Bachcare accused of removing negative reviews
Tuesday, 16 July 2019
Online accommodation booking company Bachcare has been charged with allegedly manipulating online reviews posted by users.
Bachcare faces two charges under the Fair Trading Act for removing negative comments from some consumer reviews before publishing them on its website.
The charges follow a Commerce Commission investigation and relate to conduct between June 1, 2017 and September 28 last year
The commission also alleged that Bachcare did not publish reviews where customers had given 3.5 stars or less.
The commission said that by altering the reviews, the company 'engaged in conduct that was liable to mislead consumers by creating artificially positive impressions about certain properties.'
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Bachcare manages around 2000 properties around the country and boasted more than 150,000 customers per year.
Online reviews were an important part of the company model with customers able to give feedback on the location and quality of the stay.
According to the commission, online reviews provided an increasingly important source of information for customers contemplating the purchase of goods and services.
Under New Zealand law, reviews must be genuine and presented in a way that does not mislead the reader about the overall message intended by the reviewer.
However, the issue of fake reviews has increasingly become a problem for people looking to shop or book accommodation online.
Bachcare will appear in the Auckland District court on August 13.
In a statement, Bachcare said it had strived to run a business with a high level of integrity and professionalism for the past 15 years.
'We have fully co-operated with the Commerce Commission throughout its investigation and have met every request. We look forward to a resolution of this matter and to be able to explain the situation more clearly to our family of homeowners and our customers. As this case is now before the court we can't comment further.'