Ripoff Report
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Type of site
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Private, for-profit |
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| Available in | English |
| Created by | Ed Magedson |
| Website | www |
| Alexa rank |
 21587 (Global 06/2017)
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| Launched | December 8, 1998 |
| Current status | Online |
Ripoff Report is a privately owned and operated for-profit website founded by Ed Magedson. The Ripoff Report has been online since December 1998 and is operated by Xcentric Ventures, LLC which is based in Tempe, Arizona.
Ripoff Report allows users over the age of 14 to complain anonymously about any firm or person. The site requires creating an account before "reports" can be submitted but does not verify the identity of users. Reports are not automatically added to the website: they must be approved first. According to the site's Terms of Service, users are required to affirm that their reports are truthful and accurate, but the site says that it neither investigates, confirms nor corroborates the accuracy of submissions.
Companies or individuals who have been named in a report may respond with a rebuttal at the bottom of the same webpage, which explains their side of the story, if the rebuttal is approved by Ripoff Report. There is no charge to submit a rebuttal, but they must have a registered account. Alternatively, to "repair the reputation" because of something that is written in the website, Ripoff Report asks them to pay for investigations of complaints and responses carried out by "Ripoff Report's pool of Arbitrators", and to edit the webpage. According to Bloomberg Businessweek, this mechanism is an example of "how to make money rebuilding reputations: have them destroyed first", which is why a federal court stated that victims have "probable cause to sue for extortion and racketeering".
Ripoff Report sells ad space on its website and offers companies the option to pay for complaint investigations, which can cost from US$5,500 to over $100,000. It also offers an arbitration program.
The site says that, with the exception of cases that are decided against the complainant in arbitration, all complaints remain public and unedited and authors are not allowed to remove their own reports even in cases where a mistake has been made.
In May 2013, Ripoff Report started a new service called "Ripoff Report Verified" that offers companies with no prior complaints an option to become "Verified". According to an interview with Search Engine Watch, for $89 per month, "Once a verified business gets any negative complaints, they would be alerted via email about the negative reviews and will be able to discuss a resolution with the person that left the negative reviews."
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