MarkTVS 209 Posted March 17, 2019 I bought my personal car from a fairly large independent dealer down south, they stock 150/200 cars. Now the car I bought was cheap but a good 7/8 hours from me I did some online research to find out about the company before I made the decision to buy. It struck me as odd as their reviews were the best I’ve seen in the industry for such a large dealer, 4.9 out of 5 on just about every platform. How can they be so perfect? We all know customers can be hard work and I just couldn’t figure out how they got so many 5 star reviews. Anyway I bought the car, they were actually brilliant guys to deal with, about 2 weeks later I received an email from them requesting a review but there was a slight trick, the email explained that they contacted every customer who bought a car that month and for every 5 star review they received they put £10 in a pot and at the end of the month one customer from the month won the full pot of money. It then hotlinked to review sites there was Autotrader, Facebook, google, and a couple of others. It encourages you to leave a review on every platform. For example one person could leave the same review on 5 different platforms and that would be £50 in the pot. There was also pictures attached of customers receiving their huge cardboard cheque in front of their premises for £800 odd. I was actually fairly amazed by it, I thought it was a brilliant idea but can’t decide if it’s cheating slightly or not! Whats everyone else’s opinion? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mikey360 68 Posted March 17, 2019 Wow that's a bloody good idea! But I think it's cheating, they're basically getting them to play a lottery to leave a review, and why wouldn't you? It's a chance to win free money! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Arfur Dealy 823 Posted March 17, 2019 Simply prompting a possy with a potential bonus.... Think of all those possys you are due but the customer hasn't remembered or been too busy..... nothing wrong with an incentive in my opinion.... At the end of the day it could also prompt the customer to write a shite review...... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JimmyGlen 13 Posted March 17, 2019 Hi Mark, I'm on board with your train of thought here.... I was on a dealers fb page, and they had literally 100s of reviews, and for a 40/50 car site, seemed a little out of sorts. Read a little further into it, and there it was - the big cardboard cheque you mention, which I can only presume is backed by the same approach to review 'harvesting'. If I were a buyer, it would make me take their reviews less seriously. We have a fair amount of good reviews across Google, Facebook and a few others, but each and everyone has been because the customer has felt we 'deserved it' and not because they've had something to gain. Its a shame the review system is being manipulated like this, as for a while, it separated the good guys from the bad. With us being in the former camp through a shit load of hard work and looking after people on all levels. And what about the 'fake' Google review?? Have you seen those yet?!! Grrrrr.... Stevie Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
grant8064 219 Posted March 17, 2019 I'll stick with my honest 4.5 on google thanks. Do the job right and you'll make plenty of profit without sacrificing your principles. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
trade vet 697 Posted March 17, 2019 It cannot be right,I think it is fraudulent,but this stuff is no longer classed as cheating or being dishonest.Look no further than Parliament,the next time for instance they are debating restricting the sale of firearms.The chances are there will be some Honorable member speaking against it because they have been bought by some lobbying company acting for an arms manufacturer. So Mark,it is OK you can hire companies who will provide you with good reviews....... ( Did you like the way I kept away from self nominated car dealer awards ! ) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
trade vet 697 Posted March 17, 2019 28 minutes ago, Arfur Dealy said: Simply prompting a possy with a potential bonus.... Think of all those possys you are due but the customer hasn't remembered or been too busy..... nothing wrong with an incentive in my opinion.... At the end of the day it could also prompt the customer to write a shite review...... Good luck tomorrow AD.As someone else said ,make sure to use the phrase ‘driven to destruction ‘. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Arfur Dealy 823 Posted March 17, 2019 11 minutes ago, trade vet said: Good luck tomorrow AD.As someone else said ,make sure to use the phrase ‘driven to destruction ‘. Thanks Ian, much appreciated I’m well prepared, will be dignified, respectful and put across the facts as per my rights under the CRA. At the end of the day, it’s there equally to protect me equally... Apologies to OP for post hijack. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mark101 536 Posted March 17, 2019 I once bought a battery booster or OBD reader because of the high reviews because I know nothing about what to look for. I remain pleased with the product but upon unpacking, a card fell out saying FREE battery tester for every 5* review left. I put the card in the bin forfeiting my FREE goods. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
williamblackshaw 43 Posted March 17, 2019 Reminds me of an old manufacturer follow up process where there was such high money riding on the follow up. One dealer that I shall not name, had ten spare pay as you go mobiles for these calls so when they rang they knew who was calling. As it was a 3rd party company too they never realised they rang the same people each time and always scored a 10/10. And for th record no it wasn’t me :-) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
D&M 66 Posted March 17, 2019 (edited) I don't know why you'd bother offering an incentive. We were told by a Yell.com rep that we should just make reviews on behalf of previous customers. When questioned about the legitimacy of that practice, we were told that its OK as we are only writing 'what they would have said' So, by that standard you can put that £10 per fake review you leave in a pot and go out and get leathered at the weekend! Edited March 17, 2019 by D&M Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BHM 994 Posted March 18, 2019 Why is this a surprise? I’d of said it’s obvious many companies manipulate the review process. I stopped taking reviews seriously many years ago. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rory RSC 596 Posted March 18, 2019 I tried loads of different approaches to getting reviews. I don’t like the paying people off to do them angle. For us I find mentioning the importance to the team who have all worked really hard to give you the easiest car buying experience and just doing the job right pay off. You can tell personal reviews over generic fake/paid for. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
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