Site Wide Message: (current site time 3/14/2010 4:12:11 AM EDT) PayPal users, starting this payment period, the payout fee has been lowered (dropped from a percentage of 2%-3% to a flat fee of $2)! Please see the news page for the latest info. We want your opinion! Please tell us what you think about the new pay-for-time beta and some new ideas regarding self-mediation. Rent A Coder Rating Change Policy (Note: Numerical ratings and comments are referred to simply as "ratings" in this policy).        In general, Rent a Coder does not change ratings.  Ratings express the personal opinion of the person giving the rating, and people's opinions vary widely.  What is a 10 behavior for one person may only be a 7 for another and may represent a 5 for another.  The rating party has a right to express their opinion, even when the receiving party disagrees with it.      However, the following types of ratings and/or rating comments will be changed upon request because they either undermine the integrity/accuracy of the rating system, or can be done while guaranteeing that they are not retaliatory: Reasons Ratings Can Be Changed 1) You placed a rating and want to change it: During the "blind period": As long as you send the complete change request to Rent a Coder before you have seen what the other party has rated you, we will honor your request, since we will know it is not retaliatory.   After the "blind period": You may not change a rating after the "blind period" has ended. 2) You placed a rating on the wrong person and we (in our sole deterimination) can confirm conclusively that you did. We will then move the rating to the proper person. 3) You received a rating of 3 or below on a complete project. The lowest accurate rating for a completed project is a 4, so we will correct the inaccuracy by raising it to a 4. However, please do not request that your rating be raised any higher, because we cannot honor such a request. 4) Your rating comment or a rating comment placed on you contains any of the following: Unprofessional, racist, or inappropriate language. Such language is not tolerated and will be removed when brought to our attention. Personal information (for example, email address, name, etc.) or makes reference to Rent a Coder, or a law enforcement organization investigation. Such information will be removed. Contains HTML formatting...which is not allowed. The formatting will be removed. 5) A rating was placed by you or on you. The rater lost arbitration (or it was deemed a retaliatory rating by the arbitrator). In this case the rating and/or rating comment may be edited or removed, per the rules of arbitration. Reasons Ratings Will NOT Be Changed 1) You don't like the rating or feel it is currently inaccurate 2) You don't like the comment or feel it is currently inaccurate What To Do if You Don't Like Your Rating AND It Cannot Be Changed by the Rules Above      If you completed the project (were rated a 4-10) then you can rebut the rating to present your side of what occurred. To rebut a rating, simply click on the "rebut" link next to the rating on your profile and enter what you wish to state about the rating. It will be displayed below it. You may be upset when you first see your rating, especially if you feel that it is unfair. However, remember that writing an emotional rebuttal may make you feel better, but may make you look worse on your profile. Remember to state your rebuttal in a tone that will show others that you are professional, logical and thoughtful...especially if the original rater was not. Doing so will compel others to consider your side of the story.      After you do that, you may wish to consider the old but true saying that says "You can't please ALL the people, ALL of the time". One bad rating will not ruin your record or you career. Unless your profile has a pattern of poor ratings, most people will overlook an isolated incident as an interpersonal issue and not take it into account.      Finally, if you still feel the rating is inaccurate enough to be libelous, you may wish to initiate a lawsuit against the other party. Rent a Coder will honor the results of any judicial settlement and change ratings appropriately to abide by the law. However, please do not threaten to bring suit against us for someone else's rating. In addition to the facts that we did not place the rating ourselves and cannot control the opinions of the person who placed it, United States law protects companies like Exhedra (the parent company of Rent a Coder) from liability (Reference 1, Reference 2).