Frequently Asked Questions

Reviews & Reviewers

• Can I review a restaurant?
  Yes. Sign-up now and you can be reviewing your first restaurant in no time flat.
• What's the difference between a Public Reviewer and a DineOut VIP?
  DineOut VIP's have their reviews added automatically, Public Reviewers need to have their review authorised by a DineOut Admin before it goes live. Both reviews have equal ranking in the database.
• Can I be a DineOut VIP?
  You have to have added a selection of reviews before you are considered for VIP status. We'll keep an eye on you, but feel free to bug us if you want to.
• Wow! A DineOut VIP! How much does it pay?
  Nothing.
• DineOut Admin? Can I be one of those?
  No.
• Why should I bother signing up and adding my reviews?
  You might win our monthly prize, but more importantly, you'll be sharing your experience with other like minded people and assisting with building and maintaining the largest restaurant review website in New Zealand (and maybe the world!).
• Don't people tend to talk about bad experiences more than good ones?
  Apparently nobody has told our reviewers that! Every day we get a range of reviews, some appalling experiences, some average, and some absolutely amazing ones - good and bad over a month would be fairly even.
• Hey! I gave a restaurant all 10's and you wouldn't even accept it! Why?
  We don't accept all tens or all tens and zeros. Get over it.
• You declined my review. What do I do now?
  Login and edit it. We'll check it out again and re-assess it.
• My review still hasn't been accepted. Why?
  Sometimes it can take a few days to peruse all of the reviews we receive, so please be patient. We'll advise you when it's accepted or if we decline it.
• Why can't I call people names?
  Simply, we can't accept slander. You can say "the manager was not very friendly to me" but cannot say "the manager was a bastard" or "the manager was a surly idiot". We may edit or delete phrases like this from your review before we accept it.
• My review was deleted!
  Must have been pretty bad... Reviews are deleted when it cannot be of any use on the site, and editing will not help.
• How many reviews have you got?
  We have 43,468 of them!

Restaurants and their details

• How much do restaurants pay to be listed on DineOut?
  Nothing. All listings are free.
• What does it cost to get an enhanced listing?
  Nothing. If you are the manager/owner of a restaurant (or chain) and would like to be able to edit and update your restaurant details, drop us a line with proof of ownership/managership and we'll give you a login and password to edit your restaurant as often as you want absolutely FREE!
• I'm a restaurant owner/manager. I used to be able to edit my details - why can't I now?
  You can, but the procedure has changed a little. First, bring up your listing, click on 'update this restaurant' then click on 'owner/manager' which will bring up the form to alter your listing. You will see a box for your password just above the 'submit' button - the listing cannot be updated without the password.
• Why can't I review that restaurant?
  Some restaurants have had their review facility removed from DineOut. Their listing is still there so that it does not get added again at a later stage, and so that potential reviewers are aware of it's status.
• That restaurant is closed!
  We have 5,873 restaurants from all over New Zealand, and it takes a lot of effort to maintain the database. Let us know if something has changed hands or closed down or opened up and we'll amend the database asap.
• DineOut used to display the smokefree status of restaurants, and now it doesn't!
  They're all smokefree now.

DineOut Stats

• How many restaurants do you have?
  5,873
• How many reviews do you have?
  43,468
• How many reviewers do you have?
  23,640 of which 55 are DineOut VIP's and 2 are DineOut Admins