to think that asking employees to leave "customer" reviews it not ok?

[PyongyangKipperbang]

I have been asked to do this and I am not doing it, and it is not going down well.

The reasoning is that it will help improve our review ratings which are important for the business. Which is true but I refuse to be dishonest. Every employee at the venue is expected to do it.

Very unethical, but is it a hill worth dying on if you like the job?

That sounds very dubious, you're not necessarily customers.

Many businesses asm this ime. And friends and family, but it should absolutely not be expected

Wrong and soon to be illegal once the new DMCC Act comes in next year.

I think this is actually illegal is it not? On the other hand if I thought my company deserved good reviews and provide a good well priced service then I see no harm in it. If my company was crap though I definitely wouldn’t.

Well done you. Obviously fake positive reviews are so common and annoy me so much that now I only read the negative ones. I hope you can hang on in there and perhaps colleagues will follow suit.

Name and shame them please (as long as it doesn’t impact you).

Most businesses post fake reviews, it helps boost their viewings and helps your job. The negative reviews that get left have a disproportionate effect on ratings. I'd just leave the review, it's not life or death is it.

It’s so obvious which reviews are fake anyway.

Yes this, from April. Tell them this OP.

Link here: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2024/13/schedule/20

If you google it lots of law firms have articles about it.

I think I have found a compromise in that I have asked a family member who is a customer to leave a review, up to them if they do and it will be honest, and I am sure will be positive. That way the company gets a review and I dont have to lie.

Some businesses are not bad but they get disproportionate bad reviews because it is a way of punishing for a bad experience. Whereas most of their customers were either impressed or just fine and did not think to leave a good review for that. That is unfair too.

What is the penalty. Is it the business or also the employee that gets in trouble?

It is, we see it a lot.

We had a woman turn up an hour late for a reservation at a very popular place I used to run. We made it very clear that tables were only held for 15 minutes without contact, and had given her table away to a walk in. She made a scathing review online, luckily we were able to get it removed but it took ages to sort. Yet the vast majority of customers who came back week in week out as they loved it, never reviewed at all.