It would be nice to think that the internet is evolving into a more trustworthy environment, especially when it comes to customer reviews. But it still has a long way to go.

It seems some businesses will do just about anything to achieve a five-star rating on one of the most prominent online review platforms, Google reviews.

We’ve seen cases of businesses from dentists to car dealers all but begging customers to grace them with the coveted five-star Google tick of approval, whether or not they actually deserve it.

And we’ve also seen cases of businesses offering discounts and vouchers to customers who post reviews, which could be seen as an incentive to post a positive review.

Crossing the line and outright rewarding customers for positive reviews is a practice that at least one former major business, True Value Solar, was obliged to scrap at the behest of the ACCC way back in 2016.

Money on offer to kill negative reviews

Now there seems to be a new tactic in town – offering customers cash to take down a negative Google review, while wresting a promise from them to never again speak ill of the business (effectively a kind of gag order).

We recently documented a case of a removalist company that received a scathing review from a customer – and then turned around and offered her $500 to take it down.

I feel like Google reviews are what keeps these companies honest and by buying people off they are cheating the system

“On the day of the move, I called the office three times to say, ‘why are these guys so angry?’ This is awful,” the woman told us. “Why are they bullying me into paying extra for plastic wrapping and the like? It was clear that I was not having a good experience. And yet they didn’t follow up until I’d left the Google review. I feel like a good company would have followed up based on my calls of distress on the day.” 

The customer didn’t take the money or remove her review, but the experience did deepen her scepticism regarding the value and reliability of Google reviews.

“I feel like Google reviews are what keeps these companies honest and by buying people off they are cheating the system,” the woman says. “The whole reason I had such a bad experience is because I checked the reviews and they were all positive. Now I realise they just buy off the bad ones.”