Reviews policy

INTRODUCTION

At Danone, we believe that the best companies are those built on trust, integrity and respect for all stakeholders. We aim to establish fair and ethical relationships with our customers, including maintaining trust and transparency in product reviews on our website, which provide a key role in helping consumers to make informed decisions.

 

PURPOSE AND SCOPE

This policy sets out how Danone collects, uses and publishes reviews of its products and services, and the steps we take to prevent and remove fake and misleading reviews in order to achieve authenticity in our business practices and ensure compliance with consumer protection laws.

This policy applies to all employees of Danone UK & Ireland, as well as anyone submitting reviews for publication on our website, including consumers, contractors, stakeholders, and third-party service providers working for or with Danone.

 

PROHIBITION OF FAKE REVIEWS

Danone prohibits the submission of fake reviews, including (but not limited to):

·       reviews that do not reflect an individual’s genuine experience;

·       reviews for products that were not purchased or used by the reviewer;

·       reviews posted under a false identity;

·       undisclosed incentivised reviews;

·       misleading (either positive or negative) reviews posted in order to manipulate consumer opinion;

·       reviews that are irrelevant to the relevant product;

·       reviews edited to conceal or add information; or

·       duplicate copies of the same review.

If we determine that a review violates this policy, we reserve the right to remove it and take appropriate action, including suspending an individual’s ability to submit a review or taking legal action.

 

INCENTIVISED REVIEWS

To maintain transparency, Danone allows incentivised reviews only under the following conditions:

·       the review must be clearly identifiable as incentivised;

·       incentives must be clearly and prominently disclosed within the review;

·       incentives must not be contingent on a positive review; and

·       the review must be an accurate reflection of the reviewer’s genuine experience of the product or service.

Reviews that do not meet these requirements will be removed.

 

MONITORING REVIEWS

Danone uses a manual review process to proactively monitor and prevent the publication of any reviews on its website which do not comply with this policy.

Danone will:

·       display reviews in an unbiased manner;

·       not suppress or edit negative reviews unless they are deemed or suspected to be fraudulent, fake or misleading; and

·       provide the ability to report suspicious or inappropriate reviews.

We may contact reviewers via the contact details attached to their review in respect of any questions or clarifications in relation to their review.  

 

WORKING WITH REVIEW PARTNERS

Danone works with external partners who feature product reviews on their platforms to ensure reviews are genuine, appropriately moderated and monitored.

Methods used by our third-party review platforms to prevent fake and misleading reviews include:  

·       authentication systems to verify a reviewer’s identity;

·       fraud detection technology;

·       manual and digital moderation guidelines and tools; and

·       authenticity policies.

 

SUBMITTING A REVIEW

Consumers, contractors, stakeholders, and third-party service providers working for or with Danone can submit reviews through our websites. Those who submit reviews agree that they will not submit a review that:

·       falls within the criteria of fake reviews (as detailed earlier in this policy);

·       has been copied from someone else or infringes on a third party’s copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret, or other proprietary rights or rights of publicity or privacy;

·       violates any law (including those governing consumer protection and unfair competition);

·       is considered to be offensive;

·       includes personal information;

·       contains any computer viruses, worms, or other potentially damaging computer programs or files; or

·       is otherwise in breach of this policy.

They also agree that:

·       they are the sole author of any intellectual property rights within the review; and

·       all moral rights that they may have in such content have been voluntarily waived.

 

HANDLING COMPLAINTS AND NEGATIVE REVIEWS

Danone will not:

·       encourage consumers to submit a complaint instead of leaving a review;

·       encourage consumers to leave a positive review after a complaint has been resolved;

·       dissuade consumers from leaving a review after resolving their complaint; or

·       treat negative reviews as complaints and prevent them from being published.

All reviews, whether positive or negative, will be treated equally and published in accordance with this policy, regardless of the form they take (text, speech or image) and the medium through which they can be accessed by consumers (online or analogue).

If you are not satisfied or have an issue with our products or services, you can submit a complaint here:  https://www.danone.co.uk/contact-us/brands-contact.html

 

REPORTING CONCERNS

If you believe a review breaches this policy, you can report it by contacting us here:  https://www.danone.co.uk/contact-us/brands-contact.html

We will investigate reported reviews in a thorough and timely manner and will take appropriate action as necessary. If a review is not compliant with this policy, it will be removed.

You can also contact us for any other questions relating to this policy.

We reserve the right to update this policy as needed to ensure compliance with consumer protection legislation and guidance and maintain the integrity of our reviews system.