolution 
  • Request withdrawal of their review.

BookMyTable may retain an internal record of removed or withdrawn content where reasonably necessary for fraud prevention, dispute resolution, legal compliance or enforcement. Removing a review does not necessarily delete all associated personal information. Personal information will be retained or deleted according to the Privacy Policy and applicable law.

18. Appeals

A reviewer or the Business may request reconsideration of a moderation decision by contacting:

Email: info@bookmytable.co.za
Subject: Review Decision Appeal – [Business name]

The appeal should explain:

  • The decision being challenged.
  • Why the decision is believed to be incorrect.
  • Which part of this Policy is relevant.
  • Any new supporting information.

Where reasonably possible, the appeal should be reviewed by a person who did not make the original decision. BookMyTable may refuse repeated appeals that provide no new or relevant information.

19. Ratings and calculation

A Business displayed rating may be calculated using eligible published reviews.

BookMyTable may apply reasonable measures to protect rating integrity, including:

  • Excluding fraudulent or manipulated reviews.
  • Removing ratings associated with deleted reviews.
  • Requiring a minimum number of reviews before displaying an aggregate score.
  • Rounding scores consistently and
  • Displaying the number of published reviews.

BookMyTable must not allow a Business to pay for a higher rating or preferential review treatment. Sponsored or promoted listings must be identified separately and must not affect review scores.

20. Enforcement

A breach of this Policy may result in:

  • Rejection or removal of content.
  • A warning.
  • Temporary restriction of review features.
  • Removal of verification labels.
  • Account suspension
  • Business review. restrictions.
  • Termination of access in serious or repeated cases.

Action will be proportionate to the nature, seriousness and frequency of the conduct.

21. Changes to this Policy

BookMyTable may update this Policy to reflect changes in the Platform, review features, moderation practices or legal requirements. The revised Policy will be published with an updated revision date. Material changes may also be communicated to registered users and the Business partners.