Hoteliers to take their revenge on TripAdvisor's critiques in court - UK Independent

[Happy Trails]

I reckon the hoteliers are on a hiding to nothing with this.

Britain's biggest travel review website, whose critiques of hotels and restaurants can include damning references to Basil Fawlty-style hotel managers, bed bugs and stomach-churning meals, is facing potential legal action from hundreds of hoteliers and restaurateurs who claim their businesses are being damaged by malicious and unfounded reviews.

Hoteliers to take their revenge on TripAdvisor's critiques in court - Home News, UK - The Independent

 

[samh004]

Re: Hoteliers to take their revenge on TripAdvisor's critiques in court - UK Independ

The vast majority of reviews are from real people who have had good or bad experiences, if the website were to close, it’d be the consumer who misses out. I have based a few stays off reviews I’ve found on TripAdvisor and haven’t gone wrong yet because of it.

And I have seen instances on TripAdvisor where a manager of a hotel will individually respond to good and bad reviews, so I’m not sure why the businesses in this case don’t do that?

Oh and if they think they’re being defamed by rivals, surely they should be suing each other, as the site just exists, they aren’t the culprits.

I didn’t realise TripAdvisor was British. Interesting!

 

[NYCguy]

Re: Hoteliers to take their revenge on TripAdvisor's critiques in court - UK Independ

TripAdvisor and sites of its' ilk tend to attract reviews at the extremes of the customer experience, i.e. patrons either gut or gush. SkyTrax suffers from much the same problem. Of course there are customers who are legitimately disgruntled, but there are some classics that appear with astonishing regularity, and almost invariably relate to a passenger/guest not receiving the treatment that they believe they are entitled to.

My perennial favorites are "They didn't have an exit-row for my 6'5 husband, so he was very uncomfortable at the back of the economy cabin for the entire 14 hour flight" or "We told them that it was our wedding anniversary, but there was no champagne, no upgrade to a suite, just a "congratulations" from the staff at the desk", or even "the airline staff re-booked the first class, business class, and gold frequent-flyer passengers before helping those traveling with young children! Apparently you're not important if you're flying economy".

You get the picture. People want a Krug Rosé experience when they've only paid for Chandon NV. If they don't get it, they write scathing reviews on sites like TripAdvisor and SkyTrax. At least TripAdvisor allows reps from the subject of the report the right of reply - SkyTrash reviewers can say whatever they want, even stupid thing like "Qantas business class from Sydney to Darwin was very disappointing, no flat-bed seat, no pajamas, no AVOD". Maybe we should have done a little research before we left for the airport, hmm?

 

[PineappleSkip]

Re: Hoteliers to take their revenge on TripAdvisor's critiques in court - UK Independ

TripAdvisor and sites of its ilk tend to attract reviews at the extremes of the customer experience, i.e. patrons either gut or gush.

Yes, thats so, however I've come to use tripadvisor a great deal because I've found it very reliable particularly where there are a lot of reviews for a city.

The would be lawsuit people might have a case in relation to the 'hotels from hell' emails which tripadvisor regularly sends out, although I'd hope the defence of truth is available to defamation claims in the UK.

Those who have the one off bad stay are usually easy to pick as are the implausibly gushy reviews. There is a graph with the spread of reviews and that is also helpful - I'd be wary where almost all of the reviews are five star ratings.

There are a huge number of us there who can see the value of adding to the knowledge base and post their stays - good and bad - regularly. I think you'll find most of my reviews rate hotels in the middle, consistent with most of my experiences ranging between ordinary and unmemorable. And I'd encourage AFFers to rate hotels on such websites - most would stay in hotels a lot and have very realistic expectations, hence reliable reviews.

People want a Krug Rosé experience when they've only paid for Chandon NV.

Gimme that Krug experience. I deserve it!!! And I thought that was the essence of bargain hunting.

Cheers skip

 

[NYCguy]

Re: Hoteliers to take their revenge on TripAdvisor's critiques in court - UK Independ

Gimme that Krug experience. I deserve it!!! And I thought that was the essence of bargain hunting.

But you'd never book an AU$900 SYD/LAX/SYD return flight and expect the best seat in the house, would you Skip?

 

[brett-au]

Re: Hoteliers to take their revenge on TripAdvisor's critiques in court - UK Independ

My thought on Trip advisor is more to get helpful hints. Eg, don't stay on the 6th floor as its under heavy renovation, i stayed in room 914 and had a lovely view of the river or this hotel has a bus stop right out side, but the buses only come every hour.

I usually ignore things like - the place was crawling with bugs and the sheets weren't changed every day, especially when it was from someone who obviously didn't realise that staying in tropical qld is likely to have its fair share of bugs and sheets really don't need to be changed daily.

 

[misstam]

Re: Hoteliers to take their revenge on TripAdvisor's critiques in court - UK Independ

My thought on Trip advisor is more to get helpful hints. Eg, don't stay on the 6th floor as its under heavy renovation, i stayed in room 914 and had a lovely view of the river or this hotel has a bus stop right out side, but the buses only come every hour..

Same, I've found Trip Advisor particularly helpful with overseas stays to get a better gauge of what's presented on the hotel's website - one of my best hotel experiences was from taking a tip to upgrade to executive floor (Bangkok Pullman) - express check in, exec lounge with free coughtails & canapes, welcome gifts... ahh

 

[Postcode]

Re: Hoteliers to take their revenge on TripAdvisor's critiques in court - UK Independ

I use Tripadvisor on a very regular basis. Daily. It is useful.

There's not a lot of user feedback elsewhere. I like my hotel to have user experiences posted but I find I discount whinging whining Americans who complain about the lack of fresh towels every few hours or the size of the soap in their bargain two star hotel.

A look on the forums will show every page or so asking for the best hotel in Paris with a view of the Eiffel Tower and five minutes from Montmartre, can they watch American sports on French TVs, do they show American TV, do they have internet access in France, and can they use American dollars at restaurants and it gets more bizarre. Good entertainment really.

However consistent negative reviews should be taken with consideration as should positive reviews.

 

[PineappleSkip]

Re: Hoteliers to take their revenge on TripAdvisor's critiques in court - UK Independ

But you'd never book an AU$900 SYD/LAX/SYD return flight and expect the best seat in the house, would you Skip?

Nah. I wouldn't buy Y and expect F. But I'm sure I deserve at least J:!:

Looking at the emoticons I think we need one for "Mr Hopeful"...


Cheers skip

 

[drron]

Re: Hoteliers to take their revenge on TripAdvisor's critiques in court - UK Independ

I used to be a regular TA poster but now only occasionally visit.I would not choose a hotel on TA reviews.I will however look at the reviews of the hotel I have chosen to make sure there are no issues.I ignore the staff were crazy,no complimentary champagne type reviews but will take note of things such as renovations in progress.I pay no regard to their ranking-sorry most TA reviewers are looking for cheap.I remember when they had a Best Western as the best hotel in NYC-PLLLease.
Restaurant reviews are another to take with the proverbial grain of salt.Just stayed in the Napa Valley and a couple of cheap pizza places ranked before the French Laundry.Sorry some may regard them as better value but better quality-no way.
On the other hand there are some great posters on TA who are very helpful-you just have to read a while and find who you trust.

 

[anat0l]

Re: Hoteliers to take their revenge on TripAdvisor's critiques in court - UK Independ

Whilst there can be no perfect system, as seasoned travellers most of us are aware of the "irrationality" that may be out there, so we all read TripAdvisor with grains of salt, and we mostly know how to handle it.

Unfortunately, even for people like us, it can take much longer than desirable to digest that information and finally come to a decision as to whether a property will suit or not (perhaps this process is somewhat pruned by chain loyalty).

For others who are not well versed in travel, they have a different kind of reliance on sites like TripAdvisor which we view as unhealthy. Not only are they the ones that can post uppity or irrational reviews, but they are also the ones who read them and take them as is.

Let's not forget that a lot of good reviews can be easily destroyed by one bad review; reputations can be tarnished by one bad review. I'm not saying everyone thinks like this, but don't be surprised at how much it does happen. This site is no exception, although somewhat to a lesser extent.

Nevertheless, I don't see how the hoteliers have a strong case in this regard. They would have to onerously prove that the reviews are irrational and then they had an effect on the premises. Even if a review was only partly true (i.e. exaggerated, but "base fact" is true), one could argue that should result in some loss of business - to what extent is another grey area.

I guess you could eliminate all bias by having reviews uploaded and verified by using true identification, e.g. a real picture of someone, attached to a Facebook account, each review verified by copy of folio, etc.. Of course, these all have privacy compromising implications, so not desirable options, plus it's true that a lot of people feel they can vent or what not under the veil of anonymity and get away with it.

And let's not start with businesses smearing others with bogus stays using the same veil....


FWIW I don't post on TripAdvisor (even though I have been asked to) and don't intend to. Yes, that may hide some deservedly good reviews, but so be it. When I read TripAdvisor to get ideas on other properties, it's a painful exercise at best to compare across hotels, the number of reviews on each and the tone of reviews, because not all of them are necessarily throw-away irrational.

 

[notzac]

Re: Hoteliers to take their revenge on TripAdvisor's critiques in court - UK Independ

I agree with drron - TA is great for a very general overview, but best taken with a large salt lick. I've come across some excellent hotels that I might have otherwise not considered because of TA, but the reviews are mostly only good for their entertainment value..

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Re: Hoteliers to take their revenge on TripAdvisor's critiques in court - UK Independ

TripAdvisor and sites of its' ilk tend to attract reviews at the extremes of the customer experience, i.e. patrons either gut or gush. SkyTrax suffers from much the same problem. Of course there are customers who are legitimately disgruntled, but there are some classics that appear with astonishing regularity, and almost invariably relate to a passenger/guest not receiving the treatment that they believe they are entitled to.

While yes their are reviews like that if you read the reviews with a "grain of salt" you can soon pick the:

* ones as you describe who have had unrealistic expectations
* ones written by hotel owner/staff pretending to be guests

I look for reviews by people that have travelled a bit and have written a number of replies and not just one of "vengence is mine" rants.


The site balances the "glossy" hotels own site and brings up bot the good (ie handy to Tube, deli nearby is great etc) and the bad (watch out for nightclub going to 3am with duf duf music etc).


And as mentioned owner/staff do write reviews. I was staying at one hotel in Vietnam (booked by someone else I might add) and returned at about 10Pm one night after dinner and on picking up my key from reception observed the two staff at the desk busing writing reviews!!!!!!


However all in all, TripAdvisor is a great resource. Even if I don't book the hotel/guest houses that they have reviews on it will often be most helpful in my selecting which district of a city/location to stay in.

 

[drron]

Re: Hoteliers to take their revenge on TripAdvisor's critiques in court - UK Independ

And the hoteliers have won-
ASA Adjudication on TripAdvisor LLC - Advertising Standards Authority

[h=3]Action[/h]The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told TripAdvisor not to claim or imply that all the reviews that appeared on the website were from real travellers, or were honest, real or trusted.

 

[PineappleSkip]

Re: Hoteliers to take their revenge on TripAdvisor's critiques in court - UK Independ

I Didn't think it was a win just for hoteliers: a win for tripadvisor skeptics, of which plenty here!

I thought it was a delicious result, albeit rather limited in scope...

Cheers skip

 

[JohnM]

Re: Hoteliers to take their revenge on TripAdvisor's critiques in court - UK Independ

No surprise and probably a good thing that unsubstantiated claims by TA about the sources of its information are reined in.

It is always important to be circumspect and not take TA reviews literally. They are merely a general guide - as alluded to by many of the previous posters.

In general, I have come to the conclusion that most people who post accommodation and restaurant reviews on sites like TA have unrealistic expectations and too much time on their hands - probably from watching too much TV...