Yet another disappointing case of manipulated online reviews when consumers are increasingly reliant on them to make informed purchasing decisions.
The Federal Court has hit online odd jobs-tasking platform Service Seeking with $600,000 in penalties for making misleading representations regarding its online reviews.
Service Seeking, co-founded by Oliver Pennington and Jeremy Levitt, offers customers price quotes for jobs, such as gardening, building or cleaning services by businesses registered with the platform.
It admitted that it had falsely represented that the reviews were by customers, when in fact they had been created by the tradies.
The site’s feedback feature allowed businesses to draft their own reviews. And choose a star rating for their service after completing a job. The draft review was then emailed to the customer, but if they did not respond within three days, the review was automatically published.
The feature was used to create about 21,000 reviews between mid 2016 and late 2018, when ACCC deputy chair Delia Rickard stepped in. Apparently 17,000 of the reviews were posted without customer input.
Judge Darren Jackson ruled the scheme was for “the self-interested purpose of increasing the attractiveness of its website to businesses.”
“This was an abuse of the trust,” he ruled.
Service Seeking had over 1.5 million customer accounts and 170,000 business accounts around 2018. Its shareholders include Carsales founder Greg Roebuck and Eley Griffiths Group portfolio manager Tim Serjeant.
In good hands
Chloe Shorten might not have known how inspiringly timely her new board role will be in Victoria’s escalating pandemic. No doubt masked up, Shorten’s experience in crisis management and her expertise in reputational risk management, will be well received in her new role on the board at Alfred Health.
Shorten has been appointed to the Victoria healthcare service board by the Victorian government. She joins a mix of former health workers and business executives that oversee the leading tertiary teaching hospital. The Alfred is the second oldest hospital in Victoria, and the oldest hospital still operating on its original site, Commercial Road, Melbourne.
Bond mansion
The Bond mansion, the Perth trophy home built by the late businessman Alan Bond, is under offer. Noted as one of the best homes in the West, the sprawling Watkins Road home on the Swan River was initially listed with $50m hopes in 2017, and more recently with revised $35m plus hopes.
The property last traded in 2011 for $39m when bought by Sue Gibson, the NSW Southern Highlands-based former partner of Crushing Services International mining entrepreneur Steve Wyatt. Margin Call gleans the offer is to purchase the six lot offering in one line.
It was listed through Ray White Dalkeith agent Jody Fewster, the daughter of Alan and Eileen Bond, who grew up in the home.
“I know the house and the location like the back of my hand and it truly is so special,” Fewster said during its marketing.
The resort-style property on 6405sq m was originally designed by architect Geoffrey Summerhaves, then updated by owners after Bond by Andrew Boughton.
No talking point
Television executives had to scramble for something to talk about during their at-home, water cooler, Zoom conversations Wednesday morning. Overnight metro ratings were not delivered to the always anxious executives at 9am Wednesday for the first time in living memory.
The ratings provider OzTAM opted not to confirm to networks it was due to a potential cyber-attack at the Nielsen data centre during one of the biggest weeks of TV so far this year, given the MasterChef and Big Brother grand finals.
On Monday night, MasterChef had an impressive 1.5 million metro viewers watch Emelia Jackson being crowned this year’s winner.
It seems the Paul Anderson-led Channel 10 didn’t need the former judging panel of Gary Mehigan, George Calombaris and Matt Preston to score well in the ratings.
The night before, 911,000 viewers watched Guy Sebastian’syounger brother Chris win The Voice on Channel 9.
Nielsen was working to resolve the issue with their data able to be stored for two weeks, so Channel 7 will get to glean its Big Brother ratings success from Wednesday night’s Sonia Kruger-hosted rebooted program.
Rough flight
While the Qantas family were waving a teary farewell to the 747, Margin Call’s calculator-driven Rain Man sharemarket watcher was reviewing the Qantas share price. The Qantas share purchase plan (SPP) announced on June 25 was initially scheduled to close Wednesday. The SPP completed its $1.36bn institutional placement at $3.65 a share, with the retail segment extended until August 5.
Qantas spinmeisters suggested the extension was to ensure its shareholders had time to consider the impact of the Victorian lockdown and state border restrictions with Qantas viewing the situation as unlikely to have a “materially adverse impact on the three year recovery plan”.
The 90,000 shareholders can subscribe for up to $30,000 worth with its issue price the lower of $3.65, and a 2.5 per cent discount to the volume-weighted average price during the five trading days up to the amended August 5 SPP closing date.
The volume-weighted average price during the most recent five trading days was $3.66.
Back in June the shares were trading at $4.19. It closed out the financial year at $3.78. When the extension came on July 14 the shares were trading at $3.49. They closed Wednesday down three per cent at $3.66.
The next two weeks of how the pandemic plays out could be a bumpy ride.
Its annual results come August 20 from Alan Joyce who ranks as the company’s 15th largest shareholder.
Top moment
Multiplex has celebrated the topping out of the bootylicious $315m, 79-level Premier Tower in the Melbourne CBD for the Fragrance Group. It has 172 hotel rooms plus 796 apartments that replaced the Savoy Tavern.
The building that stands at 246m above the Spencer and Bourke street corner saw some 35,000 cubic metres of concrete poured. It is however its facade shape that caught the public’s imagination when its curvaceous, computer-generated, architectural curves were reputedly inspired by US pop singer Beyonce.
The 2015 launch media release advised: “For those more on the art than science side, we will reveal that the form does pay homage to something more aesthetic – we’re going to trust you’ve seen the music video for Beyonce’s Ghost.”
The story was published in 80 countries in four days, including the likes of Slate and Wallpaper. But ever since developer Koh Wee Meng, the executive chairman of the Fragrance, has firmly advised he’s no Beyonce fan. In fact, Singapore’s 32nd richest person, hadn’t even seen Ghost, the video clip with a stocking-clad, writhing superstar.
Reade Dixon, the lead Elenberg Fraser architect, has also rebutted the suggestion.
“It uses the fluid curves in the corners of the building to disseminate the wind,” Dixon said.
But Melbourne is besotted with Beyonce as there’s also the Brunswick home that hits the headlines whenever it is for sale. Beyonce actually appeared outside the then rustic single storey cottage dressed in a leotard, fur coat and heels to film the music video, No Angel.
It sold renovated this year for $1,183,000.
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