Scoring governance & the right of reply
The Index Desk scores real companies in public. This page states, in plain language, exactly what those scores are, what they rest on, and what any scored company can do about one — before, during, and after publication. It applies to every Index, every entity, equally.
1 · What an Index score is — and is not
Every Index score is editorial opinion, produced by applying a published instrument to publicly available materials: brand-standard pages, official policy documents, filed customer-service plans, pricing pages, product and app documentation, and stated terms, as of the date printed on each Index. A “No” on any check means one thing: we did not find a documented public commitment to that item. It is not an assertion that a company fails to deliver the item in practice, and no Index grades any single stay, flight, booking, or interaction. Where an Index measures on-the-ground execution, we say so explicitly — that is the on-site evaluation behind Sales-Ready Certified™, and it is the only place we make execution claims.
2 · The evidence basis
Each check is scored against the public record at the time of evaluation, under the published rule that unstated, “varies,” “usually,” “at participating locations,” and “contact sales” score No — because a traveler or buyer cannot plan on an unpublished practice. Every Index page states its scoring date and carries a changelog. Company and product names are used nominatively — to identify whose published commitments are being described — and all trademarks remain the property of their owners.
3 · The right of reply
Any scored company may exercise all three of the following, at any time, at no cost:
Correction. If a documented public commitment contradicts a No, send the documentation to rachel@thesalestraveler.com. Verified corrections update the score within 7 days, are noted in that Index's changelog, and appear on the public corrections ledger.
Response. A scored company may submit a written response of up to 150 words regarding its entry. We publish it, verbatim and attributed, alongside the entry — including responses that disagree with us. Disagreement with the method is not a correction, but readers deserve to see it.
Update. If a company changes its published commitments after scoring, we re-score the affected checks on request under the same 7-day standard. This is not a concession; it is the point of the Index. When a company starts promising in public what it previously didn't, everyone won.
4 · Independence
No payment, partnership, certification fee, or advertising relationship changes an Index score, in either direction — and declining to do business with us doesn't either. Certification revenue and editorial coverage are separated; the certification's own criteria, fail path, and revocation policy are published, and its fee buys the evaluation, never the outcome. Our commercial rates are public for the same reason our method is: hidden terms are exactly what we score against.
5 · Errors, in both directions
We hold ourselves to the standard we apply. Our own errors are corrected on the same 7-day clock and logged permanently on the ledger — which opened with one of ours, self-caught. An error pointed out with evidence will never be treated as an attack; it is a contribution to the record, and the record is the product.
6 · Contact
Corrections, responses, re-score requests, press, and legal inquiries: rachel@thesalestraveler.com. Include documentation and the Index and entry concerned; the 7-day clock starts on receipt.