6 2GM Saturday September 5 2020 | the times
News
Amazon is investigating its most prolif-
ic British product reviewers after an
investigation found alleged evidence
that they are profiting from posting
thousands of five-star ratings.
The “suspicious behaviour” has been
detected in the reviews left on Ama-
zon’s website by nine out of its top ten
contributors, according to an investi-
gation by the Financial Times.
A large number of five-star reviews
had been given for Chinese products
from unknown brands and
manufacturers.
Justin Fryer, the UK’s number one
Amazon reviewer, has posted 1,933 pro-
duct reviews and was selected to join
the site’s “Vine” programme in which
reviewers are sent free items to assess.
During August he reviewed £15,
worth of products including smart-
phones, electric scooters and gym
Drivers looking to hire a car have been
advised to shop around online for in-
surance after a watchdog found that it
can be up to 14 times more expensive to
buy a policy from the rental company.
Which? looked at the cost of insuring
a car hired for a week in Malaga, Spain,
comparing the policies offered by big
car rental companies with independent
policies available online. Europcar
offered the most expensive policy, at
£203 per week, and the cheapest
“top-rated” policy was from an online
provider called Chew Insurance at only
£14 per week.
When comparing the six largest car
rental companies — defined by Which?
as Avis, Alamo, Enterprise, Europcar,
Goldcar and Hertz — the researchers
found that they charged on average
£147 for a week’s cover. The cheapest on
offer was from Enterprise, at £115.
Analysis of policies offered online by
the six independent insurance compa-
nies with the highest ratings showed an
average charge of £23 per week.
Which? analysed each policy and
gave it a percentage score for the level
of cover provided. Independent online
insurers scored between 75 and 82 per
cent, but no policy offered by a large
rental company scored higher than
61 per cent.
The highest-scoring policy of all,
from Questor Insurance, included
cover for damage to the windscreen,
tyres or underbody, as well as for flat
batteries, car-jacking, towing and acci-
dents. It cost £24 for a week and includ-
ed cover for putting in the wrong fuel,
losing keys or getting locked out. Eu-
ropcar’s £203 policy did not cover these.
Which? said that one downside to
taking out an independent policy was
that the hire company would charge
the renter’s credit card for any damage,
leaving them to recoup it through their
third-party policy.
Rory Boland, editor of Which?
Travel, said that there were some
“wildly excessive charges” on policies at
car hire desks but that “much more
thorough cover is available online for a
fraction of the cost”.
Car hire desk
insurance ‘
times pricier’
Kaya Burgess
Early board Sunrise over Roker Lighthouse, Sunderland, yesterday. More sunshine is expected next week. Forecast, page 77
MATTHEW LOFTHOUSE/NORTH NEWS AND PICTURESAmazon’s reviewers investigated
over claims of profits from posts
David Brown
equipment, providing the maximum
five-star ratings on average once every
four hours, the Financial Times
reported.
In the past eight months Mr Fryer,
who lives in a two-bedroom flat, has
reviewed more than a dozen vacuum
cleaners, ten laptops and three garden
gazebos.
He then appears to sell many of the
items on eBay, the online auction site,
making nearly £20,000 since June.
The items included an electric scoot-
er sold for £485.99, seven days before
posting a review of the same product
describing it as “hands down my
favourite toy”.
Mr Fryer, 48, denied posting paid-for
reviews and said the items he sold on
eBay described as “unused” and “uno-
pened”, were for duplicates.
Mr Fryer, an IT consultant and an-
tiques dealer from Wandsworth, south
London, wrote on his Amazon profile:
“I enjoy writing reviews and being part
of the community and strive to be one
of the best hopefully.. .”
He added: “I hope to continue to
contribute and add value to quality
products for a long time to come.”
Mr Fryer said that after being voted
by other customers as Amazon’s top re-
viewer he was invited to join its “Vine”
programme in which members receive
“free products that have been submit-
ted to the programme by participating
vendors”.
He did not respond to requests for
comment when contacted by The
Times. An Amazon spokesman said:
“We want Amazon customers to shop
with confidence knowing that the re-
views they read are authentic and rele-
vant”.
The Competition and Markets
Authority began an investigation in
May into several major websites to see
whether they were doing enough toprotect shoppers from fake and mis-
leading reviews.
The competition watchdog said it
would examine suspicious reviews in-
cluding where a single user had re-
viewed an unlikely range of products or
services and if businesses were manip-
ulating the presentation of reviews.
It said it would also examine how
websites handled reviews about prod-
ucts or services where the reviewer
had received a payment or other
incentive.
Andrea Coscelli, the authority’s chief
executive: said: “If someone is persuad-
ed to buy something after reading a
fake or misleading review, they could
end up wasting their money on a pro-
duct or service that wasn’t what they
wanted.
“We will not hesitate to take further
action if we find evidence that they ar-
en’t doing what’s required under the
law.”Student flat
pictures may
be worth
£20,
Three paintings that were to have de-
corated the walls of a student flat are
expected to fetch up to £20,000 at auc-
tion after they were found to be the
work of a celebrated Chinese artist.
The pictures were discovered at a
property in Barlaston, Staffordshire,
during a visit by Alexander Clement, of
Hansons Auctioneers. He said: “The
paintings, each depicting a different
flower, were purchased in London in
the 1950s by a lady who was excited to
receive her first pay cheque and wanted
to buy something beautiful to adorn her
home.”
He added: “They were passed down
through the family but were not
thought to be more than decorative and
had been destined to decorate a student
flat. During the course of valuing the
general contents of the home, I imme-
diately recognised the paintings and set
about researching them to verify if they
were original works or print reproduc-
tions.
“I was delighted to find they were in-
deed original ink and watercolour stud-
ies, each bearing a seal by the artist.”
The paintings are the work of Qi Bai-
shi, whose work is highly regarded and
sought after by collectors in mainland
China as well as the West. Qi Baishi
died in Beijing on September 19, 1957. In
2017, his Twelve Landscape Screens
(1925), set a record for Chinese paint-
ings sold at auction at £107.5 million.
The paintings will go under the ham-
mer later this month at Hansons’ show-
room in Etwall, Derbyshire.Parents of two
young children
killed in crash
A couple described as “utterly devoted”
parents have been killed in a head-on
collision in their car, leaving their two
young girls orphaned.
Robert Bateman, 36, and his wife,
Paula, 35, died when their Ford Focus
collided with an Iveco Daily van on the
A142 between Chatteris and Mepal in
Cambridgeshire on Thursday night.
Their daughters Lexi, 10, and Eliza-
beth, 18 months, were also in the car.
Lexi suffered serious but not life-
threatening injuries. Elizabeth had
minor injuries. Both have since been
discharged from hospital.
The van driver, a 32-year-old man
from Lincoln, was arrested on suspicion
of causing two deaths by dangerous
driving, and driving while unfit through
drink or drugs, Cambridgeshire police
said.
He suffered minor injuries and re-
mained in custody yesterday.
In a tribute issued through police, the
family of Mr and Mrs Bateman, from
Manea in Cambridgeshire, said: “We
are utterly devastated by this news.
“Bob and Paula were much-loved
friends to many and will be missed by
everyone who knew them. They were
also utterly devoted parents. Bob was a
much-loved son and father, while Paula
was a much-loved daughter, sister and
mother.”
Police said that Mr Bateman had
been driving the Ford Focus and his
wife was sitting in the back of the car.
Anyone who saw the collision or
has dashcam video is asked to call
police on 101.