A small team, checking things by hand.
Xepoka Vazajo isn't a large call center or an algorithm scraping business listings. It's a small group of people, some of them former expats themselves, who call providers, ask questions in English, and read every review before it's published.
How this started
A spreadsheet that got out of hand
The first version of this directory was a shared document, passed between people in a Bucharest expat group chat, listing plumbers who'd shown up on time and spoke enough English to explain a quote. It grew past what a spreadsheet could handle within a year.
What didn't change was the method. Someone still calls each provider. Someone still reads each review before it goes live. The tools improved. The habit of checking things by hand did not.
That habit is still the whole point.
Roles inside the directory
What each part of the team actually does
Verification Lead
Runs the initial English-language screening call and checks invoicing registration before any listing goes live.
Community Liaison
Follows up with expats after a booking to gather honest, specific feedback for the review section of each listing.
Listing Auditor
Revisits published profiles on a rolling schedule to confirm details are still accurate and providers are still reachable.
Support Coordinator
Handles incoming questions from users and passes on concerns about a specific job for internal review.
No single person decides alone whether a listing is published. That's deliberate.
What guides the work
Two ideas we keep returning to
Clarity beats charm
A provider who says "I'm not sure, let me check and call you back" in plain English is more useful than one who talks confidently in a language you don't share. We look for the former.
Paperwork protects everyone
An invoice isn't just a formality for tax season. It gives you a record if something needs to be raised later, and it's one of the simplest signals of a provider operating properly.
Neither idea is glamorous. Both hold up over time.