Kids' camp at River Valley shophouse where fire killed girl, 10, allegedly 'attacked' by negative reviews online
A kids' camp at the River Valley shophouse where a fire killed a 10-year-old girl in April is allegedly under "attack" by negative Google reviews online.
This was what the Newtonshow camp told Stomp in response to accusations made by Stomper S.
The Stomper, who said his child used to go to Newtonshow, had told Stomp: "I think they are using fake five-star reviews to boost their rating since the fire.
"I've been reading how unresponsive they are to the family of the deceased. Nor have they seem to have given any public apology. I'm not super sure what goes on behind the scenes, so it's just my guess."
The Stomper also pointed out that recently, Newtonshow has been "perpetually" offering 20 per cent off.
"So I'm guessing business is not good," he said.
"I was just curious about the reviews recently whether they have improved, but to my surprise, there are random five stars to counteract the one star that they cannot remove."
He alleged that the five-star reviews were paid for.
"I did some digging and found the reviews to be left by random people with zero reviews all in the span of one week," said the Stomper.
"I highly doubt this is an accident and it is something the management has instructed someone to do. I feel this is very inappropriate! Especially given what has transpired with the fire and the girl's death."
Freya Ji Yinan, an Australian, died in hospital after the fire broke out in the shophouse at 278 River Valley Road on April 8.
The shophouse is the address of Newtonshow and Tomato Cooking School, both owned by Orange Mood Group.
The Singapore Civial Defence Force (SCDF) said on April 9: "Preliminary findings are that the fire likely originated from an area used for storage on the second storey of the three-storey shophouse. Investigations into the cause of the fire are ongoing."
SCDF added that it also found fire safety noncompliance, including unauthorised works involving the erection of partitions within the premises.
On April 24, Newtonshow posted on its social media: "Over the past weeks, we've taken strong steps to enhance fire safety across all our locations."
It listed what had been done, including SCDF inspections and a fire safety review.
In response to a Stomp query, a spokesperson for Newtonshow said on June 17: "Currently, we're having peak season and many kids per week in our camps with many events conducted.
"We constantly ask parents to review the camps and events they visited. Now is the local school holiday season and we are receiving the usual number of reviews.
"We can confirm we are having 20 per cent off. Yes, anything wrong with this?
"We can also confirm that we contacted Freya's family and fully support the investigation."
The spokesperson added: "We can also confirm that the person who contacted you is one of the organisers or participants in the attack we received in all our Google points earlier this year.
"All the reviews they left were removed by Google under 'harassment' policy violation after our report. They left a total of more than 100 negative reviews for different locations but were not connected to the locations at all.
"We are reserving our right to take legal action against this massive reviews attack organised by the person."
The Stomper denied Newtonshow's accusations.
"I'm not an organiser or participant of any Google point attacks," said the Stomper.
"Just one of the concerned parents who had nothing to do with the fire incident."
