Fake Treatment Reviews To Be Made Illegal
The Government has announced plans to make it illegal to pay someone to write or host a fake review. Shame they haven’t announced the same plans for non-meds offering aesthetic treatments, but we are where we are!
This move is good news though, and it’s pertinent to your world. We told you here how crucial reviews are and the impact they can have on the success of your business.
How will it be monitored?
If the plans pass into law, the Competition and Markets Authority will be able to enforce consumer law directly, and will have the power to fine businesses up to 10% of their global turnover for mistreating their customers.
Before now, it’s been down to the Advertising Standards Authority - a self-regulating body independent of the Government, to keep businesses in check by stipulating they “must hold documentary evidence that a testimonial or endorsement used in a marketing communication is genuine and hold contact details for the person who, or organisation that, gives it. Showing that a testimonial is genuine has two elements; showing that the quote is from a real person and that it reflects what they said. Claims within a testimonial must not mislead or be likely to mislead the consumer.”
However, the ASA has limited powers and resources so it’s been unable to police the problem with any gusto. The new law, with its heavy financial penalty, will act as strong deterrent to businesses using fake reviews to boost sales.
What Does It Mean For You?
Well, the good news for you is that with GlowdayPRO all of this becomes a non-issue! Any of the reviews we collect for you are 100% verified so you can use any of your GlowdayPRO reviews in any of your marketing feeling very confident that should you be asked to prove their authenticity you can point them to the robust system GlowdayPRO uses which encompasses five key data points:
The patient’s name and contact details
The practitioner’s name, profession, pin number and insurance details
The specific treatment details
The appointment details such as time and location
The cost of the treatment
The Bigger Picture
In reality, this new law is probably aimed at the big guys such as Trustpilot which is vulnerable to exploitation from shady businesses paying armies of people to write favourable responses. The new law makes it their responsibility and makes it clear that websites hosting consumer reviews will have to take reasonable steps to check they are genuine, so a lot of websites have a lot of work to do.
However, even smaller, more niche websites that allow reviews to be submitted, where they can’t prove the authenticity of the contributor, may now be at risk of a fine. Any platform where someone can leave a review without proof of purchase and contact details needs to watch their step!
Let Us Do The Work For You
We’ve got this! Reviews you don’t have to ask for, reviews that help your attract new patients, reviews that are 100% genuine, reviews you can use in your own marketing, reviews that you can prove with utter confidence are true and authentic… just another good reason to use GlowdayPRO for your patient management!
If you’re not already onboard, sign up here.