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Yeah I heard about this a week or so ago and couldn’t believe what I was reading!
Can hotel’s really be so short-sighted that they think this is the way to respond? fair enough, some idiot will always post an offensive or deliberately damaging review but that’s what mods are there for.
These people need to realise that the ability of these sites to generate content from user reviews is a game-changer and they need to respond.
The days of a printed Hotel review in a magazine from a travel-writer based on a pre-arranged visit where the very best of everything is laid on for them are looooooong gone. Consumers no longer want and are unwilling to allow ‘some one else‘ to filter or decide what should or shouldn’t be included in a review of a service and they will go to the trouble of posting their own experiences for the benefit of others.
The ability of any company to absolutely control the discussion and perception of it’s brand are gone. Smart companies are learning that they have to engage with their customers (like sheeesh, what a radical idea that was!)and the ones who do well out of that won’t be those who have to be dragged into this century kicking and screaming.
Great post, exactly my thoughts also.
Ha, yes this is great! If we are getting bad reviews do we
a) do better or
b) stop the reviews!Somehow i managed to stay in a bad hotel recently – wonder if they managed to stop the poor reviews or maybe i didnt do enough research.
This is coming into our industry a lot now, ive seen some operators or programs either blatantly refusing to listen or failing to respond or even trying to get content removed.
I just recently wanted to give a bad review on a few doctors that were not taking good enough care of my father, wonder how soon they will jump on this bandwagon of squashing our freedom of speech and warnings!
I assume the ACLU will be getting into this…
If the reviews are real then they should not be crap hotels to get bad reviews, people have a right to know what to expect.
If they are fake then yes, they should be sued. But how do you tell the difference?
The internet is a slippery slope for a lot of business types. You have public reviews, blogs and message boards on just about any topic out there. The internet so far has been able to preserve free speech, everyone can say whatever they want.
This makes it an invaluable source of information, but it’s not going to make all businesses happy. More so than ever, it’s shape up or ship out. Some learn this easily and work towards good reviews, and when 1000 people give good reviews, the one or two malicious reports will be drowned out.
It’s never going to happen that everyone feels the same way about something. Say we both stay in a modern Hotel with red wall paint. You may love it, it may make you feel snug and rested. I may hate it, it may make me feel restless and agitated. We are going to differ on how we think back on our stay there.
So in reviews, you look at it like a democracy first, how many like or dislike something.
Then you want to read some of the bad ones, you can tell right away if you would identify or not. If still interested, read the good ones and see if these things appeal to you too.
This is an invaluable tool, and it applies to us here also. Always research what the affiliates and players in the various messageboards have to say about a program. You will save yourself a lot of money and energy in the long run.
It is very interesting to see how companies use the same set of data so differently. Just shows how some people are in it just to make money and don’t care about customers, while others greatly appreciate their customer’s opinions in order to better themselves.
Quite human to be honest.
As long as there is no slander, libel or other malice then you should be able to write your experiences about a hotel. There’s no way a business can inhibit user feedback (WEB2.0). It’s just not going to happen.
When I go on vacation I always look at the user based reviews. You get some good info that’s relevant to your trip.
Perhaps the entire censorship attempt is for viral marketing? That seems to be the only real result.
It’s not only reviews of hotels of course. It seems that many marketeers/ businesses haven’t understood the internet yet. In previous decades as a marketeer you would make a proposition for your business and position yourself in the market in a certain way. There was no mass feedback that was readily available for any new prospect.
These days a company can market and position itself in a certain way, but the people who are buying your product will now position that product in a much more defining way than marketeers could. Simply by giving feedback and rating your product.
Ebay for example has a great thing with “seller feedback”. Why would you buy off a seller with bad feedback? With hotels its the same, why would you go to a hotel with terrible feedback? (could be the price, but then don’t complain about services).
It seems that these days we are able to get a better feel for a product or service before buying it. We read about consumer feedback about a new camera, a new car, holiday, etc. In the end, we as customers, are able to better judge if a product is suited for us. It’s also much easier to compare these days.
Many marketeers have no real clue about how to deal with this yet. And the ones that do are golden
@RedFox 223921 wrote:
Ebay for example has a great thing with “seller feedback”. Why would you buy off a seller with bad feedback? With hotels its the same, why would you go to a hotel with terrible feedback? (could be the price, but then don’t complain about services).
I was looking for a used Blackberry Bold and found a refurbished one for $250 on E-Bay but the phone was coming from Hong Kong. No way would I have bought the phone if there were not reviews attached with positive experiences from this company.
CUBA – I was heading to Cuba with my Mom and Sister, the travel agent booked a great deal on an all inclusive 3 star hotel right on the water front…long story short my sister did a search on the hotel and flipped out…the bathrooms had rust and mold…cockroaches…lousy beds…PHOTOS and review from hotel guests.
We ended up staying at the National Hotel which had great reviews and loved the place. The internet affords us the opportunity to learn from others mistakes…it’s how we regulate our industry…it’s not perfect but where would we be without it.
Cheers,
