Fake Online Ratings 🦹

"It should be around 500 euros", he said. "I beg your pardon?". I thought I didn't hear right.

We had plumbers in our flat, servicing our gas boiler.

"Wait, I'll calculate it for you", he offered. There was no melody in the way he talked. He spat out the words as if speaking a foreign language. It was hard to follow his explanation as he spat and spat relentlessly. Then, he pulled out his phone and opened his calculator app. "It's 200, you know, for the large service. Then 100, you know, for the new electrode and what was the last thing we said earlier? Ah, yeah, another 200 for our working hours".

Not only was it ludicrous to ask this much money when the thing had only undergone major repairs the year prior-additionally, the guy just didn't make a very trustworthy impression. He was in his mid-twenties and was already balding. He wore torn up jeans and appeared to be more of a school yard bully than a professional technician. The back of his nylon sweat suit was covered in quality seals, vouching for his alleged excellence.

Obviously, I don't know shit about gas boilers. The guy could have told me anything, which he probably did, and I would have believed him. Still, all throughout the time the plumbers were in our flat, my tummy gave me this feeling that something wasn't right. You know the one. The strange feeling that something was seriously dodgy.

Nevertheless, for lack of an alternative, we let them do their shady business. We just wanted the damn thing taken care of. When my new favourite plumber wrote the bill after, he had a special offer for us.
"15% off if you give us a rating on Google."
"OK?", I wondered.
"But does it have to be a good one?", I almost said but quickly decided against it.

I gave them 4 stars, wrote a nice review and accepted the 15% discount with pleasure. With the gun to my head, how could I have given the guy an honest rating, when he just sat there next to me, waiting for me to write a favourable review, that he also wanted a photo taken of as proof?

Later, when the horrible visit was over and I was still uncertain whether I had been fucked over, I edited my review to make it clear to the world what an awful company had just left my flat.

Fake online ratings are a thing

The severity of fake online ratings, where the actual customers knowingly partake, only dawned on me weeks later, when we visited Istanbul. Our Airbnb was okay: it was in an excellent location on the Asian side of the city, was relatively bright and rather calm. But the bed was horribly squeaky, my feet extended beyond the foot of the bed and the furniture was really cheap. In the end, the flat did not look at all as advertised on the photos of the listing.

"You can use the 10% discount we offer to guests who leave the property in good condition and rate us with 5 stars by messaging us before your next stay.", the host wrote to us after we checked out.

Unbelievable, I thought when my girlfriend read the message aloud to me. Another temptation to fake an online rating for personal benefit. No wonder that this particular Airbnb had an overall rating of 4,93 by over 80 people. What has become of the internet?

Fake online ratings destroy a system of trust

Online ratings are built upon trust. Of course, every person has their own rating system, but still, if anything on the internet has a rating close to 5 stars you can usually expect it to be a genuinely positive experience.

Fake online ratings however, destroy this system of trust. Dear people of the internet: Don't take the bait out of personal greed to get a lousy 10% discount when you have to sell your soul in exchange.

Awful services deserve negative reviews. Be honest and let the rest of the internet know if something doesn't meet your expectations. If you aren't, you're ruining it for the rest of us.