1. Introduction
This policy outlines Bark's commitment to ensuring that all consumer reviews on the Bark.com website are genuine, trustworthy, and helpful. The integrity of our review system is fundamental to creating a trusted marketplace where buyers can make informed decisions.
This policy is designed to prevent and address the publication of "banned reviews." It ensures compliance with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) guidance on fake reviews and the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. It should be read in conjunction with our Online Safety Policy.
2. Purpose
The purpose of this policy is to:
Protect users from fake, fraudulent, or misleading reviews.
Define what constitutes a "banned review" on Bark.
Outline the proactive and reactive measures we take to detect and remove banned reviews.
Detail the investigation process and sanctions for those who violate this policy.
Ensure our processes are transparent, fair, and legally compliant.
This policy will be reviewed annually or following any significant change in our approach or relevant legislation.
3. Definition of a Banned Review
Bark prohibits the submission and publication of banned reviews. A review is considered "banned" if it falls into any of the following categories:
Fake Reviews: A review that does not reflect a person's genuine experience with a seller or their service. This includes reviews posted by the seller themselves, by individuals who have not interacted with the seller, or content generated by software applications like bots1.
Concealed Incentivised Reviews: A review that has been commissioned (e.g. in exchange for money, discounts, or free products) where the fact it has been incentivised is not made clear to those reading it.
Prohibited Content: Reviews that contain:
Offensive, intimidating, or abusive language.
Hate speech.
Personal data or private information of any individual.
Spam, promotional content, or irrelevant information.
4. Incentivised reviews
Professionals may not pay or otherwise incentivise other users to submit reviews on our platform. Incentivising includes offering vouchers, discounts, refunds or any other type of benefit in return for submitting a review. We also do not permit Professionals to include external reviews on their profile that have been incentivised.
5. Proactive Detection & Prevention
Bark takes proactive steps to prevent banned reviews from appearing on our platform. These measures include:
Interaction Verification: We restrict the ability to leave a review to buyers who have had a confirmed interaction with a seller through the Bark platform.
Spam Filters: We utilise enhanced spam filters to automatically check submitted reviews against a list of content that may indicate prohibited or otherwise suspicious activity.
Third-Party Review Verification: For reviews imported from external platforms like Google, we require sellers to link their verified Google Business Profile to ensure the reviews are correctly attributed.
Monitoring Reported Reviews: We actively monitor the "report review" function to identify and warn sellers who are abusing it by, for example, repeatedly flagging legitimate negative reviews.
6. Reactive Measures & User Reporting
In addition to our proactive measures, we empower our users to report reviews they believe violate this policy.
Reporting Mechanism: Any user can report a review they deem suspicious using the "report" function available on the site.
Initial Assessment: Once a review is reported, an alert is generated for our Customer Experience team. The team will conduct an initial assessment to determine if the report is valid. Valid reasons for a report include the review containing abusive language or being from a non-genuine customer. Reports for other reasons, such as disagreeing with a fair negative opinion, are considered an abuse of the feature.
7. Investigation Process
When a review is flagged as potentially banned (either through our proactive systems or by user report), the Customer Experience team will launch an investigation.
Evidence Gathering: The team will analyse the link between the reviewer and the seller, check for any supporting tickets or related accounts, and assess the content for indicators of spam or fake activity.
Contacting Parties: We may contact the seller for more information or clarification depending on the nature of the review.
Decision: Based on the investigation, the team will decide whether to remove the review or, in cases of a false report, reinstate a legitimate review and issue a warning to the seller who abused the report function.
8. Sanctions for Policy Violations
Sellers found to be posting, soliciting, or benefiting from banned reviews may be subject to a warning, a suspension or a permanent ban from the website.
Bark reserves the right to escalate sanctions, including immediate suspension or banning, for more severe or systematic violations, such as those involving fraud or threats.
9. Appeals Process
Sellers who have had sanctions applied against them have the right to appeal the decision.
Submitting an Appeal: An appeal must be submitted by replying to the sanction notification email within 30 days. The appeal should include a detailed version of events and any supporting evidence, such as contracts, communications, or photos.
Review: Appeals are reviewed by the Reputation and Complaints Specialist, who will make a final decision.
Account Status During Appeal: If a seller has been suspended indefinitely, their account will remain inaccessible during the appeal process.
10. Reviews and Complaints
It is important to distinguish reviews from complaints. Reviews are intended for publication, and may not be looked at individually by our customer experience team. If a user has a genuine complaint about a Professional, they should submit that to our customer experience team via the complaints form. We will investigate the complaint and decide what further action to take.
11. Transparency & Policy Review
This policy will be made publicly available to all users via a dedicated Help Centre article and will be signposted from our main Terms and Conditions. We conduct regular internal reporting on the number of reviews moderated and removed to monitor the effectiveness of these measures.
Updated