I must say, I have never been happy using Trip Advisor, because their reviewer's are not required to stay in a hotel to leave a review. Recent articles in the UK press and a television documentary have exposed, some their reviews, as untrustworthy. I mean the fact that you don’t have to stay in a hotel to leave a review is insane. I have been in the travel and hospitality industry for many years and I have never trusted Trip Advisor for this reason.
The problem now is that there are far too many crazies actually writing favourable or unfavourable reviews. In some cases, I have heard of customers actually trying to bribe hotels for a discount or they will leave an unfavourable review, unbelievable! I am sure there are also unscrupulous hotel proprietors likewise, leaving favourable reviews to attract unsuspecting clients. I think, at the end of the day, we need to know for a fact that we can trust a review, whether good or bad. I for one certainly do not want to read a review about a hotel from someone that has not even stayed there!
You have to take into account that you will always have people with unrealistic expectations, but if the reviews are genuine, you will pick up a trend. If everyone complains about the hotel room being dirty for example, or the management being rude, I think we will get the message. That is what we want credible, honest reviews so we can make an informed decision.
Whatever happens we need and want websites that we can trust. I do not understand why Trip Advisor does not stop this practice and insist that reviewers have used the service or products that they are reviewing. I mean, if I only listened to other people’s comments and views of the budget airline Ryan Air and I wrote a review, without using the service that would be unfair, inaccurate and unacceptable. As it happens, I actually use Ryan Air and I think it offers good value on certain routes. I hate the additional charges like the credit or debit card rip-off at the end though, but that’s another topic.
Come on Trip Advisor, get your act together! We want to trust all your reviews, review your policies and start generating genuine reviews please.
The problem now is that there are far too many crazies actually writing favourable or unfavourable reviews. In some cases, I have heard of customers actually trying to bribe hotels for a discount or they will leave an unfavourable review, unbelievable! I am sure there are also unscrupulous hotel proprietors likewise, leaving favourable reviews to attract unsuspecting clients. I think, at the end of the day, we need to know for a fact that we can trust a review, whether good or bad. I for one certainly do not want to read a review about a hotel from someone that has not even stayed there!
You have to take into account that you will always have people with unrealistic expectations, but if the reviews are genuine, you will pick up a trend. If everyone complains about the hotel room being dirty for example, or the management being rude, I think we will get the message. That is what we want credible, honest reviews so we can make an informed decision.
Whatever happens we need and want websites that we can trust. I do not understand why Trip Advisor does not stop this practice and insist that reviewers have used the service or products that they are reviewing. I mean, if I only listened to other people’s comments and views of the budget airline Ryan Air and I wrote a review, without using the service that would be unfair, inaccurate and unacceptable. As it happens, I actually use Ryan Air and I think it offers good value on certain routes. I hate the additional charges like the credit or debit card rip-off at the end though, but that’s another topic.
Come on Trip Advisor, get your act together! We want to trust all your reviews, review your policies and start generating genuine reviews please.
I agree I saw the documentary that you are referring to and I have for a long time been suspicious of these reviews. I did not realise that you did not have to stay at a hotel to leave a review that is silly. I actually had a hotel asking us to leave a favourable review which i thought was very cheeky indeed. We need to be able to trust reviews, we should force trip Advisor to change their policies, need to get people behind a movement that is the only way, people power. I am sure lots of hotels abuse this system as well. Oh well let’s see what happens. Uilleam
ReplyDeleteWell I am a hotel worker and we give out a share your experience cards to our guests who say they had a brilliant stay with us and encourage to leave a review on tripadvisor...it palys a great role currently on how our potential guests choose where to stay...Tripadvisor is definitely on scrunity by media and authority alike...you are right there is no way to verify whether reviewer had actually stayed in aparticular hotel they are writing a review about...there are few questions to be answered...lets see
ReplyDeleteI use customers reviews as I feel that it at least gives an idea of what people have experienced. I must say I have not used Trip Advisor as I was warned a long time ago about these practices. The booking sites I use have actual reviews by customers that have stayed far more credible I think.
ReplyDelete