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To start a thread about ridiculous trip advisor reviews?

167 replies

Coralnails · 03/01/2019 13:11

I'm currently looking for a holiday so of course I'm reading trip adviser reviews.

I can't believe how many people leave poor reviews over the stupidest of things.

Quite a lot will leave bad reviews when they haven't even stayed at the place, but they've taken the hump because it was fully booked or a tour operator mixed up the bookings.

Or complaining about the weather, as if that's the hotels fault.

One that made me cry with laughter was the one who complained that no one spoke English well - in Spain.

Another left a hotel one star because they tv remote was faulty and they could hear someone from the kitchen putting the recycling out throughout the day. Apparently everything else was great, but they felt those two minor complaints warranted a terrible review.

OP posts:
wink1970 · 03/01/2019 14:19

my local pub (16th century) sometimes gets reviews for 'being old and dark' or 'not being very modern'. The owner's really good at replies, he's turned them into an art form!

DontCallMeCharlotte · 03/01/2019 14:20

I read one that marked a guest house down because the owner was wearing double denim. And your point is? Grin

Not Tripadvisor but similar, where you could grade the breakfast separately, I was the bemused recipient of a mere one star. I had offered a full cooked-to-order menu but all the lady wanted was tea and toast. I was able to offer a choice of teas along with a choice of white, wholemeal or granary toast. With homemade marmalade and jam. Given I didn't burn said toast, I genuinely have no idea what justified the loss of the rest of the stars.

(and I had to listen to her emotional outpourings about her daughter who'd just had a baby for half an hour, like I had nothing better to do. I should have spat in her tea.)

Ilovetolurk · 03/01/2019 14:22

I read one where they were complaining about a cockerel crowing in the morning

Oh dear this could be me Blush

In fairness the twatting thing woke me up incessantly at 5.30 a.m. for a week

Better to know about it so you can buy earplugs/ book poolview room

arranbubonicplague · 03/01/2019 14:23

You'd expect it to be cold in the Arctic circle in October, yes?

Reminds me of the fabulous Helsinki airport sign:

Nobody in their right mind would come to Helsinki in November.

Except you, you badass. Welcome.

www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/finland/helsinki/articles/helsinki-welcomes-winter-visitors-with-badass-sign/

Dorris83 · 03/01/2019 14:27

We stayed at the Peacock in Bakewell a few years ago. It is a pub with rooms/apartments in the village.

If I had read the reviews and the owner's responses to the reviews we wouldn't have stayed there. The owner responds to nearly every review (I don't know where he finds the time) with very personal responses. Anything less than a 5 star review gets slated and any criticism is roundly denied.

From what I can see, the food is good but the rooms/apartments aren't great. We couldnt get a reservation to eat there so we were underwhelmed by the whole experience. We left a 3 star review with details about why we gave that score. The owner responded with an outraged reply. It wasn't a good stay!

It's a great read though. www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g209968-d1026156-Reviews-The_Peacock_Bakewell-Bakewell_Peak_District_National_Park_England.html

MarthaArthur · 03/01/2019 14:27

Not trip advisor but i work in a bike parts shop. We got a complaint and bad review once because someone was unhappy with our customers who apparently were rude to his kids. Outside the shop. Before the shop was even open. Apparently its our responsibility to sort this out Confused

cjt110 · 03/01/2019 14:28

Saw these many years ago... Still make me chuckle:

1: "I think it should be explained in the brochure that the local store does not sell proper biscuits like custard creams or ginger nuts."

2: "We booked an excursion to a water park but no-one told us we had to bring our swimming costumes and towels."

3: "The beach was too sandy."

4: "On my holiday to Goa in India, I was disgusted to find that almost every restaurant served curry. I don't like spicy food at all."

5: A tourist at a top African Game Lodge over looking a water hole, who spotted a visibly aroused elephant, complained that the sight of this rampant beast ruined his honeymoon by making him feel "inadequate".

Custard Cream biscuits (Dreamstime)
Custard Cream biscuits (Dreamstime)

5: A tourist at a top African Game Lodge over looking a water hole, who spotted a visibly aroused elephant, complained that the sight of this rampant beast ruined his honeymoon by making him feel "inadequate".

6: "It's lazy of the local shopkeepers to close in the afternoons. I often needed to buy things during 'siesta' time - this should be banned."

7: A woman threatened to call police after claiming that she'd been locked in by staff. When in fact, she had mistaken the "do not disturb" sign on the back of the door as a warning to remain in the room.

8: "We found the sand was not like the sand in the brochure. Your brochure shows the sand as yellow but it was white."

Do not disturb sign (Dreamstime)
Do not disturb sign (Dreamstime)

9: A guest at a Novotel in Australia complained his soup was too thick and strong. He was inadvertently slurping the gravy at the time.

10: "We bought 'Ray-Ban' sunglasses for five Euros from a street trader, only to find out they were fake."

11: "Topless sunbathing on the beach should be banned. The holiday was ruined, as my husband spent all day looking at other women."

12: "No-one told us there would be fish in the sea. The children were startled."

Man selling sunglasses in the street (Dreamstime)
Man selling sunglasses in the street (Dreamstime)

13: "It took us nine hours to fly home from Jamaica to England. It only took the Americans three hours to get home."

14: "I compared the size of our one-bedroom apartment to our friends' three-bedroom apartment and ours was significantly smaller."

15: "I was bitten by a mosquito. No one said they could bite."

16: "The brochure stated: 'No hairdressers at the accommodation'. We're trainee hairdressers - will we be OK staying there?"

Twin bed room (Dreamstime)
Twin bed room (Dreamstime)

17: "There are too many Spanish people. The receptionist speaks Spanish. The food is Spanish. Too many foreigners now live abroad."

18: "My fiancé and I booked a twin-bedded room but we were placed in a double-bedded room. We now hold you responsible for the fact that I find myself pregnant. This would not have happened if you had put us in the room that we booked."

19: "We had to queue outside with no air conditioning."

20: "It is your duty as a tour operator to advise us of noisy or unruly guests before we travel."

These complaints are all taken from a survey from Thomas Cook and ABTA, revealing 20 of the most ridiculous complaints holidaymakers made to their travel agent.

TheFairyCaravan · 03/01/2019 14:29

We went away last year knowing full we'd have a relaxing break in hotel in the middle of nowhere because that was how the hotel was described, however every other TripAdvisor review moaned about the isolated position of the hotel. Someone else complained, at the same time we were there, that the manager was running round the restaurant screaming and shouting. We never saw that at all.

The amount of people who moaned about Cape Verde having nothing to do, also, made me laugh. Why don't people do their research?

We're looking at booking a holiday atm, too, and sifting through the reviews is the worst bit imo

cjt110 · 03/01/2019 14:29

Oh and we stayed somewhere next to a live RAF base. The website even said about it and yet I saw complaints about being woken by jets at 6am.

Sarahjconnor · 03/01/2019 14:30

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

SneakyGremlins · 03/01/2019 14:32

@cjt110 "The children were startled"

borntobequiet · 03/01/2019 14:34

I believe the Pacific Ocean has been poorly reviewed on the grounds it was “too wet”.

mydogisthebest · 03/01/2019 14:36

I stayed somewhere in Sweden and someone had complained they couldn't sleep because it didn't get dark!

TinyBarista · 03/01/2019 14:41

Dorris83 that trip advisor page is gold! Shock Grin

floribunda18 · 03/01/2019 14:42

You have to read between the lines, but I still find TA useful.

User758172 · 03/01/2019 14:42

@OftenHangry
@arranbubonicplague

I’m sure you’ve heard of the chef. He’s a household name. That’s why my DH was so reluctant to complain. But equally, that’s why the restaurant gets booked up months and years in advance. He can afford not to care what we think! But we weren’t complaining about his food - it was superb - only the plate.

When you see him say it on TV, it looks amusing - when you’re actually there paying £75 for the entree, it’s not!

User758172 · 03/01/2019 14:43

@cjt110

Those are brilliant! Grin

scarbados · 03/01/2019 14:44

A local hotel had a bad review because the guests didn't like the colour of the wallpaper in reception.

My favourite was a review of a castle in the Midlands that was slated for being on top of a hill and 'they should have thought about baby buggies when they built it because the corridors are far too narrow to get a twin buggy down'.

ShannonRockallMalin · 03/01/2019 14:49

@Dorris83, that owner’s responses are hilarious! Especially the little ‘inspirational quotes’ he puts at the beginning!

I was looking up opening times for a local supermarket the other day and some Google reviews came up. I realised that loads of the reviews had been left by my DS1 (14) and his friends, commenting on completely bizarre things. Further investigation found that they had reviewed random places around the world they’d never been to just for a laugh e.g. an opticians somewhere that they gave one star because they had a poor selection of sandwiches 😂

I did tell him to remove them btw.

bluebellpillow · 03/01/2019 14:49

That reminds me of the Scottish family who we met in Marrakesh. The mum told me with a straight face that if she'd known the hotel staff were going to be Moroccan she wouldn't have booked it as she finds Moroccan men intimidating.
Every time the call to prayer went (Kotoubia mosque, oldest and most famous) they would scream 'Keep the noise down!!!' and then roar and cackle for ages afterwards on the balcony.

floribunda18 · 03/01/2019 14:50

Bloody hell, if the guy running The Peacock spent half as much time improving the rooms as he does writing aggressive replies to the reviews, the reviews would probably be 5* and he wouldn't have to write them. Please, please, let The Hotel Inspector go there. Imagine the ding dongs!

DarlingNikita · 03/01/2019 14:51

The Peacock manager's replies are jaw-dropping!

KenDoddsDadsDog · 03/01/2019 14:51

There’s a landlord in Bakewell who reviews the guests back. All japes until he went to jail for GBH !

KenDoddsDadsDog · 03/01/2019 14:52

Ha ha cross posted on the Peacock

floribunda18 · 03/01/2019 14:54

I do find the reviews complaining about too much food funny. Does the owner stand there force-feeding you?

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