When we’re looking for a new restaurant or accommodation, even for a short stay away from home, we often turn to digital reviews, especially if we don’t have personal recommendations. These comments from other customers can be extremely helpful in getting an idea of what to expect. However, reviews are also a double-edged sword, and many business owners complain that there are customers who distort reality to harm them.
To address this problem, the Ministry of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and Agenda 2030 plans to amend the General Law for the Protection of Consumers and Users. The goal is to give businesses in the hospitality and tourism sectors the opportunity to request the removal of a review if they can prove that the comment is not true.
“The business owner must provide reliable evidence that the review is not authentic—either because the consumer did not purchase the product or use the service, or because the content of the review is not true,” explains the department headed by Pablo Bustinduy.
According to the same sources, this is a general rule, but it does not specify how the business owner must prove the inaccuracy of the review. Instead, tailored elements appropriate to the specific case can be used: evidence showing that an invoice included in the review has been tampered with; evidence proving that the prices mentioned in the reviews are not real; or lists of customers confirming that the person who submitted the review did not use the service.
In addition, the new law stipulates that customers may only submit their reviews within 30 days of purchasing the goods or using the service, to ensure that the review reflects their true and current opinion.
Response options for businesses
Another innovation is that businesses now have the opportunity to respond to reviews. This ensures that consumers receive comprehensive information to help them make their final purchasing decision.
These changes, which the government intends to introduce into the general law, complement existing measures, such as the ban on buying and selling reviews and the requirement to indicate whether the review is from a genuine consumer.
Everything indicates that these changes will be implemented, as they have the support of the PSOE and Sumar and, as expected, also the support of the Popular Party, which submitted a motion to the Senate this week calling on the executive to amend the law to prohibit fake reviews.
