An Australian real estate agency became the center of negative attention after offering tenants at one of their properties a week’s worth of free rent in exchange for a five-star review on Google.
DailyMail.com reports that Ray White Rockhampton in Queensland emailed tenants with “an opportunity” that was certainly unique.
“We’re thrilled to announce an exciting opportunity exclusively for our Ray White Rockhampton tenants!” the email read. “We’re giving away three prizes of one week’s free rent, and entering couldn’t be easier. How to enter: Leave us a five-star Google review; mention your property manager’s name in the review. That’s it! You’ll be in the draw to win one of three chances to enjoy a week of free rent – on us. With only our tenant community eligible to enter, the odds are in your favor so don’t miss out!’
The email was shared on the social media site Reddit, where the reaction was scathing – with some angry readers doing the opposite of what the company sought by leaving one-star reviews on Google.
Oddly, the business did not suffer from bad reviews – it enjoyed an average rating of 4.8 stars from 851 reviews prior to the story going live. Riley Neaton, a principal at Ray White Rockhampton, stated, “We have apologized profusely to our tenants for this error in judgement. None of the reviews we received are believed to be fake but we have asked Google to remove all reviews that have been received. We promise it will never happen again.”
