Aveling Homes is a shady building company which had to pay $380,000 in fines for their deceptive marketing practices.
The firm was paying review websites to make it seem more credible than it actually is.
Aveling Homes is still trying to bury the fact that it used fake reviews to promote itself. Also, the company relied on fake reviews to hide the various complaints it had received from its customers.
Aveling Homes was fined $380,000 for posting fake reviews to promote itself.
About Aveling Homes – What it Claims to Be
Your experience with Aveling Homes will be centered on quality whether you’re building your first home, upgrading to a larger single-story home, or going up to two floors because they think everyone has the right to quality no matter where they are in life. Their focus is on going above and above your expectations for excellence in all aspects of their service, including the products they offer, the construction they execute, and the after-sales experience they offer.
Aveling Homes Fined $380,000 for Deceptive Marketing
Aveling Homes, a Perth-based home builder, was fined $380,000 for engaging in behavior that could have misled the public concerning two online review websites. After actions taken by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, the Federal Court determined that during some time in 2016, Aveling misrepresented each of its review websites’ affiliation with www.productreview.com.au and independence from the builder. Sean Quartermaine, group sales and marketing manager was penalized with a $25,000 fine for knowing involvement in the behavior.
According to ACCC chairman Rod Sims, Aveling withheld negative feedback from its review website to present a more favorable perception of its services. “Online review sites are becoming a more important resource for consumers as they make purchasing selections. People have a right to anticipate impartiality and independence from review websites.
Before the ACCC took action, customers gave Aveling homes at least 4.5 stars in the top 20 reviews that were made on www.avelinghomesproductreviews.com.au between November of last year and March. The court further discovered that compared to what would have happened if all of Aveling’s reviews had been made public, the overall star rating and reviews on websites were more favorable toward Aveling’s goods and services.
Aveling Homes claimed the website avelinghomesproductreviews.com.au was founded in 2014 to publish a variety of client testimonials in a statement this afternoon. “These are verified testimonials from customers who have constructed with us. We understand that not all of the good and negative comments were posted on this website,” the business added.
“We now see that some customers may have had the false impression that Aveling Homes did not operate the website or that it was somehow connected to productreview.com. If someone had the wrong idea, we deeply regret it and apologize. We shouldn’t have presented this impression or left out both favorable and unfavorable comments.
“We appreciate all client feedback, both positive and negative, and we are always searching for new ways to enhance our business practices based on the information provided in this client feedback,” the company statement reads. Aveling Homes claimed that following the site’s updates in December, it is evident who runs the review website—the builder.
Aveling Homes is Trying to Bury its Criminal History
Aveling Homes filed a Defamation Case against thewest.com.au and abc.net.au for writing the article on the Paid Positive Review. And accused them of untrue, resulting in loss and shame for our client, and inappropriate uses of the Google My Business platform.
How to spot a Fake Review?
1. Search for reputable clients
Online research is becoming more and more popular among consumers, particularly before making a purchase. Buyer evaluations and testimonials are significant considerations in determining whether or not to purchase a product. So, it is annoying when a review is revealed to be fake. But how can you tell if a purchase is legitimate? Whether they are real customers or users of the services, genuine evaluations are frequently found. Here, reliable marks like “Verified Purchase” or “Verified Customer” are common markers of validity (verified by the company). Not all verified customers are actual customers, but this is a good place to start.
2. Look into proper grammar usage
grammatical and spelling mistakes, or illogical sentences? Do texts frequently repeat the same keywords? Does the product name appear in full in the reviews very often? All of these can be red flags that the review is false. Anybody who works with reviews professionally is aware that overly well-written evaluations occasionally come from a marketing expert.
Consider a review that is flawless and sings heavenly praises about the product. In that scenario, seek out a wide range of uplifting adjectives (the goal of this is to raise the product’s placement on search engines). Also, if the brand name is consistently written in its entirety, a review is probably being produced on purpose. It’s not necessary for this to always be the business or an agency; on occasion, testers may be seduced by incentives to leave the best ratings possible.
3. Assess whether the review is exceptionally detailed or long.
If a review is extremely lengthy and thorough, it may be a fake. Genuine clients and users typically provide brief, concise comments because they have little time for long reports. They don’t spend much time embellishing and get right to the point.
There are some exceptions to the rule in this situation, such as when a product has undergone more thorough testing. Then, the reviews are frequently lengthy and in-depth. Yet, if the review seems excessively drawn out and thorough, you should be wary. In-depth criticism of rivals in lengthy sentences is another sign that the evaluations are fraudulent. If the review uses promotional language or is written identically to other reviews, that is another red flag.
4. Examine other evaluations for the writers
It is also beneficial to consider the review’s authors: How frequently does this individual submit reviews? What goods and services do they evaluate? Are only five-star ratings offered or are only a few brand categories usually reviewed? Do the reviews have a distinct voice? How reliable are the conclusions? Caution is suggested if the responses to these questions display odd patterns.
5. Examine the number of reviews.
Let’s say that in a short period, overwhelming amounts of praise or criticism are published digitally. A thorough second examination is required as this can be part of a mass false review execution. Yet, an accumulation of favorable reviews in a limited time might not always indicate phony.
For instance, businesses occasionally contact happy clients to request reviews for submission via email or social media. Before passing judgment in such a situation, look over the reviews for the indicators stated in the other sections of this article. Consider what happens when a string of positive customer evaluations is immediately followed by an extremely negative review. In those situations, the evidence is typically clear: phony reviews were purchased to harm the reputation. (vice-versa)
6. Employ a tool to assist you.
Even the best human screening may fail to reliably identify authenticity. If you’re ever unsure, certain resources can be useful, such as reviewmeta.com, where you can check the reliability of Amazon reviews. The outcome lists the factors contributing to a low trustworthy score and displays suspicious reviews for an Amazon product. Real customer reviews are also distinguished with the “100% Trust” mark. Although the results can’t guarantee anything, they can be a decent signal, especially when used in conjunction with your human sense.
Conclusion
Due to misleading internet review sites, Aveling Homes was ordered to pay $380,000 in fines. Filed a defamation case against news websites for publishing news articles related to the case. And accused them of untrue, resulting in loss and shame for them, and inappropriate uses of the Google My Business platform.
Tricksters are common, therefore it’s not surprising that they enjoy manipulating evaluations to their advantage. For a variety of unethical and unlawful reasons, they deceive their way into creating phony customer reviews.
