Meriton fined $3 million over TripAdvisor reviews

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Meriton Property Services, one of Australia's largest apartment developers and serviced apartment operators, has been fined $3 million for manipulating TripAdvisor Reviews

The Federal Court found the company had withheld from the travel website the emails of guests who had complained or who had a negative experience between November 2014 and October 2015.

The court found there were instances where the property manager had added the letters “MSA” to email addresses, ensuring the addresses were invalid and guests were not prompted by TripAdvisor to leave a review.

Justice Mark Moshinsky found Meriton had engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct late last year and ordered the company to pay $3 million for breaching consumer law.

“This conduct created a more positive or favourable impression of the quality and amenity of Meriton’s serviced apartments, and had the effect of reducing, in the minds of consumers, awareness of the prevalence of service disruptions at Meriton’s properties,” the court order said.

The court also banned Meriton from selecting, filtering or limiting guest email addresses supplied to TripAdvisor without the person’s consent for three years,

It has ordered the company to set up a program to train employees about their responsibilities under consumer law.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission had taken Meriton to court over the issue.

“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.”

“This case sends a strong message that businesses can expect ACCC enforcement action if they’re caught manipulating feedback on third party review websites.”

Leon Gettler - 1st August 2018