Fake Reviews – Amazon in the spotlight

legal updates

When you get a bad review the best thing you can do is respond to it in a professional manner.

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Recent research by the consumer group “Which?” has identified  a “flood” of fake five-star reviews on the Amazon website particularly for goods relating to unknown brands.

Now we all take note of a star-rating before we buy goods these days.  And your customers do too.  However, no review is better than a fake five-star – as it undermines the very concept of trust.  Indeed, it is arguable that a few “imperfect” reviews are better than every single review being five star.  When you get a bad review the best thing you can do is respond to it in a professional manner.  We can help you with this.  Worst thing you can do is act aggressively by threatening legal action.  Your potential customers need to know how you react to criticism or complaints – so “heavy-handed”  behaviour by you in response will be more destructive than anything your reviewer could do or say.  Conversely, being firm, polite and sometimes even contrite will soon turn a negative into a positive.

And whatever you do – do NOT try to bury a bad review by making up false good ones – it is fraud.

When you look online for reviews, always read the actual comments and, crucially, the date on which the review was made.  Which? discovered an example where one manufacturer had received no fewer than 439 five-star reviews – all of which had been received on the same day!  Also, look at the wording used in successive reviews as someone who is posting multiple fake reviews will do so in the same style every time.

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Jason WilliamsLegal AdvisorRead More by this author

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