Guidelines of Use
Grapexchange is an online community which all site users contribute different kinds of content, including reviews, photos, videos, events, ratings, tips, private messages, employment opportunities, classifieds and more. Being courteous to others within the community goes without saying, but just in case, we’ve listed a few do’s and don’t as well as general user guidelines. Please read the guidelines below for specific types of content that you might contribute to on the site.
Inappropriate Content
Threats, lewdness, bigotry, pornography, hate speech and harassment will not be tolerated.
Conflicts of interest
Your review of other businesses products and supplies should be unbiased and objective. You are forbidden to write reviews on your own business or employer, friends’, relatives’ business, peers or competitors in your industry. Business owners should not ask customers to write reviews. This ensures an unbiased review.
Relevance
Contributions ought to be relevant, suitable and provide value to other site users. The review forums are not the place to pontificate about a business's employment practices, political ideologies, unusual experiences, or other matters that don't address the core of the consumer experience.
Privacy
Do not make public other users private information. Do not post photos of employees or other users without explicit permission. First and Last names should not be placed in reviews unless you’re referring to service providers who are commonly identified by or commonly share their own full names.
Intellectual property
Do not copy reviews from others sites or users in an attempt to make them your own.
Additional Guidelines
Review Guidelines
Reviews, which are passionate and from personal experience are of most value. They offer a rich story, and pin point details, which can be helpful to other users looking for a tip or two. Here are some additional thoughts for conscientious reviewers.
Personal experience
We want to hear about your firsthand personal experience, not what you heard from a friend, family member or co-worker. Try to tell your story without resorting to generalizations or allegations.
Accuracy
Ensure your review is factually correct. Feel free to provide your opinion, but don't misrepresent or over exaggerate your experience. Grapexchange doesn’t take sides when it comes to disputes, so it is your responsibility to stand behind your review.
Review updates
Review updates should reflect a new experience or interaction with the business. Don't tell the same old story you've already told. If you'd like to add new insight to an old experience, just edit your review instead of creating a new update.
Photo and Video Guidelines
Photos and videos of businesses should be relevant to the business and reflect the usual consumer experience (ie, what the business looks like, what the business offers, etc.). If you post a photo or video that showcases a more unique personal experience with a business (e.g., your group of friends fronting the winery), we may remove it from the photo gallery for the business, as it does not represent the typical consumer experience. However it may still appear alongside your review if you write one about the business.
User Profile Guidelines
Don't be bashful — your account profile was built to let people know who you are and what interests you have. Other site users want to read reviews from individuals they know and trust (not those with profiles that are lacking information or laced with unbecoming content).
Messaging Guidelines
Grapexchange has an advanced messaging system to keep you connected with other business, suppliers, distributors and site users. Please do not use this feature to be harass other users or send inappropriate content. User accounts are for personal, non-commercial use only. Business owners should message reviewers using the account associated with their Business Account only. To this end we ask that they upload a clear photo of themselves to help personalize their message.
Event Guidelines
Hear about a Trade Show, Seminar, Charity Event, or Association Meeting? Wonderful! Post it via the Events tab on Grapexchange. Please note that individual winery events and consumer events have a fee associated to post. Fresh content is best, so please don't post events more than 6 months in advance.
Business Owner Guidelines
Our business is your business! Some words of wisdom.About Your Business
You can use the "About us Section" tab to tell people a little something special about your business. Please keep it appropriate to the matter at hand and don't use this area to take aggressive action against your competitors, reviewers, or Grapexchange. Using this section for keyword stuffing with regards to getting favorable ratings from the major search engines is forbidden. Posting special offers or promotions within in the text will also be grounds for removal.
Public Comments
Private messaging is often the best way to resolve a dispute with an unhappy customer, but business owners can also address issues publicly by posting a public comment. As with private messaging, we ask that business owners upload a clear photo of themselves to help personalize their message. Don't use public comments to launch personal attacks, advertise, or offer an incentive to change a review.
Video
Videos are a great way for advertisers to promote themselves on Grapexchange. Be as creative as you can, but please keep it clean. We're not fans of imagery showing violence, drug use, nudity, near nudity, or suggestive acts. Also, please don't use your video to disparage other businesses, users or Grapexchange; request or solicit reviews from users; or respond to user reviews.
Don't ask customers for reviews
We discourage you from directly asking customers to review your business on Grapexchange. Over time, solicited reviews create bias in your business listing which lead to non-authentic information.
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