Anybody else do Trip Advisor reviews?

[Pale Rider]

Their provenance is their quantity. If 1,000 people are saying its good, then surely?....

I recently stayed somewhere that lived up to its 5 star review, but didn't write one as I've got nothing more of value to add. So probably works both ways.

Reading 1,000 reviews is surely not an option, an even if you did you would lose track after a few dozen.

You might agree any review - good or bad - more than a couple of years old is not relevant because the staff and the establishment may have changed.

You could look at the graphs, but they take in older reviews and, just as if you mix lots of colours you always get brown, the average is not instructive.

I suppose it might be reasonable to weed out somewhere that's universally slated or aim for somewhere that's universally praised.

But you are still stuck with the fact that all establishments will provide poor service, even if only rarely, and you could be the person to receive it.

I can't be bothered to spend any more time booking a hotel than it takes to sort out location, facilities, price and availability.

Of course. others may have a different view on that.

 

[biggs682]

I think you'll find that points mean prizes.

wahay i wonder what the prizes are

 

[TrishE]

That's not a very good review of your sister!

Ha she's a lovely sister! She has Bonnie's brother, called what else but Clyde and we take the doggies out with us last time eating outside spoons

 

[Dave7]

I'm always on the lookout for places to go which pub is it please?

Its called The Harp at Ness (next to Neston).
Very small and cosy....just 2 rooms. All food is made on the premises although our lasagne was obviously reheated.....but nice.
Staff were friendly.
A pity Im not really a doggy type person.

 

[TrishE]

Its called The Harp at Ness (next to Neston).
Very small and cosy....just 2 rooms. All food is made on the premises although our lasagne was obviously reheated.....but nice.
Staff were friendly.
A pity Im not really a doggy type person.

Thank you I've got family on the Wirral so will make a note of it.

When I was out eating last week a child came up to Bonnie and shouted shoooo so I smiled and said that's exactly how I feel about children sooner eat surrounded by dogs than kids although I do eat out with my own and grandchildren but go to places meant for them with a play area and other kids

 

[Roadhump]

My wife and I recently stayed a couple of nights in a hotel in a small English seaside resort, and had quite a poor experience but decided not to say so on TripAdvisor.

Overnight on our first night the boiler failed resulting in there being no hot water on our first morning. At breakfast we were told that a replacement part had been secured, but had to be collected from the other side of the country, but the fault would be rectified by teatime. I trusted them on this and thought, to be fair, these things happen so paid our bill the evening before departure, as is their policy, without seeking any reduction. Unfortunately, the fault was not rectified and we had no hot water the second morning either.

Whilst this seems to have been out of character for this hotel (it had very good reviews on TA), We were very disappointed by the unfulfilled pledge to resolve things by our second evening, but what really annoyed us was that at breakfast the second morning, staff went round asking people if they were staying that evening, and if they were they were being given a free meal by way of compensation. When we were asked and said we were leaving that morning, the staff member, clearly stressed out by the fuss of the problem (crisis), just turned away and went to the next table to ask them, without even offering an apology or explanation to us, never mind a free meal or other form of compensation.

We were tempted to ask for some reimbursement, but decided to just get off to our next destination. We did agree to write expressing our disappointment, but never got round to it. We thought about putting an adverse review on TripAdvisor, but at the end of the day we thought we could probably do them a lot of damage by doing so and as it was probably a one-off, and he staff were made even more busy by the hot water problem, the breakfast was really good and it only cost us £70 a night anyway, we decided to leave it, we will just go elsewhere if we ever go back to that part of the world again.

Friends have said we are mugs for leaving it, but at the end of the day, we both feel we did the right thing when all is considered.

 

[Saluki]

But.... Isn't the whole point of TripAdvisor to share experiences (good or bad) to give other potential customers an insight as to what to expect?
I sometimes leave reviews on places I have been. If it's good, I will say so. Similarly if it's bad, as in the Eat and Drink outlet at Cherwell Valley services, then people deserve to be warned before they waste their money!

If a place was truly dreadful, I would say so. I see so many nit picky reviews from people being grotty, we get it a lot at our place. If somewhere was properly awful, I would mention it but, hopefully, not in a horrible way. Some reviews seem unnecessarily vicious.

 

[bruce1530]

I’ve done about a dozen reviews.
9 were 5 star. 1 was 4 star.

One was 3 star - something along the lines of “nice food, but the restaurant smelled of drains”

One was 1 star - food was bland and unpleasant, verging on inedible.

 

[TrishE]

I looked up where I work and one review said that they didn't order food but the picture of a very very popular meal we do looked lovely in the photo but they know that meals don't look like the photo. Seemed a bit harsh considering they didn't see the actual meal especially as it looks just as it is in the picture. Would love to be able to do reviews on some of our customers

 

[stearman65]

Yes I do, only one did i suggest the place should be closed.

 

[PaulSB]

I've written five, four positive and one negative. The positive ones are for when I want to share the experience with others and feel the business deserves praise.

The one negative was for a hotel which used misleading photographs on its website meaning what we expected was far from the reality. The hotel had two different types of building and accommodation but only advertised the very attractive one, the second building which we stayed in was of a much lower standard and totally different style. The website images have now been updated and the text makes clear the differences.

 

[Hill Wimp]

Yes i have done quite a few. They have only been places i have been really pleased with though.

 

[Sandra6]

I do, I've got "trophies" and everything :-)
I do as many good as bad, if I don't have a strong emotion either way i don't bother.

 

[MontyVeda]

When i was doing the internet marketing malarkey and had quite few hoteliers as clients, i always had a good look at their TA reviews and more of than not, they were scathing. I'd mention this to them and they'd say "er, yes... that's something we'd like you to help with" OK, i could fake one or two good reviews on TA, but at the end of the day, how about upping your game? If people are complaining that your bedding is 30 years old, buy new bedding! If people are complaining that you didn't help an elderly couple with their cases up a narrow flight of stairs, or that you tutted when they couldn't find their room because there wasn't a number on the door, or that it'd be nice if you hoovered right up to the edges of the carpets, there's not much I can do to help improve your reviews. I found it quite shocking that people are willing to spend hundreds on SEO but can't be arsed to provide a decent service when a customer walks through the door.

 

[Spinney]

I've read some pretty poor reviews now and then when looking for B&Bs. Some are replied to on the lines of 'if you'd let us know at the time we could have fixed it', but some complaining about rude behaviour, the reply just makes it even more obvious that the complaint was justified. Some people seem to have no idea about customer service...