Since May 28, 2022 (Section 3, Paragraph 3 of the German Unfair Competition Act (UWG), new version), companies that publicly display reviews must disclose whether and how they ensure that the published reviews come from consumers who have actually purchased or used the reviewed goods and services. Even before the amendment to the UWG, Pixum implemented measures to ensure that published product reviews come only from genuine Pixum customers.
Verifying the Authenticity of Reviews
Pixum only invites customers who have actually designed and purchased one of Pixum's photo products to submit a product review. The review request is sent by invitation via a standardized email that Pixum sends to the email address used for the order. No further requests for product reviews are sent. To ensure the authenticity and legitimacy of the reviews, they cannot be submitted anonymously. The email address used for the purchase always serves as a verifiable reference for submitting a review.
Every customer is asked to submit a product review to Pixum within 7 days of placing an order. This product review invitation is sent only once within 90 days, regardless of whether the customer has placed multiple orders with Pixum during that time.
If customers are asked to submit a shop review via the external service providers Trusted Shops or Trustpilot, the burden of proof for authenticity lies with the respective service provider. As described in Section 3, Paragraph 3 of the German Unfair Competition Act (UWG) (new version), this service provider must also ensure, through its own measures, that a review is conducted and the authenticity of the reviews is verified.
Pixum and its service providers for shop reviews, Trusted Shops, and Trustpilot, do not offer any advantages, special conditions, discounts, or other incentives for submitting a positive review or retracting a negative one.
Rating Calculation Based on Star Ratings
Every experience related to purchasing Pixum photo products can be rated with up to 5 stars. A final rating is then calculated as the simple average of all product reviews submitted. Customers can also share their experiences in their own words in the comments section.
The rating system is defined as follows:
5 stars: Excellent
4 stars: Good
3 stars: Satisfactory
2 stars: Adequate
1 star: Poor
Once a customer submits a product review, it is published on the Pixum website under the product reviews for the respective product or product group. Pixum only publishes the customer's first name, the star rating, including a description in their own words, and the date of the review. No personal data, such as last names, is published.
Should any irregularities arise in a review, despite the above measures, indicating that it is not based on a genuine customer experience, proof of the review's legitimacy will be requested and reviewed accordingly. If the required documentation fails to prove the purchase of a Pixum photo product, the review will be permanently removed.
