How stories are written

1. Dated facts only. Every event has a date. Every amount has a receipt.
2. Documents attached. Orders, invoices, photos, emails and chat transcripts are linked from the story, redacted only for account numbers and private addresses.
3. First-hand only. A story is written by the person it happened to, or with their written consent and in their words. No secondhand accounts.
4. No employee names. Companies are named, and credited by name when they make things right. The people who answered the phone are not named.
5. No inference about motive. What was said and done is reported. Why is left to the reader.
6. The ending is the company's. Its reply is published verbatim, in full, within one business day of receipt, and the resolution is the headline of the story.
7. Promises are quoted, not paraphrased. What a company promised is taken from the listing, warranty, contract or written reply and quoted as written. If it cannot be quoted, it is not called a promise.
8. Replies are quoted with identifiers removed. A company's reply is published in full, but employee names, titles, direct lines, extensions, ticket and case numbers, and any identifier of a person who is not the company are replaced with a marker such as [removed]. Nothing else in the reply is changed.
9. The right of reply is a guarantee. A company may reply at any time, before or after publication. The reply appears verbatim at the foot of the story within one business day of receipt. How to send one is on the Corrections and legal notices page.
10. Facts and opinion are kept apart. The story's slots hold facts: what was bought, promised, said and done, each dated and documented. Any opinion is labelled as such and sits outside the story.
11. No logos. Companies are named in words. Their marks and logos are not used.

Last updated 20 September 2026.