Estate agencies on alert as watchdog investigates fake reviews
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is looking at whether some major companies have broken consumer law.
Estate agencies will be on high alert after news that some major companies face investigation for fake reviews.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is to look into claims that food delivery specialist Just Eat and car sales site Autotrader are guilty of producing misleading customer feedback.
Reviews site Feefo, funeral firm Dignity and Pasta Evangelists delivery company, could also have broken consumer law, BBC News reports.
Fake reviews strike at the heart of consumer trust.”
Sarah Cardell, CEO at the CMA, say: “Fake reviews strike at the heart of consumer trust. With household budgets under pressure, people need to know they’re getting genuine information – not reviews or star-ratings that have been manipulated to push them towards the wrong choice.
“We’ve given businesses the time to get things right. Now we’re deploying our new powers to tackle some of the most harmful practices head on.”
Get tough
Meanwhile, Sue Davies, Head of Consumer Rights Policy, at Which?, added: “Investigations are a welcome first step, but enforcement will be key: the regulator must be prepared to get tough, use its powers and issue serious fines if these companies aren’t playing by the rules”.
Last year, the CMA warned that estate agents caught writing fake reviews, or using agencies that submit them on their behalf, face being banned by Google.
Previously, an unnamed London agency was included in a list of 40 businesses published by consumer group Which? that, it claimed, had all been given the same glowing write-ups by one reviewer.
Google to clamp down on estate agencies posting fake customer reviews
I must be getting old I find myself agreeing with people these days!
I totally agree but it is not just across the property industry it is everywhere. We have one business in town (not an estate agency) where they have five five star reviews all by the staff and the owner is daft enough to sign off his review of excellent service in his own name!
Best review as we all know is when someone walks through the door and says “Fred told me to come in”.