We sometimes see posts from dealers asking other dealers to write reviews to counteract a malicious review from a consumer, or asking about the legitimacy of companies who offer to write fake reviews.
Car dealers should be aware that under the new Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCCA), submitting or commissioning fake consumer reviews is prohibited. This includes reviews that are not based on a genuine experience or those that conceal incentivisation. Publishing consumer reviews or consumer review information in a misleading way is also banned. Furthermore, businesses are required to take reasonable and proportionate steps to prevent and remove fake or concealed incentivised reviews and false or misleading consumer review information. Failure to comply with these obligations may result in enforcement action by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). The CMA can now directly enforce consumer law, including fines of up to 10% of a business’s global annual turnover for serious infringements.
Car dealers must ensure that they do not engage in practices such as submitting fake reviews for their own products or services, commissioning others to do so, or offering services to other traders that create, procure, or publish fake reviews. Incentivised reviews must be clearly labelled as such to avoid misleading consumers.
Make sure any staff, agencies, or reputation-management providers you use understand that asking friends, family, staff, or other dealers to post genuine-sounding reviews breaches the banned practice.
To comply with the law, car dealers should implement a clear policy prohibiting fake or concealed incentivised reviews and regularly check review sites, removing any that breach the policy. They should certainly not write their own reviews or write reviews for fellow dealers (unless it’s in relation to a genuine transaction) or pay a company to write fake reviews.
The CMA has published guidance for businesses on publishing consumer reviews and complying with consumer protection law, which provides practical steps to ensure compliance. Car dealers are encouraged to familiarise themselves with this guidance and ensure that their practices align with the requirements of the DMCCA. The CMA’s “Fake reviews guidance” is a useful practical reference, and its overview pages on unfair commercial practices also cover the new reviews ban. If you have had the same issue or a similar problem, why not call our legal team at Lawgistics.
CMA guidance: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67eeb64fe9c76fa33048c790/CMA208_-_Fake_reviews_guidance.pdf
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