€7,500 bill for fake food review

AN INTERNET user has been ordered to pay €2,500 damages and €5,000 in costs for having written a false review of a Dijon restaurant.

The review, on the Pages Jaunes website, said that the Loiseau Des Ducs restaurant in the Côte d’Or capital was “very over-rated, all show, very little on the plate, the only thing that was well loaded was the bill”.

However, the restaurant had not yet opened for the season and the ‘review’ was published five days before the official opening.

In addition, the Loiseau Des Ducs was awarded a Michelin star in February 2014.

Restaurant owners Groupe Bernard-Loiseau tracked down the internet user and the court said “such false reviews, by the fact they were on an internet site widely read for information on restaurants, could only dissuade potential clients from going there”.

The court awarded the company €2,500 for the “prejudice” for its image and €5,000 for the costs of tracking the person down.

Company director and restaurant manager Ahlame Buisard said it was a question of principle. They wanted to track down the false reviewer to teach a lesson to people who leave such comments “simply to destroy”.
Photo: blog.bernard-loiseau.com