Trustpilot - anyone else had the integrity of their review/feedback questioned?

[fourquenelles]

Backstory - I applied to a local company for a quote to erect some fence panels and posts for me via their website. I accepted their quote, paid half as a deposit and they carried out the work (on Easter Bank Holiday Monday) to my total satisfaction.

I left the company feedback via their FB page and on Trustpilot. The standard "very happy, professional job, tidy, great they came out on a BH etc etc"

I have now had 2 emails from Trustpilot Content Integrity. The first said "As part of our ongoing efforts to ensure that all Trustpilot reviews are genuine, we have customized software that detects unusual activity on our platform. In this case, your review has been flagged by our software and moved offline. We understand that sometimes legitimate reviews get caught up in this process, so if you think there’s been a mistake, you’re welcome to contact us by replying to this email."

So I replied, said both I and the review were real and couldn't understand why it had been flagged.

I received a 2nd email today asking for documentation to verify the review ie order number, proof of service etc. within 3 days of receipt of this email if you please I sent the email stream between me and the company (no bank details!)

I do A LOT of shopping on line and try to leave feedback as much as possible. I have never had my integrity called into question before.

Anyone had any similar experiences? Any idea what I could have done to have been flagged up in this way? I may be being overly sensitive but the tone of the emails has put my back up!

That is really irritating OP, dont blame you for being peeved.

Could it be though that the unusual activity is not you necessarily, but linked to company you used, maybe they've had some suspicions reviews and you could therefore have tipped the scales and be appearing as a false review?

Maybe they’ve suddenly had an influx of positive reviews and trust pilot are concerned they are making them up

I did, they claimed that the courier I reviewed didn't believe I was a genuine customer - can you tell it was a negative review?! I just sent proof. I think I'd get pissed off if it happened a lot though.

Ooo interesting perspectives. Hadn't considered it could be an issue with the company. As far as I am concerned they were great and did a well priced, excellent job but maybe they've had dodgy reviews previously. I don't feel quite so bad now. Thank you.

I think it's a really good point that they are checking out reviews. It's no reflection on you but it helps the platform become more effective if checks are made.

I gave a bad review and was told that the company I reviewed wanted to contact me. I didn't want to engage.
My dd1 had issues with the same company.

I've had a negative review challenged and a positive one. The negative was the company, they were chancing it as they were genuinely shit and fucked a lot of people over in the run up to Christmas.

The genuine one was a small independent firm without many reviews. I wonder if TrustPilot checks them out more often as more likely to be tempted to get their mates to review them?

Positive one that should say, not the genuine one, both my reviews were genuine!

Me too. I’m livid. All 3 reviews were sought via a link from the merchant themselves after a purchase and guess what - less than 3 stars. I have lost all faith in Trustpilot now.