Meriton fined $3m for review deception
APARTMENT giant Meriton has been slugged $3 million for fudging its TripAdvisor reviews – including those of its Broadbeach and Southport properties.
The company’s serviced apartments business was found by the Federal Court to have been manipulating its reviews through an email-based Review Express service, offered by TripAdvisor.
The service allows TripAdvisor to email recent customers of accommodation operators, prompting them to submit a review of their experience.
Meriton’s “masking” process worked by inserting additional letters into guests’ email addresses provided to TripAdvisor so that the prompt email never reached the guest, or by not sending guest email addresses to TripAdvisor at all.
The ACCC said Meriton properties at Broadbeach and Southport, as well as its Brisbane offerings at Herschel St and Adelaide St, were involved in the conduct.
Meriton’s Broadbeach and Southport apartments were last night ranked at number one in each suburb, while Herschel St apartments were ranked as the number two hotel in Brisbane, behind competitor Alcyone Hotel Residences, while the Adelaide St property was at number four.
The court found in November that Meriton had breached consumer law and engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct, but ordered the fine yesterday morning.
The case was brought by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
The Gold Coast Bulletin has contacted Meriton for a re- sponse. ACCC Commissioner Sarah Court said the company’s “masking” activities prevented guests Meriton suspected would give negative reviews from receiving TripAdvisor’s “Review Express” email, making them less likely to leave a review at all.
“Meriton’s management directed staff to engage in ‘masking’ to stop potentially negative reviews from appearing on TripAdvisor,” she said.
“This gave the impression Meriton accommodation was of a higher standard than otherwise may have been the case.
“People often make purchasing decisions for accommodation based on the rankings and reviews they read on third party sites like TripAdvisor.
“Manipulating these reviews is misleading to potential customers, who deserve the full picture when making a booking decision.”
During the relevant period, Meriton offered serviced apartment accommodation in at least 13 properties in NSW and Queensland.
TripAdvisor states that accommodation providers that regularly use the “Review Express” service see an increase in TripAdvisor reviews for their properties of 28 to 33 per cent.
MERITON’S MANAGEMENT DIRECTED STAFF TO ENGAGE IN ‘MASKING’ TO STOP POTENTIALLY NEGATIVE REVIEWS FROM APPEARING ON TRIPADVISOR
ACCC COMMISSIONER SARAH COURT