Dispute over Google reviews Bern travel agency fights against bad reviews - from a competitor?

A travel agency in Bern is facing a flood of bad Google reviews. A competitor may be behind the alleged campaign.

Sivaneyan Kanakasundaram has been running the travel agency Siva Travel in Bern for over two decades. His customers, who mainly travel from Switzerland to Asian and Arab countries, have always been satisfied, he says. Recently, however, negative Google reviews have suddenly been piling up - for no apparent reason, as reported by Blick.

An analysis of the reviews shows a striking pattern: many users only give Siva Travel one star without providing an explanation. At the same time, the reviews of the Zurich travel agency Efly receive five stars from the same users, also without explanation. Efly regularly thanks users for these positive reviews.

Alleged motive unclear

Kanakasundaram suspects that Efly incites its customers to leave negative reviews about Siva Travel. An Efly customer reported to him that an Efly employee had written the review on his cell phone because he himself did not know how to rate.

The reason for this alleged campaign is unclear to Kanakasundaram. Both travel agencies serve a similar clientele, and the owner of Efly also has roots in Sri Lanka. Kanakasundaram only knows his competitor superficially and has not yet confronted him directly with the allegations.

Efly boss denies allegations

When asked by "Blick", Efly boss Selvakumar Nagatheepan vehemently denies the allegations. He emphasizes that Efly's customers rate on their own initiative and that the company does not engage in any manipulation. Nevertheless, the question of why someone would give two such different ratings for two travel agencies that are so far apart remains unanswered.

Kanakasundaram contacted Google to have the obviously manipulated reviews removed. Despite a promised response time of four days, he has not received any feedback since mid-December.

The editor wrote this article with the help of AI.