Fake Reviews

What is the first thing you do when you are figuring out what company to use? If you are anything like me, you reach for your device and plug them into a Google search bar. The results really matter. Would you hire a company with lots of negative reviews? Doubtful. There is no doubt that online reviews play a significant role in shaping our decisions as consumers. Even the Federal Trade Commission agrees (read this if you don't believe me.)

Welbilt and its predecessor, Moonlight Construction, have a long history of paying for and/or putting up their own fake reviews. PLEASE be wary of reviews or reports from consumers claiming to have used Welbilt. Welbilt often uses Facebook accounts and Nextdoor accounts to pose as happy consumers who have used Welbilt and they will give a positive, glowing "review" of Welbilt's abilities as a contractor.

Buying or creating fake reviews violates both California law and Federal regulations put in place to protect consumers, including those enforced by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Unfair and Deceptive Acts and Practices (UDAP) laws, and California Professional Laws.

In addition to State and Federal regulations, the CSLB, California's Contractor Licensing Board also prohibits false advertising stating that:

"It is a misdemeanor to use false, misleading, or deceptive advertising to induce clients to enter into improvement contracts if they might be misled or injured. It also is illegal to include in an ad for home or other improvements any false, deceptive, or misleading claims."

But wait... How do you know that they are fake? There are a couple of reasons. First, the FTC says that platforms that host third-party reviews must have a reasonable way of checking to ensure that the reviews are real. Most of Welbilt's fake reviews get removed when flagged. Companies such as Houzz, HomeAdvisor, Yelp and others can spot fake reviews and take them down. On platforms that don't have any monitoring at all (such as Buildzoom), it is the frequency of reviews that is a major tip-off. From public records it seems that Welbilt does around 15 to maybe maximum about 18 jobs a year. Even if every customer posted a positive review it would take years to accumulate many positive reviews. It is not likely that Welbilt has multiple customers posting real reviews one right after another on consecutive days. Also, if you look carefully, over time, often a review will be recycled. A good example of this is on Welbilt's HomeAdvisor's page. Both Patrick C of Beverly Hills and Michael K of Bell posted the same review, word for word on different days. Now either they have a remarkable ability to read each other's mind (highly unlikely) or this is a canned review and whom ever is responsible for putting up the fake reviews made a mistake and copied the same review twice.... oops!

In one case they even roped their advertiser, Amir Jafari of Fivespot Marketing in Moorpark CA, into writing a fake review for them on Google Maps, in which he used a photo from a bathroom from his own house as evidence of Welbilt's "work". Public records link Amir Jafari to 14810 Marquette Street in Moorpark. When searching for that address, the photos that populate are from the listing when Amir Jafari bought the house. The bathroom is exactly the same. So from the time that Amir bought the house to the time that he posted the fake review, it did not undergo renovation. Permits are also public record, and no permits to renovate a bathroom were issued at this address from the time that Amir Jafari bought it. The review has subsequently been deleted.

(screenshot as of 4/20/2024)

Another example of fake reviews of Welbilt is on the Buildzoom website (found here). These reviews are all verifiably fake. (screenshot of Welbilt's Buildzoom website is as of April 2024).