Meriton allegedly prevents guests from giving negative reviews, bribes them to improve ratings on TripAdvisor

Influential American travel website TripAdvisor is investigating claims Australia's largest residential apartment developer is "cheating the system" by preventing guests at its luxury hotels from submitting negative reviews.

TripAdvisor is investigating claims that Meriton Serviced Apartments has been manipulating guest reviews. (Facebook: Meriton Serviced Apartments)

A former Meriton employee has told the ABC that staff at Meriton Serviced Apartments are ordered to stop TripAdvisor feedback forms being emailed to guests who complain to the front desk during their stay.

Screenshots taken by the ex-hotel manager and provided to the ABC reveal guests were allegedly offered bribes to pressure them to change their rating from a low score to a high score — a clear breach of TripAdvisor rules.

"I was always uncomfortable about doing it. I thought it was crazy," the former employee said.

"If you work in a five-star chain like Four Seasons, you receive the negative feedback and you act on it to prevent it from happening again, you don't contact the guest and bribe them to take it down."

While every guest at Meriton is supposed to be emailed a TripAdvisor feedback form after their stay, a tactic allegedly used by staff ensures those who complain about their experience never receive the form.

The tactic, referred to in internal emails as "masking", involves staff adding the letters "MSA" to the email addresses of angry guests, causing the emails to bounce.

According to the former employee, staff used this tactic dozens of times a day and were criticised by their managers when they failed to do so.

"I have gone through the duty log for the past few days and a couple of accounts were not masked," an email from a Sydney hotel manager reads.

"This guest was stuck in their shower and then had to pull the door off to get out. This should definitely be masked.

"I need each of you to ensure that you are being proactive to prevent these comments reaching TA [TripAdvisor]."

According to TripAdvisor's rules, "selectively soliciting reviews ... only from guests who have had a positive experience" is considered fraudulent and could result in the offending accommodation provider being removed from its listings.

Meriton offers guest discounted stay for removal of review

It is also against the rules to offer incentives in exchange for glowing reviews.

However, another internal email reveals Meriton staff appear to be doing just that.

"If you ever do change your mind in regards to removing your review, please allow to [sic] compensate you $100.00 off your whole stay, which is a little over 10 per cent in total," an employee wrote to a guest.

INFOGRAPHIC: A screenshot of the email that was sent to Meriton staff this morning. (Supplied)

In a separate exchange, a guest reacted angrily to a similar offer.

"I was hoping that if you would be kind enough to consider adjusting the review from a three-star to a four-star as a three-star is quite low," the employee asked.

"We do take TripAdvisor feedback very seriously as it is a strong marketing tool for our product."

The guest replied: "No I am not happy to readjust [sic] my review. This is the rating that I think it should receive."

TripAdvisor has released a statement saying while it would not discuss this particular investigation, "we fight fraud aggressively".

"Any attempts by an owner of a property to boost the reputation of a business by selectively soliciting reviews only from guests who have had a positive experience is considered fraudulent, and is subject to penalties," the statement said.

Meriton declined to comment but in an email to staff, obtained by the ABC, national manager Matthew Thomas urged his employees to ignore the claims raised by their former colleague.

"Today, our team and brand comes under fire in the media," he wrote.

"All our hard work and efforts as a team can easily be shadowed by one disgruntled ex-employee.

"It's during these times we need to stay focused and work together, be reminded of the principles of M.E.R.I.T. and be seen as one strong and successful team."

Mr Thomas went on to cite Meriton's strong reviews, which he attributed to the company's quality of service.

"In the past 12-months we have received over 52,000 online reviews with a reputation index of over 92% (TA only makes up 20% of our total online reviews) - that in itself is a testament to the great work each and every one of you do."

Meriton issued a statement saying the "masking" tactic does not stop customers submitting reviews to TripAdvisor independently.

"All guests are able to provide comments on TripAdvisor and other forums in relation to their stay at any hotel with or without invites being sent," the statement said.

In response to evidence appearing to show staff offering angry guests money in exchange for positive reviews, the company said it "takes all claims of bribery very seriously" and "does not condone this conduct".

"Meriton Serviced Apartments is dedicated to responding to its guests and where possible, working with reviewers on TripAdvisor to correct any service failings when they are identified."

INFOGRAPHIC: This email shows the hotel manager telling staff the account of a guest who got trapped in a shower should have been 'masked'. (Supplied)

Source: ABC News, David Lewis, 21^st October 2015
Originally published as: Meriton allegedly prevents guests from giving negative reviews, bribes them to improve ratings on TripAdvisor