Yes answer and apology. Only after I was very persistent in creating a big fuss and after dealing with a local area manager. They said that a guest had submitted more than one review (presumably they had stayed more than once) and this had triggered the fraud warning. If you google it you will find press reports that some owners have manufactured positive reviews so that you can understand that they must look for suspicious activity. However, my initial communication from them was that it was a final warning of delisting (final seems to suggest that there were earlier warnings and there were not).It was all done very badly by bdc in my opinion, very one sided and with very poor use of language. Find out who your local area manger is and kick off.
Thanks for your support. I had an email from the Accounts Executive (she who cannot be named ) yesterday evening who is to bring my case up in a meeting today and have it escalated. So I am waiting for a response. There was an apology for any wording that I found offensive.I put the possibility of a review coming from my IP address if guest was using our wifi.
They really should review theirown process and wording, in my opinion. I suggested that the local manager come and visit my property to check that it is as good as my customers' reviews!
Fluff. I think the original email is genuine. It came from eviews-fraud@booking.com and was cc to [edited for privacy]. If you google [edited for privacy], LinkedIn tells you that she is a recently appointed accounts executive at bookingdotcom. There are no dodgy links to click in the email.
I have sent emails to both of the above. No reply from [edited for privacy] after 2 emails sent.
If there has been any fraud, it is me that is the victim here.
If a guest sent a review in using the wifi at my property which uses the same router as I do but with a different access code then would the IP address be the same as mine? If so, it could look like I was writing my own reviews.
I have tried to 'phone the area office and asked to speak to the area manager. No joy- I am being told to contact another team each time. I have now emailed the fraud department and the area manager & asked them to phone me as it is impossible to speak to the right person. They have said that it is indeed a BdC email. I am so cross about this.
I have not phoned them. I have sent several messages. The replies stick to the content of the original original email. They will not tell me how potential fraud is detected nor will they say which of my reviews they consider dodgy or which have been deleted. So I feel helpless really. I have not committed any fraud. There is nothing I can do to remedy the situation. So if things carry on as they have been, my lovely guests will leave more glowing reviews (because the property is good and I work very hard to keep it so) and the booking.com algorithm will devide it is too good and delist me. Bah.
The email is posted below. Ì have not had a satisfactory answer from booking.com yet. My reviews are consistently excellent maybe they think it is too good to be true. The reviews are all genuine and unsolicited. I have a tiny propery, no staff as I do all the work myself.
It has come to our attention that some of your property's guest reviews are showing patterns typical of fraudulent reviews.
One of our website's key assets is the guest reviews we display, written by guests who have completed their stay. These guest reviews provide visitors to our website with honest, independent and objective evaluations to base their decisions on.
Booking.com does not accept any form of fraudulent activity which affects or could affect the independence and reliability of our reviews.
We advise you to ensure that your property is not submitting fraudulent reviews to our website, and to take any steps necessary to raise awareness among your personnel of the implication of such actions.
This letter serves as a final warning. If your property is found to have fraudulent reviews again after this warning, your listing on Booking.com will be closed.
We value our business relationship with you and hope we can continue to have a successful partnership.
Thank you for your cooperation.
If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact us.
Yes answer and apology. Only after I was very persistent in creating a big fuss and after dealing with a local area manager. They said that a guest had submitted more than one review (presumably they had stayed more than once) and this had triggered the fraud warning. If you google it you will find press reports that some owners have manufactured positive reviews so that you can understand that they must look for suspicious activity. However, my initial communication from them was that it was a final warning of delisting (final seems to suggest that there were earlier warnings and there were not).It was all done very badly by bdc in my opinion, very one sided and with very poor use of language. Find out who your local area manger is and kick off.
It is the threatening language that upsets me "delisting", "last chance" etc. Hardly the language of a harmonious partnership.
Yes, same lack if link in one of the messages. I haven't clicked the link as I am so unsure of the source of the email.
Thanks for your support. I had an email from the Accounts Executive (she who cannot be named ) yesterday evening who is to bring my case up in a meeting today and have it escalated. So I am waiting for a response. There was an apology for any wording that I found offensive.I put the possibility of a review coming from my IP address if guest was using our wifi.
They really should review their own process and wording, in my opinion. I suggested that the local manager come and visit my property to check that it is as good as my customers' reviews!
Fluff. I think the original email is genuine. It came from eviews-fraud@booking.com and was cc to [edited for privacy]. If you google [edited for privacy], LinkedIn tells you that she is a recently appointed accounts executive at bookingdotcom. There are no dodgy links to click in the email.
I have sent emails to both of the above. No reply from [edited for privacy] after 2 emails sent.
If there has been any fraud, it is me that is the victim here.
If a guest sent a review in using the wifi at my property which uses the same router as I do but with a different access code then would the IP address be the same as mine? If so, it could look like I was writing my own reviews.
I have tried to 'phone the area office and asked to speak to the area manager. No joy- I am being told to contact another team each time. I have now emailed the fraud department and the area manager & asked them to phone me as it is impossible to speak to the right person. They have said that it is indeed a BdC email. I am so cross about this.
I have not phoned them. I have sent several messages. The replies stick to the content of the original original email. They will not tell me how potential fraud is detected nor will they say which of my reviews they consider dodgy or which have been deleted. So I feel helpless really. I have not committed any fraud. There is nothing I can do to remedy the situation. So if things carry on as they have been, my lovely guests will leave more glowing reviews (because the property is good and I work very hard to keep it so) and the booking.com algorithm will devide it is too good and delist me. Bah.
The email is posted below. Ì have not had a satisfactory answer from booking.com yet. My reviews are consistently excellent maybe they think it is too good to be true. The reviews are all genuine and unsolicited. I have a tiny propery, no staff as I do all the work myself.
Here it is:
From: "Booking.com"
Date: 12/11/2018 5:06 am (GMT+00:00)
To:
Cc: [edited for privacy]
Subject: FRAUD WARNING
Dear Partner,
It has come to our attention that some of your property's guest reviews are showing patterns typical of fraudulent reviews.
One of our website's key assets is the guest reviews we display, written by guests who have completed their stay. These guest reviews provide visitors to our website with honest, independent and objective evaluations to base their decisions on.
Booking.com does not accept any form of fraudulent activity which affects or could affect the independence and reliability of our reviews.
We advise you to ensure that your property is not submitting fraudulent reviews to our website, and to take any steps necessary to raise awareness among your personnel of the implication of such actions.
This letter serves as a final warning. If your property is found to have fraudulent reviews again after this warning, your listing on Booking.com will be closed.
We value our business relationship with you and hope we can continue to have a successful partnership.
Thank you for your cooperation.
If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact us.
Kind regards,
Reviews Fraud Team, Booking.com B.V.
Email: [edited for privacy]