Customer Review (Detection, Investigation and Response) Policy
1. Scope, Purpose and Objective
1.1 We, Moss Bros Group Limited (“Moss”/“the Company”) is committed to taking all reasonably practicable steps to ensure that consumers are treated fairly and with integrity.
1.2 Moss values the opinions of our customers and encourages their genuine feedback on their experiences to help us, and other customers, make informed decisions about the products and services that we offer.
1.3 We prohibit the creation or publication of reviews that are not based on genuine experiences or fully transparent as to the context and origin of that review (including any potential incentives which may have influenced the review).
1.4 This Customer Review Policy (“Policy”) applies to all reviews left on the Moss website and on other media under our control. Only legitimate customers and/or users of our services are entitled to leave a review. The Company also works with other trusted third parties to ensure its own media is compliant with consumer protection law.
1.5 The following terms apply in this Policy:
a. Customer Review: a consumer’s review of a product.
b. Fake Review: a consumer’s review that purports to be, but is not, based on a person’s genuine experience. Fake Reviews can be positive (e.g. to help boost sales/ratings) or negative (e.g. to undermine a product or business for other consumers).
c. Incentivised Review: a review when the person has been commissioned to provide the review. Examples of commissioning includes (but is not limited to): money, free products/services, commissions, discounts or vouchers, invitations to events.
d. Concealed Incentivised Review: a consumer’s review, the publisher of which has been commissioned to provide the review (see above), but the fact they have been commissioned is not made apparent.
1.6 Under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (“DMCCA”) specific commercial practices are automatically unfair and unlawful, this includes:
a. Fake Reviews; and
b. Concealed Incentivised Reviews.
1.7 Under the DMCCA, businesses must also:
a. not publish Customer Reviews in a misleading way;
b. take steps to avoid/prevent the publication of:
i. fake reviews;
ii. reviews where incentives are hidden; and
iii. information (derived from reviews) which is false or misleading.
c. offer services to traders to ascertain fake reviews or concealed incentivised reviews.
1.8 This Policy outlines how Moss manages, considers and deals with Customer Reviews on (inter alia) its online store, its official social media channels, print publications, search services, online marketplaces, recommendation platforms, specialist review sites, and on third-party review platforms. Reviews can take various forms.*
1.9 The Policy covers not just traditional reviews left by traditional consumers but for completeness, it also deals with those who have commercial and contractual relationships with Moss e.g. “influencers/content creators”. This Policy is not intended to address more general complaints in relation to products, services, refunds, returns etc. Please see our Frequently Asked Questions section referred to on the Moss online store in relation to these matters.
1.10 This Policy is implemented alongside other matters such as Terms and Conditions, Privacy Policy and other contractual agreements as between Moss and relevant third parties.
1.11 This Policy has been formulated in line with a specific Customer Reviews Risk Assessment (Risk Assessment) which considers the nature, source and volume of our reviews, where the reviews are held, the potential for fake or misleading information and the proportionate steps we can and will take to mitigate those risks (and the nature of those risks) indicated in the Risk Assessment which will be periodically reviewed.
1.12 The Policy will set out:
a. Our review principles and guidelines;
b. How we detect banned reviews and false / misleading consumer review information;
c. How we investigate banned reviews and false / misleading consumer review information;
d. How we take action in response to banned reviews and false / misleading consumer review information (e.g., the appropriate sanctions);
e. How we manage the presentation of our reviews and review related information; and
f. Our approach towards incentivised reviews.
1.13 Moss allows for open communication with consumers and others in relation its Customer Reviews, will investigate any complaints expeditiously and will take appropriate action against those who breach this Policy.
1.14 The Policy is endorsed by Senior Management.
2. OUR REVIEW PRINCIPLES AND GUIDELINES
Principles
*words: for example, a written blog or a comment posted under a product listing on a website; speech: for example, a verbal opinion expressed in a video on a sharing platform; graphic representations: for example, a star rating appearing next to a restaurant’s name in search engine results, or a thumbs up next to a ‘helpful’ review.
2.1 We do not create, publish or encourage Fake Reviews.
2.2 We do not create, publish or encourage Concealed Incentivised Reviews.
2.3 We do not incentivise any reviews that are published on our website or through approved third-party review websites.
2.4 We allow the publication of both positive and negative Customer Reviews provided they meet the below Guidelines.
Guidelines
2.5 All Customer Reviews must be:
a. Honest and accurate;
b. Relevant to the features or performance experienced about the product or service being reviewed;
c. Genuine and based solely on the customer’s personal experience of the product;
d. Clear and concise;
e. Transparent as to it source, origin, and motivations;
f. Traceable to a genuine customer/user.
2.6 Customer Reviews must not:
a. Be misleading in any way;
b. Relate to a different product from the product being reviewed;
c. Refer to the price of the product;
d. Be inaccurate, exaggerated or vexatious;
e. Contain offensive, discriminatory or inappropriate language;
f. Contain any advertising or marketing material;
g. Refer to a competitor or a third party;
h. Contain any personal data about the publisher or a third party;
i. In the case of Incentivised Reviews: be missing, obscuring or hiding information of the fact that the review has been commissioned.
3. VERIFICATION, DETECTON AND MONITORING
3.1 We work in collaboration with a specialist third party, Feefo, to implement control measures to verify the authenticity of Customer Reviews (the reviewer) and other related review information.
3.2 These measures include (but may not be limited to):
a. Inviting customers who have placed an order with us to leave a review for publication by sending a direct email to the nominated email address via Feefo;
b. Requiring all reviews published on the website to be made by verified customers;
c. The use of software/trained employees to detect and remove inappropriate and suspicious reviews for further investigation; and
d. Further monitoring and auditing of Customer Reviews published on third-party platforms with our own sales records.
3.4 Any Customer Review that does not meet the guidelines set out above in paragraphs 2.5 and 2.6 (“Guidelines”) will be removed from publication or will be requested to be removed by us if the Customer Review is published on a third-party platform. These will be considered to be Offending Reviews.
3.5 It is important to note that negative reviews will not automatically be rejected or removed, the test for whether a review is appropriate will relate to its compliance with our Guidelines. The process for (interim or complete) removal of the review will as far as possible, follow the Triage Process set out below.
3.3 At the point of submitting a review via Feefo, customers are presented with an information box which links to the Terms & Conditions, Privacy Policy and Moderation Guidelines. Continuing to submit the review indicates that the customer agrees with the policies and the content of the review is in compliance.
4. TRIAGE PROCESS
Investigation
4.1 In many cases, we (through a trusted third party ) may be able to determine automatically that identified content is fake or misleading based on the available information and remove it without further investigation, for example by using appropriate automated detection measures.
4.2 In other cases (such as where there is a genuine dispute about the facts set out in a review possibly suggesting that the review is fake) forming a definitive view may be require further investigation.
4.3 Consumers can report suspicious or misleading reviews directly (through a trusted third party) on the occasion that an Offending Reviews is not identified automatically.
4.4 Further investigation will take place in such a way that:
a. there are no unreasonable delays before the publication of genuine reviews;
b. genuine reviews (particularly genuine negative reviews) are not removed merely because we may disagree with the reviewer’s assessment of their experience of us or our product; and
c. in respect of reviews which have already been published, there are no delays to correction or removal of banned reviews (including fake positive and fake negative reviews) and false or misleading consumer review information.
4.5 If we (or a third party on our behalf) investigates a suspicious review (i.e. if we believe the review may be an Offending Review), the reviewer will be told that the review is under investigation and address the review in such a way that it does not contribute to misleading information during the investigation period.
Action in response to Fake/Misleading Reviews
* A trusted third party will assist with all objectives set out in 4 and 5 of this Policy.
4.6 Aside from removing Customer Reviews which do not meet the Guidelines, other action we (or third parties on our behalf) may take in relation to Offending Reviews may include:
a. Removing or anonymising any inappropriate personal data contained in a Customer Review;
b. Removing from public view other reviews of any person who has previously left Offending Reviews where appropriate;
d. Keeping records of Offending Reviews and persons who leave Offending Reviews; or
e. Notifying the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) of systematic breaches.
4.7 Persons who submit reviews which are deliberately fake or misleading may also be responsible for any losses, expenses, fees or costs incurred by use as a result of any claims brought by a third party against us arising out of or in connection with the contents of a review.
4.8 There is no automatic right to appeal our decision or any action we take in respect of a Customer Review but we will make reasonable efforts to contact those who consider that their review has been removed unfairly or that any action taken in respect of that review has been unfair. At all times however, we will prioritise the wider protection of consumers generally.
5. CUSTOMER REVIEW PRESENTATION
5.1 Moss will take the following steps (including those principally undertaken through a trusted third party), to ensure that Customer Reviews are not placed or displayed in such a way which may mislead consumers. These measures may include:
a. Display the total number of published reviews per product type;
b. Not allowing Fake Reviews to influence or undermine legitimate Customer Reviews or customer review information (through their removal where appropriate).
c. Not cherry picking only positive reviews or suppressing negative reviews;
d. Not displaying an aggregated review rating which is not based on legitimate Customer Reviews of that particular product;
e. Reviewing, updating and removing Customer Reviews which may be out of date or refer to a different/previous model/version of a product/service than is currently displayed.
6. INCENTIVISED REVIEWS
6.1 Moss does not offer incentivised reviews for reviews of products published on our website.
6.2 On occasion, Moss may work with influencers or celebrities to promote products on social media and these promotions may be published on Moss own social media platforms. If/when we do this, Moss has in place:
a. Influencer/celebrity contractors for incentivised reviews and advertisements;
b. All social media posts that are incentivised are published in compliance with the CAP code (e.g. prefaced with AD).
6.3 We do not seek to procure fake or misleading reviews from consumers. In no way should those who are provided with incentives give a false or misleading impression about a product or service.
6.4 We do not offer to commission, or do commission, Fake Reviews or Concealed Incentivised Reviews. See also Third Parties.
7. THIRD PARTIES
7.1 Moss uses third parties (“TPs”) to assist with the management of hosting, uploading, detection, investigation and removal of reviews.
7.2 These TPs must hold and evidence specific competence and performance levels. TPs must comply this Policy in so far as it applies in all material respects. Such parties’ compliance with the Policy will be monitored and the Company reserves the right to terminate the relationship in the event this places the Company into non-compliance with applicable consumer law including but not limited to its obligations under DMCCA. The Company also reserves the right to bring other action in line with the contractual relationship with this TP in the usual way.
8. REPORTING AND CONTACT US
8.1 If you see a Customer Review on our website or on a third-party platform which does not meet the Guidelines, please report it to us via our customer services at [email protected]
8.2 If you are not satisfied with our approach to your review please let us know by contacting our Customer Services.
8.3 We will internally investigate the report following which we may take action in respect of the Customer Review (as described in sections 3 and 4 above) as necessary.
8.4 For any questions about this Policy, please contact our Customer Services at [email protected]
9. POLICY REVIEW, AUDIT AND UPDATES
9.1 We reserve the right to amend this Policy at any time without notice. Please check our website frequently to view the latest version. This Policy was last reviewed and updated in October 2025 It will be reviewed regularly and updated as necessary. Internal compliance with this Policy will be reviewed.
Last updated: 29th October 2025