In proceedings brought by the ACCC, the Federal Court has found that Meriton Property Services Pty Ltd engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct in relation to reviews of its hotels on the TripAdvisor website by taking steps to prevent guests it suspected would give an unfavourable review from receiving TripAdvisor’s ‘Review Express’ email prompt.

The Court found that Meriton’s management deliberately tried minimise the number of negative guest reviews posted on TripAdvisor, by

• inserting additional letters into guests’ email addresses it provided to TripAdvisor so that the prompt email never reached the guest; or
• not sending guest email addresses to TripAdvisor

The Court found that on several occasions Meriton did this in respect of the majority of guests staying at one of its hotels during periods when there were infrastructure or service problems, eg no hot water or a lift not working.

By reducing the chances of a customer posting a negative review, The Court held that Meriton’s conduct was liable to mislead the public as to the nature, characteristics and suitability of its accommodation services.

ACCC’s comments:

• Many consumers base purchasing decisions on reviews they get through sites like TripAdvisor.
• It’s vital the reviews on these sites are not manipulated and accurately reflect all customers’ opinions –good and the bad
• Businesses must not undermine the integrity of third party review processes

A hearing on consequences for Meriton will be held on a future date.