Vouchers offer highlights review dangers
A car dealership previously pinged for breaching employment laws and criticised over racist advertisements tried to bribe its customers for better reviews.
On Saturday night, 2 Cheap Cars offered $10 Pak ‘n Save vouchers to the first 200 customers who left them a five-star review on Google.
Netsafe chief executive Martin Cocker said consumers should be wary of online reviews.
‘‘It’s difficult to be 100 per cent sure that all reviews are legitimate,’’ Cocker said.
‘‘It’s still important that consumers are careful with the companies they are purchasing from.
‘‘If people do suspect there are reviews that aren’t genuine, they should report the business or the review to the platform it’s on,’’ he said.
The post, on 2 Cheap Cars’ Facebook page, which has since been taken down, said ‘‘we love good reviews‘‘
The Commerce Commission has received 16 complaints about 2 Cheap Cars so far this year including one over the weekend about the voucher-for-review offer.
A spokesman for the commission said it had not yet addressed the new complaint.
A Google spokeswoman said users who had concerns about reviews could flag them to be assessed.
Consumer NZ chief executive Sue Chetwin said consumers should do their research and compare reviews on various pages.
Chetwin said the Google and Facebook needed to take responsibility for fake reviews and take them down as soon as they were flagged.
Last month an investigation by the Labour Inspectorate found 2 Cheap Cars owed 12 employees about $20,800.
The systemic nature of the breaches meant almost all its 83 staff were affected.
2 Cheap Cars has been placed on a 24-month stand-down from recruiting migrant workers for failing to comply with employment standards.
All up, the Employment Relations Authority has ordered 2 Cheap Cars to pay more than $320,000 in penalties.
The company has also faced controversy in the past for its advertising.
Earlier this year the company pulled an ad featuring a Japanese car salesman after it received complaints about perpetuating racial stereotypes.
The ‘‘Ah so’’ advertisement received 27 complaints, topping the Advertising Standards Authority’s most offensive commercials for last year.