Community Guidelines

Stenovate strives to empower busy court reporters, scopists, transcriptionists, and proofreaders through professionalism and transparency.

Our simple rating & review system allows our members to be open and honest about collaboration experiences with others in the community, making it easier for individuals to vet potential collaborators / teammates.  

Stenovate does not moderate the ratings and reviews, but we do ask that you keep all reviews professional.  The Stenovate team reserves the right to remove any reviews that are deemed unprofessional, which would be a rarity for thing slike racial slurs or inappropriate language.  Negative reviews will stand. 

What is the rating criteria?

It can be difficult to give a rating without some guiding criteria.  We believe the most important elements to consider are a person’s: 

• Work Quality
  
• Professionalism
• Reliability / Timely Payment

A few important notes: 

Work Quality
Everyone has bad days and make mistakes.  Court reporters are allowed to have untrans.  Scopists occasionally miss a homonym or a comma.  Please keep this in mind when reviewing Work Quality.  We recommend asking:  Did this person put in their best effort and produce a quality result, given the variety of potential extenuating circumstances? 

Professionalism speaks for itself.   

Reliability is paramount in this profession.  This is different than availability.  Teammates may not always be available, but the ultimate question is:  Did they do what they committed to?  Did they meet the deadline?  And if they owe payment, did they pay in a timely manner?  

How do I request a rating and review from another Stenovate user?

Only Stenovate members can leave reviews for other Stenovate members.  You can request any Stenovate user to leave you a rating and review by asking them to go to your profile and click “Leave a Review.”  For convenience, give provide the URL to your profile page to whoever you’d like to request a review.   Simply view your profile, copy the URL, and share it however you’d like (in Stenovate’s chat, via email, etc.)

We recommend adding a nice message.  Here’s some suggested language: 

Hello, [FIRST NAME]. 

I have enjoyed working with you through Stenovate, and I would very much appreciate if you would take a quick moment to leave a review on my profile.  I’m looking forward to collaborating again in the future.  Here is my profile link:  [COPY AND PASTE YOUR PROFILE URL]  Thanks so much 

Remember, the more ratings and reviews you have, the easier it is for others to decide to work with you.  So don’t be shy!  Ask for reviews from your previous collaborators / teammates.  

What do I do in the event of a negative review? 

Since Stenovate does not moderate reviews, we leave the power in your hands.  You have a few options.  First, Stenovate does allow a “Professional Reply” to all ratings and reviews.  We recommend responding to the review in a professional way.  Quite frankly, how you respond to a negative review may just say a lot more about you than the review itself.  Second, the reviewer can always update or delete the review.  Communicate with the individual and see if you can rectify the situation with them.  

Again, we believe in community vetting, professionalism, and transparency, which helps elevate the bar for those who are seeking quality, reliable help, and we do not moderate the reviews or delete negative ratings and reviews.  With that said, feel free to reach out to support@stenovate.com any time, and we will do our best to address questions and concerns in a timely manner. 

What do I do when someone is upset about a review I left?

First, we recommend asking yourself if you still believe in the review you left.  Were you honest and professional?  Is there any potential you were having a bad day and may have been too harsh?  This is ultimately for you to decide.  If you feel you have been honest and professional, here is a potential reply: 

Hello, [FIRSTNAME]

Thank you for addressing this with me.  I have left a review that I believe is professional and honest, and it’s important for other transcript professionals to be able to share their feedback in the form of ratings and reviews to elevate the bar for accountability amongst our colleagues.  I do hope that this feedback is constructive for you and wish you the best in your career.  Thanks so much.