Tag: which
Fake Google reviews used to boost UK businesses, claims Which?
Businesses across the UK are artificially boosting their online ratings by paying firms for fake Google reviews, as a booming industry in misleading information avoids detection by the tech giant, a Which? investigation has revealed. The consumer watchdog's latest research involved setting up and buying fake reviews for its own fake business listing on Google.…
Energy suppliers to issue refunds worth £10.4 million
Eighteen energy suppliers are issuing refunds and redress payments worth £10.4 million after energy regulator Ofgem found they failed to correctly protect customers’ tariff prices when they decided to switch supplier or tariff. Most of the failures were down to suppliers not having adequate arrangements in place to make sure the protections were applied in…
UK 4G smartphone owners could be entitled to £480 million payout
Around 29 million Britons could be entitled to a payout after being overcharged for their smartphones, if a landmark claim by consumer watchdog Which? is successful. According to Which?, consumers could be owed a collective £482.5 million in damages from multi-billion-dollar tech giant Qualcomm. Which? believes Qualcomm has breached UK competition law by taking advantage…
Trustpilot aiming to tackle ‘fake reviews’ problem
Amidst growing concerns over fake online reviews as exposed recently by consumer watchdog Which?, consumer reviews site Trustpilot claims it has removed more than 2.2 million fake or harmful reviews in the last year. According to its recently published 2021 Transparency Report, it revealed more than 38.5 million reviews were published on the platform in…
Which? exposes ‘fake reviews industry’ on Amazon Marketplace
Amazon Marketplace is facing an uphill struggle to stem the tide of fake reviews according to a Which? investigation which claims that hundreds of thousands of misleading fake reviews are being bought and sold on the platform for as little as £5 each. The consumer watchdog's investigation found businesses dedicated to the sale of Amazon…
Ofcom proposes ‘one touch’ broadband switching
Residential broadband and home phone customers would benefit from quicker, simpler and more reliable switching, under Ofcom's plans to introduce a new ‘one touch’ process. Following an Ofcom rule change in 2015, customers switching between providers such as BT, Sky and TalkTalk on Openreach’s copper network can already follow a process where their new provider…
Online retailers flouting law with returns policies, warns Which?
Which? has exposed scores of online retailers which have returns policies in breach of consumer law offering Buy Now, Pay Later and other forms of payment, potentially putting shoppers at risk of losing their money if they want to send back unwanted or faulty goods. The consumer watchdog found more than 170 online retailers, listed…
8 in 10 drivers think electric cars are too expensive
Nearly eight-in-10 drivers (78%) think that pure electric cars are still too expensive when compared to conventional vehicles of a similar size, though a steadily increasing proportion are planning to choose one when they next change their car, research from the latest RAC Report on Motoring shows. Nine per cent of the 3,000 respondents to…
Out-of-contract mobile customers overpaying, claims Which?
Which? is urging mobile phone users to take action when their contract comes to an end, with new research revealing those who push for a better deal could save up to £96 a year. The consumer watchdog surveyed more than 4,000 members of the public in October 2020 to establish how mobile customers behaved when…
Online marketplaces failing to remove dangerous products, reports Which?
Online marketplaces are failing to respond adequately to reports about dangerous products and allowing them to remain on sale even when they have been recalled, a Which? investigation has revealed. The consumer watchdog's research found that Amazon.com, eBay and Wish were all allowing dangerous products to be sold that have been banned Europe-wide. Yet when…
