Australian hotel chain Meriton Property Services has been fined $2.2 million for trying to prevent negative reviews on TripAdvisor.
The hotel chain stopped guests who had a negative experience from getting an email prompt inviting them to review their stay on TripAdvisor. Hotel workers intentionally gave TripAdvisor incorrect email addresses of complaining customers, which Australia’s Federal Court determined as a violation of consumer law.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said Meriton was misleading consumers. “Meriton’s management directed staff to engage in ‘masking’ to stop potentially negative reviews from appearing on TripAdvisor. This gave the impression Meriton accommodation was of a higher standard than otherwise may have been the case,” ACCC Commissioner Sarah Court said.
“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.”
"Meriton's conduct created an unduly favourable impression," said Justice Mark Moshinsky in a written judgment.
"The contravening conduct occurred on a large scale, and the TripAdvisor website, where the misleading impression was created, attracted a very large number of consumers. In these circumstances, I consider that a large penalty is required."
