October 13, 2008

CHEVY CHASE, Md – (October 13, 2008) – ValueStar®,  a leading online aggregator of consumer ratings of service businesses in the San Francisco Bay Area and a pioneer in certifying the quality of local service businesses,  today announced it has begun offering the ValueStar Customer-Rated program to service businesses in the Washington,  DC metro area.  The Customer-Rated program evaluates a service business' licensing and other credentials and gathers ratings and reviews from confirmed customers.  Businesses meeting ValueStar's standards for delivering a high level of customer satisfaction are permitted to display the ValueStar Customer-Rated seal in all their offline and online advertising as a consumer stamp of approval.  ValueStar businesses are also given access to a range of powerful online marketing tools to help them attract,  close and retain new customers.

Lou Morsberger,  President & CEO of ValueStar,  noted that "ValueStar's expansion to the Washington,  DC area is a natural for us.  Like the San Francisco Bay Area where the ValueStar program got its start in 1992,  the Washington area is dominated by highly educated,  time-pressed families and homeowners who want good quality local services but who need help finding reliable service businesses.  There are a few subscription-based guides to services out there,  but they tend to be expensive for consumers and they list relatively few businesses that have significant customer reviews.  And so the Washington area has tremendous demand for ratings of service businesses that reflect ValueStar's uniquely reliable-and guaranteed-information,  that display numerous customer reviews for each participating service business as we do,  and that are available to consumers free of charge."

Morsberger also addressed ValueStar's long-term commitment and approach to the Washington , DC region,  saying,  "Over time,  we expect that when Washington area consumers see a business displaying the ValueStar Customer-Rated seal,  they'll appreciate knowing that's a business they can trust-and they won't have to pay to see how it's rated by its past customers.  And ValueStar businesses will appreciate that how they're rated versus competitors isn't controlled by a small number of reviews in a guide that relatively few consumers are willing to pay for."

Last year,  ValueStar began providing its ValueStar Customer-Rated businesses with the ability to easily display and ask for customer feedback on their own websites in a "Powered by ValueStar" format,  believed to be a first for the world of offline services.  The ability to display customer reviews online is increasingly important given recent consumer research showing that nearly 60% of consumers look online first for information about their local purchasing needs,  and once online 80% of consumers report trusting businesses that display customer ratings and reviews more than those that don't.  Businesses have historically trusted ValueStar to gather and post online reviews of their business given the company's emphasis on accepting reviews only from confirmed customers of the business being reviewed,  and given the company's willingness to back up its ratings with a $1,000 Money-Back Satisfaction Guarantee and ValueStar Rewards points for customers who submit feedback.

Since its founding in 1992,  the ValueStar Customer-Rated program has proven particularly appealing to home-related repair,  maintenance,  and remodeling businesses and auto repair shops,  but has also attracted doctors,  dentists,  and accountants,  as well as photographers and other event-related businesses such as party planners and caterers.

Morsberger,  the CEO,  has been a resident of the Washington area for nearly 20 years and is a native of nearby Baltimore.  "Given ValueStar's history," he said,  "it was inevitable that when we introduced our new approach to ratings and reviews in 2005 we would be focused initially on the Bay Area, and the Bay Area business community has treated us wonderfully,  but I have always looked forward to the day when ValueStar could also serve the communities around Washington where I've lived and worked day-to-day most of my life."

About ValueStar
Since its founding in 1992 on Oakland,  CA,  ValueStar has been a leading provider of quality certifications to local service businesses and a leading publisher of ratings and reviews of service businesses.  The ValueStar Customer-Rated program evaluates service companies on a range of factors and uses a proprietary credit and debit card-based system to gather feedback from confirmed customers.  Service businesses that meet ValueStar's criteria have access to a variety of tools with which to distinguish themselves in their local marketplace,  including use of the ValueStar Customer-Rated seals in signage and in online and offline advertising; a customized profile at the Val-ueStar.com website that includes the ratings and reviews of confirmed customers as well as photos and videos uploaded by the business; Powered by ValueStar display and gathering of customer reviews on their own websites; and the backing of ValueStar's $1,000 Money-Back Satisfaction Guarantee and ValueStar Rewards points for customers who submit feedback on a ValueStar business.  ValueStar ratings and reviews are distinguished by their reliability,  and businesses cannot pay to influence their ratings.  ValueStar is owned by Service Ratings,  LLC and headquartered in the Washington,  DC area in Chevy Chase, Maryland.,  with operations in Oakland,  Calif.,  serving consumers and businesses throughout the Bay Area.  For more information, please visit www.ValueStar.com.