247 Home Rescue - Fake reviews on Trustpilot?

John_Blaze
John_Blaze Posts: 23 Forumite
I watched a video on youtube about a company called 247 Home Rescue. So many people seem to complain about them but strangely they have a strong rating on Trustpilot and another review site. The video picks up on their Trustpilot page having 18,000 reviews whereas industry leader British Gas has around 4,100 and EDF Energy just over 1,000. Seems slightly strange but not sure as many say verified order, but I guess they could easily mark them as verified, doesn't necessarily prove they are real orders I guess.

Since that video I watched less than a week ago they've had about another 350 reviews added. Is it possible to create fake reviews or pay companies to create fake reviews on review websites like Trustpilot.

I also hear they offer financial incentives to new customers in exchange for a positive reviews, such as a month or 2 free cover. I read about this type of practice and it can often result in reviews being taken down if the compnay is found guilty of incentivising customers in return for positive reviews.

A law firm in Louisville, Kentucky, Winton & Hiestand Law Group, had the vast majority of its reviews on Google removed after it was discovered that the firm was incentivizing people to review the business with contests and giveaways.

The youtube video I saw is titled '247 Home Rescue - Fake reviews on Trustpilot? // Not part of FCA!'

BBC article about buying reviews is titled 'Fake five-star reviews being bought and sold online'

Are 247 Home Rescue creating/paying for fake reviews on Trustpilot? 12 votes

Yes
75% 9 votes
No
8% 1 vote
Maybe
8% 1 vote
Not sure
8% 1 vote

Comments

  • wavelets
    wavelets Posts: 1,164
    Combo Breaker First Post
    Forumite
    edited 13 January 2019 at 1:33PM
    So what you are saying, for the 2nd time, is one can't trust Trustpilot?

    Try telling us MSEers something we didn't already know ;)

    Take a read of this MSE article from 4.5 years ago
    https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/deals/deals-hunter/2014/07/how-to-spot-a-review-you-can-trust/

    (Quite a few of the same techniques can be used with MSE user accounts too! :D)
  • Wavelets - I think that thread refers to spotting a fake review. This is instance is more about fake reviews (plural) i.e. mass fake reviews on a daily basis. Quite serious I think as it gives a very distorted picture of the actual level of service the company provides to their customers, based on what we think is the customers opinion.

    Personally I see no obvious sign of foul play with the reviews for British Gas, EDF etc. Do you know of any other companies in Trustpilot where it seems really obvious?
  • Coupon-mad
    Coupon-mad Posts: 130,572
    Name Dropper First Post Photogenic First Anniversary
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    No, but I know of companies that like to bleat that their bad reviews are fake.
    PRIVATE 'PCN'? DON'T PAY BUT DON'T IGNORE IT (except N.Ireland).
    CLICK at the top of this/any page where it says:
    Forum Home»Motoring»Parking Tickets Fines & Parking - read the NEWBIES THREAD
  • A former employee of 247 Home Rescue has come forward. In the comments section of the video the employee states:

    "I used to work for them. They used to cold call people pretending to be a price comparison site, and then people would be told that 247 was the cheapest. Closers would lie about things like their Defacto rating. We were under strict instructions not to use the word 'insurance' to avoid the ire of the FCA."

    "staff members were asked to leave fake reviews. Gaming Trustpilot is simple, Trustpilot is set up to help scammers and harm legitimate businesses. You just pay Trustpilot, it's that easy"

    I notice the video is currently trying to be removed by 247 Home Rescue's legal department under trademarking law. Some of the video e.g the logo etc has been blurred out by the uploader to attempt to keep the video up.
  • As an ex engineer with this corrupt company I can say that they need investigating.. There is some seriously wrong things going on.. Wish I'd read reviews before working for them because they rip off the engineers as well as the customer
  • JJ_Egan
    JJ_Egan Posts: 20,281
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post
    Forumite
    Do gas fitters service LPG / Oil / Solid fuel ??
  • Mister_G
    Mister_G Posts: 1,923
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post Combo Breaker
    Forumite
    JJ_Egan wrote: »
    Do gas fitters service LPG / Oil / Solid fuel ??

    Well, a Gas Safe gas fitter certainly services my LPG boiler.
  • 247homerescue
    247homerescue Posts: 128 Organisation Representative
    To all concerned,

    As MSE is a forum which does not require direct reference numbers for specific cases, we would request that any 247 customer, both past and present, contact us directly at socialmedia@247homerescue.co.uk in relation to any queries or concerns expressed.

    We will not entertain any verbal exchange without full accessibility to the facts.

    Alice
    Social media manager
    247 Home Rescue
    Social Media Advisor

    Verified Company
    We are verified representatives of 247 Homerescue. MSE has given permission for us to post in response to queries about the company so that we can help solve issues. You can see our name on the Verified Companies list. We are not allowed to tout for business at all. If you believe we are, please report it to forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com This does NOT imply any form of approval of the company or its products by MSE.
  • you never reply just post here to make it look good,
    you are rip off merchants
  • does anyone know what legal action we can take, for worthless policy's, no terms and conditions being sent or highlighted?
This discussion has been closed.
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