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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Expecting Trip Advisor reviewers to be fair

83 replies

alsmutko · 09/01/2017 12:38

I know. I'm BU. But I fancy a rant.
Is it fair to blame the hotel, rating it TERRIBLE because it's not in the location you wanted it to be (in one case, near the Eiffel Tower)? Why not look up the hotels location before booking and if your travel company misinformed you, complain to them. Is it fair to complain the reception didn't point out how to get to the beach when the hotel is ON THE FUCKING BEACH? Is it fair to blame the hotel for the resort's restaurant touts? Is it fair to compain about continental breakfasts being served in a Paris hotel? If it's stale bread, tell them THERE AND THEN and ask for something fresher. If you're lacking a pillow TELL THEM, don't get home and moan onTA, and thus spoil your holiday.
Rant over.

OP posts:

EssentialHummus · 09/01/2017 13:06

I think there's a thread in Classics about this (The thickos of TripAdvisor?).

TA is really flawed. Firstly, anyone can post about any venue, including the proprietor's 25 aunties and the bloke who's cheesed off because he wasn't a guest and they wouldn't let him use the WiFi for free (a real example).

I still use it, in two ways. 1, if a bunch of unrelated people all complain about the receptionists, cleanliness, whatever, I'll start to take notice. 2, if Gary from Birmingham complains that there was no nightlife nearby and no English breakfasts and the only thing for lunch was this weird-looking giant pan with rice, clams and a lobster sticking out of it, I'll be in like a shot.

MorrisZapp · 09/01/2017 13:07

I agree user. I hate complaining, it ruins the atmosphere and I'm there to relax, not practice my assertiveness skills.

Wex · 09/01/2017 13:09

I was browsing holidays yesterday. I was struck by how many reviewers were complaining about aspects of their holiday which were nothing to do with the hotel. Often they blamed the tour operator while in fact they were just ignorant of how all hotel and flights work.
The flight, the transfer time, the fact that they had to check out at mid day but their flight was at 1am. The reason your holiday was cheap is because of the crap flight and inconvenience. If that matters to you as it does to me, you choose your flight carefully and you pay £100s more.

FuzzyOwl · 09/01/2017 13:09

I remember reading reviews about hotels in Venice, when I was researching where to stay, and someone marked one down because there wasn't a car park. Not sure how they planned to get their car to the middle of Venice!

wasonthelist · 09/01/2017 13:10

YABU if you expect almost anything to be "fair".

I agree with MorrisZapp about not being under any obligation to provide free (and probably unwanted and pointless) advice to hotels about basic shortcomings.

Also these reviews are priceless for being able to work out what fellow travellers/guests might be like and what their expectations (however daft or reasonable they might be) are.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/mumsnet_classics/1174221-Thickos-on-TripAdvisor

FuzzyOwl · 09/01/2017 13:11

And yes to Amazon reviews as well. I've seen a product be given one star because it didn't arrive and they had to order a replacement, which the person went on to comment worked really well and was a fantastic product.

RockyBird · 09/01/2017 13:13

An idiot work colleague of mine wrote a long complaint letter to Thomas Cook following a family holiday to Magaluf. It's years ago now and I can't remember all the fabulous details but the highlights for me were her complaint that the hotel wasn't as close as she'd been led to believe to the McDonalds and there were too many Spanish people at their resort.

Wex · 09/01/2017 13:14

I've noticed that on Amazon. I think people think they are reviewing the service as on EBay rather than the product.

user1480946351 · 09/01/2017 13:14

I find them really helpful. If a certain type of person hates the place, I know there is a good chance I'll like it. And it might put off other people of that type.
Win win.

wasonthelist · 09/01/2017 13:15

I once stayed at a hotel in Lewes partly to see if it was really as bad the Tripadvisor reviews - it wasn't, but nearly.

MetalMidget · 09/01/2017 13:17

I always check a reviewer's other reviews - if they've only ever left negative ones, it's an immediate ignore (or I read for a giggle).

My in-laws are buggers for this - they'll never leave positive reviews of places they've enjoyed, only negative ones (which tends to be more common).

When they're ranting about a place that has uniformly good reviews, I can help but think, "Maybe it's you?"...

EliCon · 09/01/2017 13:18

I think some people just hide their own failure in choosing and having grand expectations of average places.

MycatsaPirate · 09/01/2017 13:18

Some people are just stupid.

Many years ago I went to the Dominican Republic in October. It was hot, really hot. Because you know, it's in the carribean.

There was one uk flight a week in and out. The day we got there a family from Newcastle also arrived. Mum, dad and two boys aged about 2 and 4. All four family members were in their Newcastle United football tops. They moaned incessantly about the heat from the minute they got there. Said they didn't expect it to be that hot. Then demanded to be put on the next flight home (they were meant to be there for 2 weeks). Absolutely fuming that there were no flights to the UK for another week.

Still wore their fucking football tops for about three days though. Black nylon in 40 degree heat.

Mynestisfullofempty · 09/01/2017 13:19

There are some funny people about. How about the ones who answer questions on Amazon about the products with "I don't know, I haven't got one" and similar? I can't work out how their minds work.

Viviennemary · 09/01/2017 13:20

If it's a silly review then sensible people will ignore it. I quite enjoy reading the bad reviews. They are much more interesting than the good ones.

cherryblossomcarpet · 09/01/2017 13:21

Booking.com is fairer, as at least you now the reviewer was actually a guest. Anyone can write anything on tripadvisor including business rivals, bitter ex-employees who have been sacked etc. I own a tourist business and I'm sick of TA. It s very hard to get a review taken down, although we have, where we have proved the reviewer had not been a guest.

Streuth · 09/01/2017 13:22

Why are you swearing OP. You are the one who sounds unpleasant.

GeekLove · 09/01/2017 13:23

I tend to take the reviews with a bag of salt. Some of the negative ones are more due to a lack of managing expecations 'the hotel complex was too big' - there are 2000 rooms there what do you expect. Or a classic one was 'not enough waiters on the beach' bit of a First World Problem.
But if the same complaints are present even in positive reviews I'll take more notice.

user1480946351 · 09/01/2017 13:24

Why are you swearing OP. You are the one who sounds unpleasant

What the fuck has swearing got to do with being pleasant?

HelenaGWells · 09/01/2017 13:28

But these kind of bad reviews don't do the business any harm, because anyone reading them can see that the business wasn't at fault.

They do though as a low star review affects a hotels overall star rating which is often the bit that people look at.

It's always happened that people complain about batshit crazy things it's just that trip advisor makes it more public when previously it would just be the hotels themselves and the travel agents who would get it.

Knowing people in the travelk industry I can tell you that complaining about the hotel being in the wrong place is frequent as if the hotel randomly moved itself 3 streets away between booking and arrival to piss off a customer. Another common one is too many germans in germany and too much french food in france (and other country equivalents) They also get a LOT based around cultural things eg why can't we go into a mosque in a bikini.

Stupid people are stupid and always have been but these days the internet means we all share in the stupidity.

Zarachristmas · 09/01/2017 13:33

There was one I read recently where someone left one star because they booked a swim up room but they didn't get sun on the terrace at the time they enjoyed eating lunch.

Everything else was great, clean, comfortable and nice food. But they couldn't eat their lunch in the sun at the time they wanted.

Mynestisfullofempty · 09/01/2017 13:33

HelenaGWells Well I always look at the worst reviews for any business rather than just the number of stars.

Lovelybangers · 09/01/2017 13:38

I use Trip Advisor a lot - both for reviews and information from the forums.

If I see a negative review from a 1st time poster I take it with a pinch of salt. Most people do post negatively - they don't praise.

I try and review all hotels and restaurants - good and bad.

But yes, people really are stupid.

user1480946351 · 09/01/2017 13:47

Most people do post negatively - they don't praise

That clearly isn't true. If you look at any business on TA, almost always the positives vastly outweigh the negatives. Most reviews are positive.

purplemunkey · 09/01/2017 13:49

I also look at the content of the bad reviews rather than just the average star rating. A lot of the time it's silly/irrelavant stuff like pps have mentioned or things that wouldn't bother me.

Disagree about Amazon a bit though as you're not always buying directly from Amazon and the seller's rating is important. I've decided not to order after reading reviews such as 'I ordered this colour/type but received this instead, seller does not respond' 'took over three weeks to arrive' etc etc.

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