If your pub is subjected to false and defamatory online reviews, the law can help, says Adam Tudor, Partner, Carter-Ruck.
What can you do if your pub or restaurant is subjected to a campaign of negative and false reviews?
It’s worth thinking through the options because unfortunately this sort of thing is now happening all too often. So widespread has it become that in June the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced that it would be starting an investigation into the publication of fake reviews by companies which have been set up to manipulate, influence and, indeed, dupe consumers.
54% of adults use online reviews
The CMA also published some remarkable statistics. First up, 54% of adults – that’s 25 million people – use online reviews. Then came the CMA’s estimation that £23 billion a year of UK consumer spending is potentially influenced by online reviews. The bottom line is that what’s said about your business on sites like TripAdvisor and Facebook carries real weight. As social media becomes ever more popular, this trend will only increase.
Counterfeit reviews come in various forms and are collectively known as “astroturfing.” Like astroturf, they look real but closer inspection reveals they’re not. On the astroturf you can find bogus reviews posted to bring down your business and bogus reviews posted by unscrupulous pub and restaurant owners to promote their businesses. Standing on the sidelines, waiting to play a role in this unsavoury game, are consumers who, mindful of the power of the internet, threaten you with a bad review in return for discounts or refunds.
Trading Standards
Fortunately, the law does not stand idle in these situations.
The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 prohibits unfair commercial practices, especially misleading and aggressive practices. The regulations make it crystal clear that companies must not falsely represent themselves as a consumer, or pay for endorsements without the fact that money has changed hands being made clear to consumers. If you believe that your business is being targeted by a rival, you could complain to the CMA. Paid-for fake reviews would undoubtedly come within the definition of an unfair commercial practice, and Trading Standards may be able to bring a prosecution for breach of the Unfair Trading Regulations.
Defamation
The law of defamation or malicious falsehood may also help. A false and negative online review is publication in permanent form, and so you might be able to sue for libel. Help from forensic IT experts might help track down who is posting the reviews but the website hosting the reviews ought also to be contacted. Although operators of websites have special protection if they were not responsible for the posting, that protection may be lost if they do not respond to a formal notice of complaint and make an efforts to pass on the complaint to the poster with a view to getting the post removed. The host website should in any event take down a false review.
Consumers can be tempted into bad practices, threatening to publish bad reviews unless they get refunds or money off. Knowing that even one bad review can result in loss of business, it will be tempting to reimburse your disgruntled customer, and it is unlikely to be good for customer relations to accuse your customer of blackmail. However, if the threat really is unjustified or malicious, you may not want to play ball. Instead, keep details of the threat and its author. If a negative review is then published, you may be able to take civil action for libel and ask the host site to remove the review.
Take it on the chin – and say sorry
What about genuine bad reviews left by consumers? For example, the customer who dines at your pub but criticises the décor, or the company that retains your caterers only to publish something saying they were too slow and had a bad attitude? In almost all such cases the best thing to do is take it on the chin and resolve to do better. The law protects the expression of “honest opinion”, and so taking action for libel will almost certainly backfire unless there is clear evidence of a false allegation of fact.
What categorically isn’t sensible is aping the actions of the much-publicised story of a hotel in the north west where, last year, it tried to bill a couple an extra £100 after they left a bad review. A slew of terrible media coverage followed.
The moral of the story is twofold. Keep off the astroturf, but if you feel you’re been put there the law can help. And if the customer has got a point, say sorry, try and take the conversation offline and thank them for their opinion. A constructive response can quickly equate to good PR.
About Carter-Ruck
“One of the UK’s best-known law firms, Carter-Ruck has a longstanding reputation for its expertise in the field of litigation and dispute resolution.”
Adam Tudor is a Partner at Carter-Ruck
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