TripAdvisor’s reputation for trustworthy reviews has been rocked by bribery claims

MILLIONS of travellers rely on its reviews, but TripAdvisor has been rocked by allegations of bribery and sneaky tactics by a serviced apartment chain.

Tripadvisor smartphone app logo.

JUST how reliable are the rankings on popular hotel review giant TripAdvisor?

While hundreds of millions of global travellers rely on its reviews, the website has been rocked by claims that Australia’s biggest apartment developer has been fudging the system, allegedly offering bribes to customers to bump up their ratings.

Emails leaked to the ABC contain explosive allegations that Meriton Apartments, which is owned by Australia’s third-richest citizen Harry Triguboff, offered financial incentives to guests to change their rating from a low score to a high score.

And a former staff member told the broadcaster the management had pressured them to purposely misspell the email addresses of customers who had made complaints during their stay — a technique referred to as “masking”— to ensure that the standard form inviting them to rate their stay on TripAdvisor would bounce back. Both alleged practices are against the website’s rules.

The ABC has published an email it says was sent by a Meriton manager to a former employee, chastising them for failing to “mask” accounts of unsatisfied customers.

“This guest was stuck in their shower and then had to pull the door off to get out. This should definitely be masked,” the email reads.

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

Another email reveals an alleged attempt to bribe a customer into removing a negative review with a $100 discount voucher — an offer that was met with disgust.

Meriton, whose properties across Australia are rated highly on TripAdvisor, did not respond to a request for comment by news.com.au, but a spokesman told Fairfax the claims were being investigated.

Harry Triguboff in the foyer of the Meriton Apartments in Sydney. They have increased their luggage space due to increases in luggage. Left to right. Harry Triguboff and Servio Guimaraes.

Meriton Group owns about 3200 serviced apartments and about 2000 longer-term rental units, along with managing thousands of properties on behalf of other owners.

The business was reported to be worth up to $15 billion when Mr Triguboff flagged a possible sale to Chinese investors in January,The Australian reports.

Mr Triguboff is ranked Australia’s third richest individual on the BRW rich list, with a fortune of $10.2 billion. It is not suggested that he knew about the alleged bribery or “email masking”.

A Meriton spokesman told the ABC it took all claims of bribery seriously and did not condone such conduct, but that guests were able to leave reviews on Trip Advisor regardless of whether the hotel invited them to do so.

A TripAdvisor spokesman told news.com.au the company took seriously its reputation as a trustworthy source of reviews.

“As the world’s most visited travel site, we are absolutely committed to ensuring that the content on TripAdvisor provides a trusted and useful source of information for those planning a trip anywhere in the world,” the spokesman said.

“We use sophisticated automated tools and algorithms to spot patterns of activity, using best practices from a variety of industries, such as credit card and banking agencies, and we back that up with a global team of over 300 content specialists, who work 24/7 to maintain the quality of our reviews.”

“It is incredibly important to us that our site remains such a useful and accurate source of information — that is what all our efforts are focused on.

“We are proud of the positive contribution we have made, and continue to make, to millions of travellers and businesses around the world.”