What to Do If Someone Is Abusive or Violates Guidelines
Hire Local is a community built on respect, safety, and professionalism. If you experience abusive behavior or see someone breaking the rules, here’s how to handle it.
What Counts as a Violation?
- Verbal abuse, harassment, or threats
- Discrimination or offensive comments (race, gender, religion, etc.)
- Asking for or sending payments outside the platform
- Posting fake jobs or impersonating others
- Spamming users with copy-paste messages
- Pressuring others to exchange personal contact info
What You Should Do
1. Do Not Respond Further
- Stay calm. Avoid escalating the situation.
- Do not continue the conversation with the abusive user.
2. Report the User
- Open the job or message thread
- Click “Report a Problem”
- Choose “Abusive behavior” or “Violation of guidelines”
- Add a brief description of what happened
3. Contact Support (Optional but Recommended)
- Email: support@hirelocal.co.nz
- Include:
- The user’s name/profile
- Job title (if involved)
- Screenshot(s) of the message or issue
- A short summary of what happened
What Happens After You Report
- The support team will review the complaint
- The reported user may be:
- Warned
- Temporarily restricted
- Permanently suspended for serious or repeated violations
- You will be notified of the outcome when appropriate.
- Your identity is kept confidential during investigations
Zero Tolerance Policy
Hire Local takes abusive behavior very seriously.
- Any user — expert or customer — who is abusive, threatening, or repeatedly breaks the rules may be removed from the platform permanently.
- We encourage you to report issues immediately so our team can act quickly.
