- Have YOU been asked to leave a positive review for a company in exchange for a reward? Email ciaran.foreman@mailonline.co.uk
Costa Coffee has been branded ‘shameless’ after one of its branches promised customers free drinks in return for leaving positive reviews.
A sign appeared on the counter of the Potters Bar outlet, in Hertfordshire, advertising that customers can get ‘any medium size drink for free’ if they provide proof of a store rating of nine or 10 in a feedback email.
The sign read: ‘Get your free coffee. If you receive an email saying “how was your visit at Costa?” Please give us the 9-10 rating there.
‘Take the screenshot of that and bring back to us and you will get any medium size drink for free. Thank you in advance.’
It is unclear whether such reviews were for internal or external use, but Britain’s largest barista chain is now under fire for seemingly violating consumer law.
Customers were quick to vent their frustrations on social media. One branch visitor posted a picture to X and wrote: ‘Dear Costa Coffee, love to hear your thoughts on this. Surely it makes a total mockery of your reviews.’
In response, the company’s official account, which has almost 275,000 followers, replied: ‘Ooh that’s quite cheeky, drop us a DM so we can chase this up Mark?’.
The sign has since been taken down after the chain said it ‘was put up without approval and does not reflect company policy.’
The branch’s offer comes after the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 was published in April, which outlined strict details on how it is unlawful for ‘fake reviews’ to be posted.
A ‘fake review’ is described as being a ‘consumer review that purports to be, but is not, based on a person’s genuine experience’.
Fines of up to £300,000 or 10 per cent of a company’s global turnover can be brought forward if infringements are found under the new Act.
Consumer expert Martyn James criticised Costa for encouraging customers to leave positive feedback in exchange for a reward, saying such reviews should only be ‘given freely, without incentive or manipulation’.
He told the Daily Mail: ‘There’s no doubt that this kind of behaviour is a shameless attempt to game the system – and one that is explicitly forbidden by new laws.
‘The CMA has made it clear that reviews must be given freely without incentives, promotions and misleading claims. They must reflect the truth, not what the company wants.
‘Yet time and time again businesses attempt to manipulate the system, making it exceptionally difficult to spot the cheats. That’s why it’s so important to call out this behavior.’
Consumer law solicitor, Dr Jennifer Obaseki, told The Telegraph that while ‘no one is likely to sue for a “lost coffee opportunity’, that consumer watchdogs take a ‘dim view’ of promotions which officer incentives in return for feedback.
A Costa Coffee spokesperson told the Daily Mail: ‘We are aware of a sign that was displayed in one of our franchise stores, which was put up without approval and does not reflect company policy.
‘As soon as we became aware of the sign, we asked the store to remove it, which they have done.’
