Guide
How we review: the scorecard, the receipts and the right of reply
How every case file is scored, what counts as a receipt, what we publish from it, and how companies get to reply before anything goes live.
Published
Every review on this site answers one question first: was it worth the retainer? Then it shows the evidence. This page is the rulebook behind both.
The scorecard
Every hired company is scored on the same six criteria. The weights are fixed and the same for everyone:
| Criterion | Weight |
|---|---|
| Quality of the workWhether the work was usable as delivered and matched the brief. | 30% |
| Results against the briefThe metric the brief named (views, installs, cost per install, leads) against its target. | 20% |
| TurnaroundDelivery dates against the dates promised in the contract or order. | 15% |
| CommunicationReply times and whether problems were raised before we found them. | 15% |
| Price per deliverableWhat each finished deliverable cost, against the price index for the same kind of work. | 10% |
| Revisions policyWhether revision rounds were clear up front and honoured as promised. | 10% |
Each criterion gets a score from 0 to 10, set against the anchors below and backed by the receipts. The total is the weighted average, rounded to one decimal, and it is calculated by the site’s code from these weights. Nobody types a total in by hand, so a total can’t drift from the method.
| Criterion | 10 | 5 | 0 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quality of the work 30% | Usable as delivered. On brief, nothing we had to fix ourselves. | Usable after one round of fixes. | Not usable, even after revisions. |
| Results against the brief 20% | Met or beat the target in the brief. | Moved the metric, missed the target. | No measurable change. |
| Turnaround 15% | Every delivery on or before the promised date. | Most deliveries up to two business days late. | Most deliveries more than a week late. |
| Communication 15% | Replies within one business day; flagged problems before we did. | Replies within three business days. | Missed messages or went silent. |
| Price per deliverable 10% | At or below the low end of the price index. | In the middle of the price index. | Above the top of the price index. |
| Revisions policy 10% | Rounds stated up front and honoured. | Limited rounds; extras billed at the quoted rate. | Revisions refused or billed beyond the contract. |
When results can’t be measured. Some jobs have no metric to measure, such as a one-off brand video with no ad spend behind it. Then “Results against the brief” is marked not measurable and its 20% is shared across the other five criteria in proportion to their weights. The case file says when this happened.
The verdict
The stamp at the top of each review, worth the retainer or not, is Szymon Dziak’s call, and it is marked as his. The score sits next to it so you can see whether the numbers agree. Every review ends with a yes or a no: no “it depends”.
The receipts
A case file only exists for a job App369 actually paid for. The receipts are the invoices, contracts, the brief we sent, the work that came back, and the messages in between.
- We keep them privately. Receipts are never posted whole. A case file publishes only the facts it cites: what was bought, the dates, how many deliverables came back, revision rounds and results.
- Contracts come first. Before using a receipt we read the contract for confidentiality or non-disparagement terms. If a contract stops us publishing the price, the receipt strip says so instead of showing it.
- The work, not the people. We describe the work and how the company handled it. We never publish personal details about anyone on a company’s team.
Hired, or researched
Every company on the site carries one of two labels:
- Hired by App369: App369 paid them, so we have first-hand evidence. Only these companies get a case file and a score.
- Researched, not hired: we only know what their own public pages say. They appear with those facts, sourced and dated, and never with a score or a verdict.
Right of reply
Before a case file or the ranking goes live, the company gets the draft and five business days to reply. Their reply is printed at the bottom of the case file, as they sent it. If they show us a factual error, we fix it before publishing and note the change in the update log.
Public facts and dates
Prices, packages and turnaround promises that come from a company’s own website are listed with the page they came from and the date we read it. Anything older than 30 days is re-checked every month, and each change is dated in the page’s update log.
Money
No company pays us. If we ever join a company’s referral program, it will only be after its review is live, the page will say so in a plain sentence above the first link, and the review will not change because of it.
Corrections
A corrections address goes up here with the first published case file. Until then there are no reviews on the site to correct.
Questions
Do companies pay to be reviewed?
No. App369 pays the company for the work, like any client. No company pays Worth the Retainer, and none can pay to change a review.
Does a company see its case file before it goes live?
Yes. Every company in a case file or the ranking gets the draft and five business days to reply. Their reply is printed as they sent it.
Who decides the verdict?
Szymon Dziak, who owns App369 and publishes this site. The verdict is marked as his. The score next to it is calculated from the scorecard below.
What does "Researched, not hired" mean?
App369 didn't hire that company, so we only list facts from its own public pages, each with its source and the date we read it. Only companies App369 hired get a case file, a score and a verdict.
Update log
- Published.