Gift Card or Gas Card for Positive Feedback

[flosho]

I wanted to get some opinions as it seems to be a gray area and possible "illegal" if not done correctly. I'd like to get more reviews and facebook likes so I was going to send or hand out at the time of the sale a post card/flyer that basically asks the customer to like us on facebook, leave a review on google or cars.com/etc and fill out a quick testimonial from a home-grown form on our website.

From what I understand during my initial research is that it would be illegal to pay or give a gift card to a customer to leave me positive feedback unless the customer discloses that they were compensated for the review. Not sure if this would only apply to 3rd party websites and not our own website? The gray area is that its okay to compensate the customer for their time spent completing these activities, but not to give us a review.

Any thoughts or tips? Is it ok to pay a customer $25 gas card to like us on facebook and fill out a testimonial on our website?

 

[flosho]

found this on Transport Reviews.com - Learn - Does Transport Reviews allow companies to pay people to post reviews?

It seems like its cut and dry in that the customer must disclose they are being compensated. However, I still feel there is gray area in the way things can be worded. Customers are compensated for their "time" not the "review".[h=2]

Customers are allowed to post reviews.[/h]

[h=2]Transport Reviews is ratings and reviews of auto transporters posted by CUSTOMERS.[/h]

If someone is NOT a customer they are not allowed to post a review, period.

Some companies offer incentives, drawings, discounts or even direct payments to their customers if they post a review. We do not like this practice, but we allow it. While we prefer companies not to offer incentives we do not have a realistic or reliable option to prevent it or monitor for it.

However, both Transport Reviews and the Federal Government REQUIRE that incentives be disclosed in the review.

As part of the survey, rating and review process reviewers are required to indicate whether they were offered an incentive to post a review or not. When a reviewer indicates that they were offered or expect an incentive we show that to the public with a green "Compensated Review" icon. More About The Compensated Reviewer Icon

[h=2]Federal Law Requires[/h]Disclosure is against the law for someone to post a review or testimonial in exchange for ANYTHING, without disclosing they were offered an incentive by the company to do so. If you are instructed by a company to no disclose that you were paid or offered an incentive please know they are asking you to break not only the rules of Transport Reviews, but also Federal Law.
[h=3]Compensated Reviews CAN Be Removed From Most Reports[/h]Most reports include an option to remove compensated reviews from the report. Using this option allows you to view ratings and rankings with compensated reviews removed.

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[mmgg]

My question would be - why pay them?

We use the time waiting to go into F/I to pitch accessories and ask for reviews. We even set up a simple front site to help our salespeople make the ask a little easier -- here is the link:

Spitzer Toyota Monroeville | New Toyota, Scion dealership in Monroeville, PA 15146

We just set this store up, but other stores have added 50-100 reviews in the course of 2-3 months using this format.