Ok, to be fair the only reason I even really know about this is because I have been trying to get one of my fav dining establishments more into the social media space and take control of who is saying what, where and why.
When it comes to reviewing restaurants, I have always referred to dineout.co.nz as it has had the best base audience and reviews (in my opinion).
So apparently back in October last year the original peeps who started DineOut entered into a joint venture with an Internet publishing firm, and for whatever reason this joint venture was cancelled in August this year. DineOut went back to its OLD design (which I have to say, was a little ugly) but still had all of the content and was still trucking along. All of a sudden however, we have a new player in the market. DineSmart. Looks exactly like the DineOut site early August but with a new name. When I say "looks exactly like" I mean even the reviews are identical.
Ding ding ding. Round Two
September rolls around and DineOut gets a lovely makeover and sends out an email about the new look site. The newsletter touches on 'ventures we shouldn't have [entered into]' but does not go into detail. They didn't need to. For their users the URL remained the same and while they had about a month of the old site, it didn't really disrupt anything. 2 days after the DineOut newsletter arrived in my inbox, I get a DineSmart newsletter. There is no reference in this newsletter about who DineSmart are or why they are emailing me. While there is an opt-out at the bottom of the email, I never opted IN to receive this email communication. I opted in to receive one from DineOut, but not DineSmart. I really do think a number of people need to take another look at the Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act as many seem to be ignoring it.
So I have been sitting on all of this for a week or so. DineOut seem to be being very generous to restaurant owners allowing them to claim their restaurants and update information where appropriate without charge (as far as I can tell). I think this is smart, the better the information on the venues, the better it is for the owners as well as the site. Nothing worse than reading that somewhere opens at 7.30am only to find it is now 9am. From what I have been told by a restaurant owner, on DineSmart you do have to pay to claim your venue...
Ding ding ding. Round Three.
Today I get an email from DineOut. Without going into too much detail about what/where/why/who & how they answered a number of questions which must have come from their users, explaining why DineSmart are using their content and what can be done (i.e you can request to have your reviews removed) if you are unhappy with what is going on. To be honest, I have asked that my reviews be removed from the DineSmart site. I am not trying to take anything away from the restaurants which I have reviewed (I am a very nice reviewer) however I think what DineSmart have done is bad Internet etiquette. Its basically poaching content. The email that DineOut sent today was good I thought. They were standing up for themselves without telling tales and obviously addressing specific questions they have received...
Ding ding ding. Round Four.
So I get a response from DineSmart re. my request to have my reviews removed. These guys have got their backs up. I'm assuming they have had more than my request to take down reviews. They state that the situation was out of their control (actually, I think it probably was their decision to load up identical content i.e. my reviews, without asking my permission) and then go into something of a slinging match blaming the original people behind DineOut; "... effectively removing the website URL, database and reviews in the middle of the night." Honestly, that has nothing to do with me, and I am not sure why I have been told it. They go as far to say that they have made no attempt to misrepresent themselves as DineOut...
vs. 
and "refute any allegation that we have acted in an illegal or improper manner". On the defence much? DineOut have not said anything negative about what happened other than it didn't work out, I find the DineSmart reaction to all of this disappointing, and I know what site I will continue to visit.
