The Benedictine Apartments ran a review contest on Tuesday, July 25th. They stated that the first five residents to post a 5-star Google review would receive a $10 gift card. The contest would end at noon on Friday, July 28th. This contest netted The Benedictine Apartments six 5-star reviews. People posted four reviews on the 25th and one each on the 26th and 27th.
I believe this contest was to combat a 1-star negative review posted earlier on the 25th. Currently, The Benedictine Apartments has a 4.3 rating with Google. While the six reviews helped boost the average rating, more reviews must be removed. The Benedictine Apartments appears to have the reviews for the old church at their address. They have 40 5-star reviews, two 4-star reviews, and one 3-star review. They stand to lose 49 reviews in total. They should have a 3.5 rating. I also question the seven 5-star reviews, which were all posted on March 2nd, 2022. Did they run a review contest, then?
The harsh reality is that once a business runs a review contest or bribes people to leave reviews, it’s hard to trust any 5-star reviews. Only the reviewers and The Benedictine Apartments know the answer. If people posted those reviews due to a review contest, they would have a 2.4 average rating. I trust the 11 1-star reviews more.
