Community guidelines

Share your own, real experience

Only recommend or comment on businesses you’ve actually used.
Say what happened, not labels. “Took a R2,000 deposit and didn’t come back” is fair. “Scammer” or “thief” is an accusation, and those comments are checked by the Good List team before they appear.
Be fair. If they fixed a problem or you were partly to blame, say so.

Bad experiences matter to neighbours, so you can share them. Because they affect someone’s livelihood, we ask for your name and phone number with a negative review. Only the Good List team sees these.
Negative reviews and dislikes are checked before they appear or count. We may phone you to confirm what happened.
Before a negative review goes live, the business gets 7 days to put things right. If they do, you can update or remove your review. If not, it’s published. Every business gets the same chance, whether they pay The Good List or not.

No abuse, threats, hate or swearing.
Don’t post anyone’s private details: home addresses, personal phone numbers or ID numbers. Business numbers are fine, though a post with a phone number or web address is checked before it appears.
Don’t post about people’s health, family or personal lives.

Don’t recommend your own business, post about competitors, or ask friends to like your page or report fair reviews. Reply to comments on your own page instead.
Every business neighbours recommend is listed for free, ranked by how many neighbours would hire them again.
Verified and Featured (at most 2 per service per suburb, always labelled) give a business visibility and tools only. They never remove, hide or change reviews or the neighbour ranking.

You’re responsible for what you post, and you confirm it’s true and based on your own experience.
You let The Good List show your comments, votes and the details you add, in the app and on shared web pages. You can edit or delete them at any time.
A person’s first post, any negative review, and posts with an accusation, a phone number or a web address are checked before they appear. If we hold or remove a post, posting it again sends it back to be checked. Checking a post doesn’t mean The Good List agrees with it or has confirmed it.

The Good List only shares what neighbours say about local businesses. It isn’t an agent, broker or go-between, and it isn’t part of any agreement you make with a business. The job, the quote, the price, the payment and any guarantee are between you and the business alone.
The Good List doesn’t employ, vet, supervise or endorse the businesses listed, and doesn’t guarantee what people post. It isn’t responsible for their work, prices, conduct, delays, damage or injury, or for any money paid to them. To the extent the law allows, The Good List isn’t liable for any loss that comes from dealing with a business found on it.
The Good List doesn’t settle disputes between customers and businesses. When we tell a business about a concern raised in a review, we’re only giving them the chance to respond; we don’t take sides, negotiate or act for either of you. If something goes wrong, take it up with the business directly, or with the Consumer Goods and Services Ombud or another body that handles consumer complaints.
A Verified badge means we’ve confirmed the business is real and who runs it, not the quality of their work. Featured is paid placement, not a recommendation from The Good List.
Some listings come from a community’s list of recommended contractors and are labelled that way.
Always check qualifications (like a PIRB card or electrical CoC), get a written quote and agree terms directly with the business before work starts.

Verified and Featured are monthly plans arranged directly with the Good List team. A business can cancel any time; the plan stays active until the end of the month paid for.
Featured spots are limited. When a service is full in a suburb, you can join the waiting list.
We give 30 days’ notice before changing a price.
We may end a plan, with a refund for the unused part of the month, if a business breaks these terms, for example by posting fake reviews.

If you break these guidelines, we may remove your posts and ban you from posting on The Good List. Serious or repeated breaches mean a ban.
Anyone with an account can report a comment they think is false, defamatory or unfair: tap ⋯ on it and choose a reason, or contact us. Once 3 people have reported a post, it’s hidden until we’ve looked at it, and we aim to respond within 24 hours. Reporting fair reviews to get them taken down is itself against these guidelines.
A business can ask to be removed from The Good List, or to correct its details, at any time.

The Good List is run by The Good List Pty LTD (registration number 2026/880276/07). Questions or complaints: email info@thegoodlist.co.za, or call or WhatsApp 063 685 1378.
We may update these terms; the latest version is always here. Last updated 3 November 2026. South African law applies.