Control and guarantee your reviews
You’ve started selling products online and you’re asking your customers to leave you a review of their experience. Did you know that you have to inform consumers whether these reviews have been made by real customers or not?
Everyone knows that before buying a product we look at reviews of a product or a website to find out what others think.
It’s a fact that reviews are part of our decision to buy or order a service. That’s why website owners want good reviews at all costs.
But first of all and in case you still don’t know…
What is a review?
Reviews are an Opinion
A review is a small text that is inserted in the online platform through which users publicly evaluate, favorably or unfavorably, the service or product they have consumed.
Asking customers to give their opinion is a common practice and is a very good way to stand out from the competition, since the opinions of other customers are usually what make future buyers decide.
Be very careful with fake Reviews
Precisely for this reason, many companies publish fake reviews (they pay people to write positive opinions or use artificial intelligence tools to do so).
But this is a fraudulent practice created only to influence the decision of the potential consumer and, therefore, has consequences.
Regularización de las reseñas
Responsibility of the website owner
Initially, online service providers were not responsible for the content of the reviews that appeared on their platforms, but rather the people who wrote them were.
To avoid scams and to be able to determine responsibilities, since May 28, 2022, the owners of the online platforms are directly responsible, who must ensure the truthful and lawful content of their websites.
Consequences of posting false reviews
In this sense, the laws on Unfair Competition and the Defense of Consumers and Users have been modified, establishing that:
- The carrying out of this type of practice is considered unfair competition.
- Consumers must be informed with guarantees of whether the reviews that appear on their portal have actually been made by consumers or not.
- Information must also be provided on the way in which the reviews received are processed.
Other laws regarding reviews
In addition, depending on the content of the reviews, other regulations may be violated, so you should be vigilant and constantly review the comments that users of your website may make.
For example, some reviews could:
- Violate data protection regulations, if private information of third parties is provided.
- Offend against the honor of people, if insulting or defamatory comments are made.
- It could even be a crime of libel or slander if false comments about illegal activities are included in the review.
As the owner of the platform, you are responsible for its content. Please check it regularly and ensure that it is real and truthful.
How to deal with reviews
Be Extremely Vigilant
Establish a system to periodically review the reviews you receive on your website and remove those whose content is inappropriate for violating any of the laws indicated above.
Depending on the type of business, you may have to carry out this control on a daily, weekly or monthly basis.
Guarantees on the reviews posted on your website
As for how to guarantee the management of your reviews, incorporate verification systems such as the ISO 20488 Standard, which guarantees that the reviews have been collected and moderated before being published.
This will also help you increase the confidence of your potential customers.
User reviews can help you increase your sales. But as the owner of a platform offering products or services online, you are responsible for your content. Therefore, check it regularly and ensure that it is real and truthful.
Google Reviews
“I like it”
You know that customer reviews are more influential than discounts and that they are an important element in a company’s sales strategy. For this reason, its use is regulated to avoid and sanction abusive or unfair competition practices, such as, for example, paying or encouraging good ratings, including fake reviews, making negative comments to competitors… (for more information.
Imported Reviews
There are companies that decide to import the reviews that appear on other platforms (such as Google or Tripadvisor) instead of collecting them themselves.
When importing them, it is the company – and not these portals – that is responsible for ensuring that the comments comply with the regulations:
- Ask the platform what its policy is when verifying the comments entered by users.
- If it is not possible to guarantee whether they are real customers or to prove the way in which the reviews are processed, do not import them.
If you import reviews from other platforms to your website, you will be responsible for their content. Check that they are real and truthful.
Google review
In the specific case of Google, for example, it already warns that “Google does not verify reviews and It simply removes false content when it identifies it.”
Therefore, your company would be responsible for any complaints about comments you post from there.
What happens if an employee leaves a bad review?
An employee criticised his company on the Internet
A worker cannot be fired for posting negative reviews of the company on the Internet.
Freedom of expression
The High Court of Justice of Castilla-La Mancha [TSJ Castilla-La Mancha 15-06-2023] has considered that it is not grounds for dismissal for a worker to post a negative review of the company on his Google profile.
The worker posted a review with the following content: “Terrible management, they do not look out for the worker, bad hours working on holidays and weekends and nights and low pay… not at all recommendable.”
Dismissal void
Thus, the Court has declared the dismissal carried out by the company to the worker who had uttered the criticism void, considering that said dismissal violated his fundamental right to freedom of expression.
Therefore, the company must reinstate the employee and pay him the procedural wages.
Exception.
If the comments were insulting or derogatory, then dismissal could be considered appropriate. However, in this specific case:
- These were simply opinions and critical statements about the company’s operations.
- According to the Court, such comments may cause certain damages, but they are not insulting.
Recommendation.
If an employee is posting bad reviews of your company on the Internet, warn him or sanction him so that he does not repeat it. A dismissal will be considered disproportionate.
