What are the Reputational Damage Control Measures Against Negative Reviews on 'HanaYume'?

For many people, a wedding is not an event that occurs multiple times in their lifetime. Furthermore, due to the high cost of weddings, it is common for couples to attend bridal fairs and carefully select their wedding venue. A useful reference for such couples is Hanayume, a site that collects basic information and reviews about wedding venues nationwide. Unlike anonymous bulletin boards, Hanayume requires registration of names and phone numbers for posting reviews, so there are few malicious defamations by competitors. However, there is a possibility that critical reviews may be posted by customers of the wedding venue, and if many potential customers view these, it can impact sales. Therefore, we will explain how to respond if a wedding venue suffers reputational damage due to reviews on Hanayume.

Explanation about Hanayume

Hanayume is a wedding venue portal site operated by H-Team Brides Corporation. It provides information on wedding venues throughout Japan and overseas, in partnership with these venues. The number of wedding venues listed on Hanayume exceeds 2,500. A distinctive feature of Hanayume is a discount system known as the “Hanayume discount”. This discount is offered when you apply for wedding fairs and other events through the Hanayume site. Because of this discount system, many couples searching for wedding venues often use Hanayume. Among the wedding venue information posted on Hanayume, there are also real reviews from people who have actually participated in wedding fairs or held their weddings at these venues. The content of the reviews covers a wide range of topics, including the responsiveness of wedding planners, the atmosphere of the venue, facilities, access, and food. As all of these points are of concern to couples searching for wedding venues, if a venue receives unfairly low ratings or if the content differs from the actual services provided, it will likely be excluded from consideration unless potential customers have a particularly strong attachment to that venue. This tendency is especially strong in metropolitan areas where there are many wedding venues. Therefore, it is necessary for wedding venues to carefully check the content of the reviews posted on Hanayume.

What Kind of Reputational Damage Can Occur on Hanayume?

On Hanayume, registration of your name, phone number, and email address is required to post reviews. This creates a significant psychological barrier to posting defamatory reviews. As a result, there are not many malicious slanderous reviews. However, the calculation of the usage fee for wedding venues is complex, and it is possible for customers to post reviews based on misunderstandings, such as “I was told that a discount would be applied initially, but it was not applied at the contract stage.” The usage fee for wedding venues can exceed 1 million yen, which is a substantial amount, so potential customers are very critical about the cost. Therefore, if there are negative reviews about the price, it is expected that they will feel anxious and hesitate to inquire, which could directly lead to a decrease in sales for the wedding venue. In addition, reviews such as “I requested a meal for allergy sufferers to be provided to the visitors, but the regular meal was served instead” can also be anticipated. Even if such a review is due to a misunderstanding by the customer, it can have a significant negative impact as it involves potential health damage.

How to Request Removal for Violation of Terms of Use

If a review that could lead to reputational damage is posted on Hanayume, one method is to directly request the operator to remove the review on the grounds of violation of the terms of use. To directly request the operator to remove the review, first, display the inquiry form from the link “For Wedding Venues & Companies” that appears when you click the “Contact Us” button at the bottom of the Hanayume website.

In this inquiry form, after pointing out the post you want to remove, describe specifically why you think it violates the terms of use and send it. The terms of use can be displayed by clicking the “Terms of Use” button at the bottom of the top page. Prohibited actions for site use are defined in Article 11, Paragraph 1 of these terms of use.

Article 11 Prohibited Actions
All users are prohibited from the following actions in order to comfortably use this service.
(1) The act of making false entries when using this service and actions that may lead to such.
(2) Criminal acts and actions that may lead to criminal acts.
(3) Acts against public order and morals and actions that may lead to such.
(4) Acts that infringe on the copyrights, property rights, privacy, or other rights of other users, affiliated businesses, or our group, and actions that may lead to such.
(5) Acts that cause disadvantage or damage to other users, third parties, affiliated businesses, or our group, and actions that may lead to such.
(6) Acts for the purpose of profit through or related to this service, and actions that may lead to such.
(7) Acts of altering, modifying, or deleting all or part of the information contained in this site (including the contact information of affiliated businesses), and actions that may lead to such.
(8) Acts that interfere with the normal operation of the network system used by this service or destroy the network system, and actions that may lead to such.
(9) Acts that violate laws and actions that may lead to such.
(10) Acts that promote any of the above actions and actions that may lead to such.
(11) Other actions that our group deems inappropriate.

https://hana-yume.net/pages/rule/[ja]

When Incorrect Information About Fees is Posted

What about the review mentioned above, “I was told that a discount would be applied initially, but it was not applied at the contract stage”? It is often thought that many Hanayume users use the site expecting a Hanayume discount, so if there is a review that the discount was not applied, it will create a negative image for that wedding venue. As a result, there is a possibility that the number of prospective customers visiting the wedding fair may decrease. Therefore, when such a review is posted, it can be said that it falls under the prohibited action (5) “Acts that cause disadvantage or damage to … affiliated businesses … and actions that may lead to such” defined in the terms of use. Also, if this review was posted due to the poster’s misunderstanding and is incorrect information, there is room to request removal on the grounds that it falls under prohibited action (1) “The act of making false entries when using this service and actions that may lead to such”.

When Problematic Information About the Provided Food is Posted

For the review “I requested a meal for allergy accommodation for the visitors, but the actual meal served was regular”, it can be said that there is a risk of causing health damage to the attendees, and the reputation of the wedding venue is bound to decline. Depending on the situation, it could even lead to a business suspension, so regardless of whether the content is true or not, it can be said that it falls under prohibited action (5) “Acts that cause disadvantage or damage to … affiliated businesses … and actions that may lead to such”.

Examples of Requesting Removal on the Grounds of Illegality

Defamatory posts can potentially be considered illegal. The main issue here is defamation. Defamation generally occurs when a fact that lowers a person’s social reputation is posted. However, defamation does not occur if the posted fact is true or if there is a legitimate reason or basis to believe it is true.
Even if the fact is true, defamation may still occur if the purpose of the post does not serve the public interest or if the fact does not concern the public interest. However, this is rarely a point of contention, so we will not delve into it here. For more detailed explanations on the requirements for defamation, please refer to the article below.

https://monolith.law/reputation/defamation[ja]

The example given above, “Despite requesting an allergy-friendly meal for the guests, the venue served regular food,” could potentially be a significant societal issue if it resulted in health damage. It can be considered a fact that lowers the social reputation of the wedding venue. Therefore, if this review is baseless, it could constitute defamation. When a review becomes illegal, as in the case of defamation, you can request the site operator or hosting provider to take measures to prevent transmission based on the Japanese Provider Liability Limitation Law. This can achieve the same result as having the review removed. However, it is ultimately up to the site operator who received the request to decide, so you need to be aware that there is a possibility that transmission prevention measures may not be taken depending on their judgment.

Removal by Provisional Disposition

There may be instances where the operator of Hanayume does not comply with the removal request. Particularly, there are limitations to the investigation of whether the content is true or false when the removal request is based on the reason that the content is false, so there is a possibility that it may not lead to removal. In such cases, there is a method of demanding removal forcibly through a court by filing a provisional disposition. A provisional disposition is a simplified court procedure, and a conclusion is usually reached in about 1 to 2 months. If the conclusion is that it should be removed by the provisional disposition, the operator will comply with this and remove the review. For more details on the provisional disposition seeking the removal of the post, please refer to the article below.

https://monolith.law/reputation/provisional-disposition[ja]

Identifying Posters through Provisional Dispositions

While it may not be common on Hanayume, there may be instances where malicious defamation reviews are posted. In such cases, it is necessary to identify the poster for the purpose of preventing recurrence and claiming damages. The procedure to identify the poster is called a request for disclosure of sender information. In a request for disclosure of sender information, the site operator is first asked to disclose the IP address and timestamp corresponding to the problematic review. This information is then used to identify the Internet Service Provider (ISP) used for the post. Next, a civil lawsuit procedure is initiated to request the ISP, which has a contract with the poster, to disclose the poster’s personal information. We provide a detailed explanation of the request for disclosure of sender information in the article below.

https://monolith.law/reputation/disclosure-of-the-senders-information[ja]

Note that posting a review on Hanayume requires registration of your name, phone number, and email address. Therefore, it is also possible to request Hanayume to disclose the registered personal information through a lawsuit procedure. However, if the poster has registered false personal information, identification may be difficult, so a request for disclosure of sender information should be carried out concurrently.

Summary

Hanayume is a popular site for couples planning their wedding, and as such, any false reviews or malicious slander posted can significantly impact the revenue of wedding venues. While malicious reviews on Hanayume are rare, it is entirely possible for customers to post reviews with incorrect information. Therefore, it is crucial to thoroughly verify the content of reviews. To promptly proceed with deletion requests or identifying the poster, it is necessary to consult with a legal expert as soon as a problematic review is discovered. Dealing with online slander or reputational damage requires specialized knowledge in IT, so we recommend consulting with a lawyer experienced in this field.

You can learn about how to delete reviews from other wedding-related review sites from the links below.

https://monolith.law/reputation/delete-wedding-park-reputation[ja]