This Review & Rating Policy explains the rules governing
reviews, ratings and other user-generated feedback published through Takeaway
Scout™.
**Takeaway Scout™ is a trading name of Brecon Take Aways
Limited, a company registered in England and Wales under company number 17052659**,
whose registered office is:
21 Bryn de Winton, Brecon, Powys, LD3 9HL
Takeaway Scout™ is designed to help consumers discover,
compare and evaluate takeaway businesses.
We want reviews and ratings published through Takeaway
Scout™ to provide a fair and useful representation of genuine customer
experiences.
This Policy applies to:
- reviewers;
- takeaway businesses;
- business owners and employees;
- authorised representatives;
- users of Takeaway Scout™; and
- anyone attempting to submit, influence or manipulate reviews or ratings.
This Policy should be read alongside our **Website Terms
& Conditions, Privacy Policy and Website Disclaimer**.
1. Our Review Principles
Takeaway Scout™ aims to operate its review system according
to the following principles:
Genuine experiences — reviews should reflect genuine
experiences.
Fair representation — positive and negative
experiences should be capable of being represented.
Independence — businesses cannot purchase positive
reviews or the removal of genuine negative reviews.
Transparency — commercial relationships and
incentives should be appropriately disclosed.
Consistency — moderation standards should be applied
consistently to positive and negative reviews.
Platform integrity — Takeaway Scout™ takes reasonable and proportionate
steps designed to prevent and remove fake reviews, concealed incentivised reviews,
false or misleading consumer review information, manipulation and other misuse.
The CMA specifically warns review sites against editing,
withholding, removing or delaying genuine negative reviews merely because they
are negative.
Takeaway Scout™ will keep its review-risk assessment, moderation procedures and anti-fraud measures under review, taking account of the way reviews are collected, published and used in ratings, rankings and Scout Scores.
2. Who May Submit a Review?
A review must be based upon a genuine experience with
the takeaway being reviewed.
Depending upon the circumstances, this may include someone
who:
- ordered food from the takeaway;
- purchased food directly from the takeaway;
- collected an order;
- received a delivered order;
- used a relevant service provided by the business; or
- otherwise had a genuine consumer experience that is relevant to the review.
You should only review a business where you have sufficient
genuine experience to provide meaningful feedback.
3. Reviews Must Be Genuine
You must not submit a review that falsely claims to
represent a genuine consumer experience.
Prohibited activity includes:
- inventing an experience that did not happen;
- submitting a review for a takeaway you have never genuinely used;
- creating fictitious customer accounts;
- purchasing fake reviews;
- selling fake reviews;
- arranging fake reviews for another person;
- submitting reviews using multiple accounts to manipulate ratings;
- using another person's identity to submit a review;
- organising coordinated fake-review activity; or
- otherwise attempting to create a false impression of consumer opinion.
Fake reviews are prohibited.
The UK's current regime expressly treats fake reviews as a
banned commercial practice, and the CMA's guidance applies across the review
supply chain.
4. Reviews by Owners, Employees and Connected Persons
Takeaway owners should not review their own businesses while
presenting themselves as independent customers.
Reviews must not be submitted deceptively by:
- business owners;
- directors;
- employees;
- contractors acting for the business;
- marketing agencies;
- PR agencies; or
- other persons acting on the business's behalf.
Similarly, businesses must not arrange for connected persons
to submit reviews that falsely appear to represent independent consumer
opinion.
Friends or family members should not be recruited to submit
reviews merely to improve a business's rating.
Where a genuine review involves a material personal,
employment or commercial connection to the business, Takeaway Scout™ may
prohibit the review or require appropriate disclosure depending upon the
circumstances.
5. Competitor Reviews
Business owners, employees and representatives must not
submit misleading negative reviews about competing takeaway businesses.
This includes:
- fabricated complaints;
- intentionally false allegations;
- artificially low ratings;
- coordinated negative-review campaigns;
- using multiple accounts to reduce a competitor's rating; or
- instructing another person to submit a fake negative review.
Takeaway Scout™ may remove such reviews and restrict
accounts involved in this behaviour.
6. Incentivised Reviews
An incentivised review is a review submitted after the
reviewer has received or been offered something of value in connection with
submitting the review.
An incentive could include:
- money;
- free food;
- discounts;
- vouchers;
- refunds;
- competition entries;
- loyalty rewards;
- gifts; or
- another financial or non-financial benefit.
Businesses must **not offer incentives conditional upon
leaving a positive review or particular rating**.
Where Takeaway Scout™ permits genuine incentivised reviews,
the incentive must be clearly disclosed so that users understand the
circumstances in which the review was submitted.
Takeaway Scout™ may instead prohibit particular forms of
incentivised review where necessary to protect the integrity of the platform.
Concealing the fact that a consumer review has been
incentivised is specifically covered by the UK's fake-review rules.
7. Asking Customers for Reviews
Takeaway businesses may encourage genuine customers to
review them, subject to this Policy.
Businesses must not selectively request reviews only from
customers they believe are likely to leave positive feedback where doing so
would create a misleading picture.
Businesses must not:
- ask customers specifically for five-star reviews;
- condition a reward upon a positive review;
- discourage dissatisfied customers from reviewing;
- pressure customers into removing legitimate criticism;
- prevent customers from leaving negative reviews; or
- use a complaint-resolution process to suppress genuine reviews.
Businesses should request honest reviews, not
positive reviews.
The CMA specifically says review publishers should not allow
processes that distort the overall picture presented to consumers.
8. What a Review May Contain
Reviews should primarily concern the reviewer's genuine
experience with the takeaway.
Relevant subjects may include:
- food quality;
- value for money;
- portion size;
- order accuracy;
- service;
- collection experience;
- preparation time;
- customer service;
- packaging;
- cleanliness where personally observed;
- delivery where provided by the takeaway; and
- other matters directly relevant to the customer's experience.
Reviews should be sufficiently clear to help other users
understand the experience being described.
9. Prohibited Review Content
Reviews must not contain content that is unlawful or
otherwise prohibited under this Policy.
This may include:
- knowingly false statements presented as fact;
- threats;
- harassment;
- abusive or seriously offensive content;
- discriminatory content;
- unlawful hate content;
- personal attacks unrelated to the consumer experience;
- private personal information;
- another person's home address;
- private telephone numbers;
- private email addresses;
- payment-card information;
- confidential information;
- spam;
- unrelated advertising;
- malicious links;
- impersonation; or
- content that infringes intellectual-property rights.
Takeaway Scout™ may moderate or remove content where
reasonably necessary.
10. Opinions and Statements of Fact
Reviewers are encouraged to distinguish personal opinion
from factual allegations.
For example, describing a meal as disappointing is an
expression of personal experience.
Making a serious factual allegation about a business or
individual may require a reasonable factual basis.
Where a review contains a serious disputed allegation,
Takeaway Scout™ may request additional information or evidence before deciding
whether the content should remain published.
11. Evidence and Verification
Takeaway Scout™ may use reasonable and proportionate
measures to assess whether a review appears genuine.
Depending upon the circumstances, these may include:
- account information;
- email verification;
- telephone verification;
- technical information;
- IP-related information;
- submission patterns;
- account history;
- timing of reviews;
- evidence of an order or transaction;
- receipts;
- order confirmations;
- correspondence;
- photographs; or
- other information reasonably relevant to verification.
Not every reviewer will necessarily be required to provide
proof of purchase.
However, we may request additional evidence where a review
is challenged or displays characteristics associated with suspicious activity.
12. Verified Reviews
Takeaway Scout™ may introduce a Verified Review, **Verified
Customer, Verified Order** or similar designation.
Where such a designation is used, it means that Takeaway
Scout™ has carried out the verification process described for that designation.
It does not mean that Takeaway Scout™ independently
guarantees every statement or opinion contained within the review.
Reviews without a verification badge are not automatically
fake.
13. Review Moderation
Takeaway Scout™ may use automated and manual moderation.
Moderation may consider matters including:
- authenticity;
- relevance;
- prohibited content;
- duplicate reviews;
- suspicious account activity;
- conflicts of interest;
- manipulation;
- incentives;
- spam;
- legal concerns; and
- compliance with this Policy.
Positive and negative reviews should be subject to
appropriate and consistent moderation standards.
A review will not be removed simply because it is negative.
14. Publication of Reviews
Reviews may be checked before or after publication.
Takeaway Scout™ may delay publication for a reasonable
period where necessary to:
- perform moderation;
- investigate suspected fraud;
- verify a review;
- assess prohibited content;
- investigate a complaint; or
- protect platform security.
We will not deliberately delay genuine negative reviews
merely to improve the appearance of a business.
The CMA says genuine relevant reviews should be published
without unreasonable delay.
15. Editing Reviews
Takeaway Scout™ will not alter the meaning of a genuine
review merely because a business dislikes what it says.
We may make limited moderation changes where appropriate,
such as removing:
- personal information;
- prohibited material;
- malicious links; or
- content that clearly breaches this Policy,
provided doing so does not misleadingly change the overall
meaning of the review.
Where substantial editing would be required, we may instead
ask the reviewer to amend the review or decline publication.
16. Negative Reviews
Negative reviews are an important part of Takeaway Scout™.
A business cannot require Takeaway Scout™ to remove a review
merely because:
- it is negative;
- it lowers the business's rating;
- the business disagrees with the reviewer;
- the customer did not complain before reviewing;
- the business subsequently refunded the customer;
- the business resolved the complaint; or
- the business pays Takeaway Scout™ for another service.
Businesses cannot purchase the removal of genuine negative
reviews.
17. Business Right of Reply
Takeaway Scout™ may allow businesses to publicly respond to
reviews.
Business responses must comply with applicable platform
rules.
Responses should address the review professionally and must
not:
- threaten the reviewer;
- harass the reviewer;
- disclose private customer information;
- publish payment information;
- retaliate against the reviewer;
- impersonate another person; or
- contain otherwise prohibited material.
A business response may itself be moderated or removed where
necessary.
18. Reporting a Review
A takeaway business or user may report a review they believe
breaches this Policy.
A report should identify the reason for the challenge.
Possible reasons may include:
- the reviewer was not a genuine customer;
- the review concerns the wrong business;
- the review contains prohibited personal information;
- the review was submitted by a competitor;
- the review was incentivised without disclosure;
- the review contains fabricated factual allegations;
- the review is spam;
- the review duplicates another review; or
- another specific Policy violation.
Simply stating “we disagree with this review” will
not normally be sufficient.
19. Investigating Challenged Reviews
When a review is challenged, Takeaway Scout™ may consider
information supplied by:
- the reviewer;
- the takeaway;
- Takeaway Scout™ systems;
- relevant transaction information;
- technical information; and
- other appropriate evidence.
Depending upon the circumstances, we may:
- leave the review unchanged;
- request additional information;
- temporarily restrict its visibility;
- remove prohibited portions;
- ask the reviewer to amend it;
- label relevant information;
- remove the review; or
- take action against an account.
The outcome will depend upon the available information and
applicable law.
20. Removal of Reviews
A review may be removed where Takeaway Scout™ reasonably
determines that it:
- is fake;
- does not reflect a genuine experience;
- was submitted deceptively;
- was improperly incentivised;
- contains prohibited content;
- relates to the wrong business;
- is spam;
- duplicates another review;
- is part of review manipulation;
- breaches applicable law;
- infringes another person's rights;
- breaches this Policy; or
- should otherwise not lawfully remain published.
A review will not be removed merely because it is
critical or gives a low rating.
21. Removed Reviews and Ratings
Where a review is removed because it is fake, invalid or
otherwise prohibited, its associated rating may also be excluded from:
- aggregate customer ratings;
- review counts;
- ranking calculations;
- Scout Score inputs; and
- other information derived from reviews.
This is important because UK rules cover not only fake
reviews themselves but also misleading information derived from reviews.
22. Review Manipulation
Attempts to artificially manipulate Takeaway Scout™ are
prohibited.
Examples include:
- purchasing reviews;
- review farms;
- organised review exchanges;
- multiple-account reviewing;
- employee review campaigns;
- competitor attacks;
- mass review submissions;
- automated reviews;
- conditional incentives;
- coordinated rating manipulation;
- attempts to manipulate Scout Scores; and
- threatening customers over reviews.
Takeaway Scout™ may investigate unusual review patterns and
take appropriate action.
23. Artificial Intelligence and Automated Reviews
Reviews should represent a genuine person's genuine
experience.
Users must not use artificial intelligence, automated
systems or other tools to fabricate experiences that did not occur.
The use of writing assistance does not make an otherwise
genuine experience fake merely because technology helped with spelling, grammar
or presentation.
However, automatically generated reviews purporting to
describe experiences that did not genuinely occur are prohibited.
24. Businesses Offering Benefits for Review Removal
Businesses must not offer a refund, discount, free food or
another benefit **conditional upon a consumer removing or changing a genuine
negative review**.
A business may legitimately resolve a customer's complaint.
Resolving a complaint does not prevent the customer from
maintaining an honest review of their experience.
25. Review Bombing
Takeaway Scout™ may investigate sudden or coordinated review
activity arising from circumstances unrelated to genuine consumer experiences
with a takeaway.
Where we reasonably identify organised review bombing,
fake-review campaigns or other manipulation, affected reviews may be restricted
or removed.
26. Changes of Business Ownership
Where a takeaway changes ownership, Takeaway Scout™ may
consider whether historical reviews remain relevant to the business currently
operating at that location.
We may retain, archive, separate or otherwise identify
historical reviews where appropriate.
A change of ownership does not automatically require
deletion of all historical information.
27. Closed Businesses
Reviews concerning permanently closed businesses may remain
available for historical or informational purposes where appropriate.
Takeaway Scout™ may mark the business as closed and restrict
new reviews.
28. Commercial Relationships With Takeaways
A takeaway may have a commercial relationship with Takeaway
Scout™, including through:
- paid subscriptions;
- enhanced profiles;
- advertising;
- sponsored placements;
- featured listings; or
- other business services.
Such a relationship does not give the takeaway the right to:
- suppress genuine negative reviews;
- purchase positive reviews;
- remove legitimate criticism;
- prevent customers from reviewing it; or
- artificially improve its Scout Score.
Where relevant, commercial relationships should be
appropriately disclosed to users. CMA guidance specifically tells review sites
to disclose interests and commercial relationships with listed businesses.
29. Reviews and Scout Scores
Customer reviews may form one component of the information
considered by the Takeaway Scout™ scoring or ranking system.
However, **a customer rating and a Scout Score are not
necessarily the same thing**.
The calculation and presentation of Scout Scores will be
governed by our separate Scout Score & Ranking Policy.
Where fake or invalid reviews are identified, Takeaway
Scout™ may exclude them from calculations derived from review data.
30. Enforcement
Where a user or business breaches this Policy, Takeaway
Scout™ may take appropriate action.
Depending upon the circumstances, this may include:
- warning the user;
- rejecting content;
- removing reviews;
- excluding ratings;
- restricting review functionality;
- suspending an account;
- terminating an account;
- restricting a business representative's access;
- investigating related accounts;
- correcting information derived from manipulated reviews; or
- taking other reasonable action to protect the platform.
Serious or repeated misuse may result in permanent
restrictions.
31. Appeals and Further Information
Where appropriate, Takeaway Scout™ may provide a mechanism
for reviewers or businesses to request reconsideration of a moderation
decision.
An appeal should explain why the decision is believed to be
incorrect and provide any relevant supporting information.
An appeal does not guarantee that the original decision will
be changed.
Takeaway Scout™ may refuse repeated appeals concerning
substantially the same matter where no new relevant information has been
provided.
32. Reviews Are Not Complaints
Submitting a review for publication is different from making
a complaint directly to Takeaway Scout™ or to a takeaway business.
A negative review will not automatically be treated as a
private complaint instead of being considered for publication.
Where a user wishes to make a formal complaint to Takeaway
Scout™, they should use the appropriate contact or complaints procedure.
This distinction is specifically highlighted in the CMA's
guidance to online review sites.
33. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Review & Rating Policy as Takeaway
Scout™ develops, including where we introduce new:
- verification systems;
- review features;
- fraud-detection measures;
- business-response functionality;
- rating systems; or
- moderation processes.
We may also update the Policy to reflect changes in
applicable law or regulatory guidance.
The latest version will be published through Takeaway
Scout™.
34. Contact Us
Questions about this Policy can be sent to:
Takeaway Scout™
A trading name of Brecon Take Aways Limited
Email: admin@takeawayscout.co.uk
Registered office:
21 Bryn de Winton
Brecon
Powys
LD3 9HL
Company number: 17052659
ICO registration number: ZC099121