6:48 am, August 19, 2025
Used car supermarket Big Motoring World has had its reviews suspended on Trustpilot for ‘breaching guidelines’.
In marks posted on the used car supermarket’s page, Trustpilot says the breach has come as a result of the firm ‘inviting people to review them in a way that encourages positive reviews’.
A warning has been displayed on the car dealer’s page and the company’s rating is ‘unavailable’ due to the breach.
Strict new rules regarding reviews came into force earlier this year and car dealers can face fines of up to 10% of global turnover or £300,000 for falling foul of them.
In a statement issued to Car Dealer Magazine, Trust Pilot said: ‘When companies sign up to use our services they agree to guidelines that help maintain the integrity of the platform.
‘Encouraging reviews in exchange for benefits of any kind is considered a biased invitation practice which compromises the integrity of our platform and is a direct violation of our guidelines.
‘As per our “Action We Take” policy, we have placed a consumer warning on the company’s Trustpilot profile.
‘Consumer warnings notify consumers about the misuse, hide a company’s TrustScore, and prevent them from using our paid services.
‘Reviews can still be left on the profile because it’s important consumers have a voice and they can express how they feel about the business.
‘We will continue to monitor the profile and will take necessary action if we identify further breaches.’
Pictured: Big Motoring World’s Trustpilot page
Pictured: A close-up of the warning
A source told Car Dealer Magazine that they believed the action had been taken because of ‘allegations they paid customers to remove or hide negative reviews and asked others to leave positive reviews in an effort to manipulate their reputation’.
Laurence Vaughan, CEO of Big Motoring World told Car Dealer that under the firm’s ‘current management’ it had invested more than £5m into developing its ‘customer support capabilities’.
He said: ‘Big Motoring World complies fully with the terms and conditions of Trustpilot and all its partners, and there are system controls in place to ensure ongoing compliance at all levels in the business.
‘We are currently seeking confirmation as to the reasons for the Trustpilot suspension – one potential cause is a misunderstanding about incentives for submitting a review.
‘As is common with retail businesses, there is an incentive to participate in our own customer survey, but we do not and would not offer an incentive to customers to submit a Trustpilot review, as this would contravene Trustpilot’s guidelines.’
Big Motoring World said it had a score of 4.3 on Trustpilot before the suspension. The majority of its car supermarkets are rated around 4.8 on Auto Trader.
Vaughan said he expected the matter with Trustpilot to be ‘resolved very soon’ and said the used car supermarket group has seen a ‘marked and sustained improvement’ in customer satisfaction scores.
He added: ‘We refute wholeheartedly any suggestion that customers are paid to remove or hide negative reviews, or that others are incentivised to leave positive reviews.’
Pictured: Big Motoring World Blue Bell Hill
A Facebook group has also been set up called ‘BIG MOTORING WORLD Fake 5* TRUSTPILOT REVIEWS! Please Read 1* AND AVOID!!!!’.
The group says: ‘Big Motoring World flags genuine 1* Trustpilot reviews and gets them removed creating a biased score system to mislead the public into believing they are dealing with a reputable company when in fact they are not.’
Separately, a Facebook page titled ‘Big Motoring World Complaints’ now has 6,700 members.
The page is designed to allow consumers to share their stories of dealing with the used car supermarket with consumers regularly sharing stories of dealing with the used car business.
Big boss Vaughan told Car Dealer that the firm is aiming to become more ‘customer centric’.
‘We have seen a significant and consistent reduction in complaints to the Trading Standards Council (-37% YTD vs 2024) during a period when sales volumes have risen (+22% YoY),’ he said in a statement to Car Dealer.
‘Regarding Facebook groups, we fully respect the will of customers and other interested parties to register comments about our business.
‘We take account of all constructive and accurate comments from third parties as the business accelerates its group-wide strategy to improve the quality of service and support provided to customers.
‘Customer satisfaction is now Big Motoring World’s most important metric, and we remain determined to continue to improve all aspects of the customer experience.’
Big Motoring World appeared on the BBC six months ago after consumers complained about how the group dealt with its complaints.
Big Motoring World and its shareholders Freshstream are separately embroiled in a legal battle with its previous CEO Peter Waddell, who was ousted by the company. That case is due to be heard in the High Court.
Waddell is still the majority shareholder in the business.
The firm has 10 locations across the country including Blue Bell Hill, Cannock, Leeds, Peterborough, West Malling, Camberley, Enfield, Norwich, Sheffield and Wimbledon. It currently has more than 7,000 cars in stock.
