TRIPADVISOR reviews land hotel group in hot water

Billionaire property developer Harry Triguboff’s Meriton Property Services are fighting legal action alleging the business tried to prevent negative reviews being posted on TripAdvisor by altering the emails of guests.

According to reports on Business Insider, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) launched a The Federal Court action alleging that Meriton “engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct” over a 12-month period between November 2014 and October 2015, to stop guests it suspected would give a negative review from receiving TripAdvisor’s “Review Express” email,” the paper reports.

Billionaire property developer Harry Triguboff is Australia’s richest man at $10.62 billion, and owner of Meriton Serviced Apartments, which is now Australia’s biggest hotelier since its 2003 launch with 4403 suites across 17 apartment towers in Sydney, Brisbane and on the Gold Coast and a gross annual turnover in excess of $380 million.

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Per Business Insider, during the period in question Meriton had 13 properties and was a participating in a TripAdvisor service called “Review Express”, which involved Meriton sending the travel review website the email addresses of recent customers who consented to passing on their details, following which TripAdvisor will send the customers an email requesting a review of their stay.

“The ACCC alleges Meriton inserted additional letters into the email addresses provided to TripAdvisor to render them ineffective and did it several times when problems occurred in the hotels, such as a lack of hot water or a lift not working,” the paper reports.

ACCC commissioner Sarah Court said they will allege it was a deliberate practice under directions from Meriton’s senior management, and that the “practice was likely to create a more positive or favourable impression of the standard, quality or suitability of accommodation services provided by Meriton,” she said, the paper reports.

“Consumers rely on independent review platforms like TripAdvisor when making purchasing decisions. If reviews are manipulated to falsely create a more favourable impression about a provider, consumers may choose that provider on the basis of that falsehood over another accommodation provider who has not engaged in misleading conduct.”

Responding to the claims, Meriton’s group general counsel, Joseph Callaghan, told Business Insider they will defend the proceedings.

“In every Meriton Serviced Apartment there is a notice inviting all guests to review their stay on TripAdvisor. Meriton does not agree that the public has ever been deceived or misled,” he said, the paper reports.

Australian Consumer Law prohibits businesses from making or inducing false or misleading representations through testimonials, and companies can face fines of up to $1.1 million for serious breaches.

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