TripAdvisor under fire over fraud detection Kwikchex, which has frequently criticised TripAdvisor's approach on behalf of disgruntled business owners, said the evidence provided further proof that screening procedures were inadequate. "Such case studies blow apart TripAdvisor's claims about sophisticated filtering systems, and illustrate how unreliable its reviews are," said Chris Emmins, founder of KwikChex, which - since 2010 - has been campaigning for TripAdvisor to accept only reviews from authenticated patrons rather than anonymous users. A poll carried out by Telegraph Travel earlier this month suggested that nearly 90 per cent of our readers would support such a policy. Mr Emmins said the ease with which Kwikchex had manipulated the site exposed "the ridiculous nature of [TripAdvisor's] 'Popularity Index" and the rankings system that is so important to businesses." A hotel or restaurant's rise or fall in the rankings on TripAdvisor is said to have a huge and often immediate impact on business. Two more case studies can be seen to illustrate just how seriously businesses regard their ranking. David and Karen Fielding, a retired couple from Staffordshire, spent three nights at The Wyndham Arms in the Forest of Dean last month. On March 1 they published a review on TripAdvisor, criticising the "bland" food, "dusty" rooms, "noisy" fellow guests and "brusque" staff. They were later contacted by the hotel's manager, who - in emails seen by Telegraph Travel - offered them a refund of £180 - on condition that they delete their review. One email said: "It would have no benefit if we refunded the money yet the review remained after compensating you [sic]." Mr and Mrs Fielding, regular TripAdvisor users, rejected the offer. A statement from the hotel said: "It was felt that by offering a refund then the customer would be recompensed and therefore satisfied. We only felt it fair that the complaint should then be withdrawn. In a third incident, which adds weight to claims that the website is often and easily manipulated, a glowing review was submitted of a luxury Caribbean resort - which we are unable to name for legal reasons. In a subsequent posting, however, the writer said that she was an investor in the hotel and had been encouraged by its owners to publish the first review. She also alleged that "at least half" of the other reviews of the hotel had been written by fellow investors. The owners deny that, but the general manager of the hotel appears to admit, in a response to one review, that the practice took place. Using the "management response" option, he said that "all the reviews written by investors have now been removed from TripAdvisor." A statement from TripAdvisor said: "We take the authenticity of our reviews very seriously and have numerous methods to ensure the legitimacy of content. In addition to our highly sophisticated fraud-detection systems and our dedicated team of content specialists, our large and passionate community of more than 50 million monthly visitors also help report suspicious content, which we encourage and welcome. Attempts to manipulate TripAdvisor are extremely rare, as the vast majority of hoteliers understand the tremendous risk to their reputation and their business. A Fair Deal for Travellers Last month Telegraph Travel launched its Fair Deal for Travellers campaign, identifying 10 key areas where the industry is failing British holidaymakers. Among those was the manipulation of websites like TripAdvisor. For more information on the campaign, see telegraph.co.uk/fairdealfortravellers. Tell us what you think by emailling travelviews@telegraph.co.uk.