Reviews and various management responses

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JBloggs

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If you have seen a TA negative review and a mgmt response you either liked or hated, feel free to post it here.
TA tweeted something today for VA Beach and I clicked and saw this bad review and mgmt response. Guests mentioned mice, response mentioned more than mice.
Click here
 
Ug, can we please not give this junk more links than they already have??? Is it possible to cut and paste the review/response rather than linking?
 
I didn't see a mgmt response posted for the mouse review. Am I missing something?
 
I want to give others an oppty to see what is a good response and what could be a bad response. I didn't post the link viewable.
 
I would like to report that I received an email from Bedandbreakfast.com that they also received the bad review from the guest who wanted to cancel last minute with no payment. They would not post it, they said, as the guest had not stayed at my inn.
At least they check them first, and think of both sides. I wish TripAdvisor had some ethics instead of looking for sensationalism.
RIki
 
I would like to report that I received an email from Bedandbreakfast.com that they also received the bad review from the guest who wanted to cancel last minute with no payment. They would not post it, they said, as the guest had not stayed at my inn.
At least they check them first, and think of both sides. I wish TripAdvisor had some ethics instead of looking for sensationalism.
RIki.
egoodell said:
I would like to report that I received an email from Bedandbreakfast.com that they also received the bad review from the guest who wanted to cancel last minute with no payment. They would not post it, they said, as the guest had not stayed at my inn.
I love that about bb.com...guest has to provide proof of stay for a poor review. AND, if you use their review widget, you can choose not to show the poor reviews on your site. PLUS, they make it far easier for guests to post reviews...no being forced to open an account. That would be why we have 100 bb.com reviews and 54 on TA.
When my false review was posted, everyone took it down for me. BB.com because the guest never stayed, and TA because either a) I told them bb.com would not post it ...or b) because guest reviewed us as tho he HAD stayed, but didn't. ILove Inns also removed it from their site for me. I could swear that, at the time, TA had in their guidelines that you could not post a review based solely on telephone or email conversations.
 
Some of the WORST mgmt responses I have ever seen were posted by a former member of this forum.........
 
Okay, I just heard from Virtual Tourist. They are operating as Yelp used to in the old days, until Yelp realized they would not get very far operating only from one side and now allow responses. In a nutshell, they don't allow me to respond as they say it is "advertising for my hotel" (I guess she didn't really read my email as I'm a two room B&B).
She suggested I send others to review me to bury the bad review. Oh yeah, I'm going to help them get better positioning? Do their advertising for them? Thank goodness this website is not a popular one.
Here is her response to my request to answer the bad review who never stayed here:

"Thanks for writing to us to express your concerns with our site.
I understand from your email that you would like to respond to this review to express your side of the story on our site. In maintaining our reputation as a travel website for real people to share real experiences with the world, we do not permit people to join as or speak on behalf of businesses, such as a hotel, because it is considered advertising. Businesses who wish to advertise on our site do so by purchasing banners, links, etc. and it would be unfair to welcome other businesses to advertise in any manner, whether it be in the forums, in tips, or even being present as a member. Aside from that, welcoming a business to join would mislead the rest of the membership who joined on the basis that they wouldn’t be subjected to advertising from other members throughout the site.
I do have a recommendation for you, as many other hotel owners have approached us and found success in an alternative method. Rather than responding to the review yourself, it is better to ask your more satisfied guests to post positive reviews of their experiences. The general direction to follow is to assume that the more positive reviews you receive on our site, the better your potential guests will feel about booking with your hotel and the single bad review that you mention below will grow smaller in terms of the credibility it receives, which will in turn cause potential guests to realize that this one bad review is not a good representation of your hotel. The best approach is always to overcome with great customer service, which is what I’m sure your hotel exhibits every day.
Again, thank you for writing and we wish you the best of luck.
Hoping to help,
DanielDiNicola
VT Staff

I told her I was not about to promote her website in any way, thank you.

RIki
 
I would like to report that I received an email from Bedandbreakfast.com that they also received the bad review from the guest who wanted to cancel last minute with no payment. They would not post it, they said, as the guest had not stayed at my inn.
At least they check them first, and think of both sides. I wish TripAdvisor had some ethics instead of looking for sensationalism.
RIki.
egoodell said:
I would like to report that I received an email from Bedandbreakfast.com that they also received the bad review from the guest who wanted to cancel last minute with no payment. They would not post it, they said, as the guest had not stayed at my inn.
I love that about bb.com...guest has to provide proof of stay for a poor review. AND, if you use their review widget, you can choose not to show the poor reviews on your site. PLUS, they make it far easier for guests to post reviews...no being forced to open an account. That would be why we have 100 bb.com reviews and 54 on TA.
When my false review was posted, everyone took it down for me. BB.com because the guest never stayed, and TA because either a) I told them bb.com would not post it ...or b) because guest reviewed us as tho he HAD stayed, but didn't. ILove Inns also removed it from their site for me. I could swear that, at the time, TA had in their guidelines that you could not post a review based solely on telephone or email conversations.
.
Little Blue said:
egoodell said:
I would like to report that I received an email from Bedandbreakfast.com that they also received the bad review from the guest who wanted to cancel last minute with no payment. They would not post it, they said, as the guest had not stayed at my inn.
I love that about bb.com...guest has to provide proof of stay for a poor review. AND, if you use their review widget, you can choose not to show the poor reviews on your site. PLUS, they make it far easier for guests to post reviews...no being forced to open an account. That would be why we have 100 bb.com reviews and 54 on TA.
When my false review was posted, everyone took it down for me. BB.com because the guest never stayed, and TA because either a) I told them bb.com would not post it ...or b) because guest reviewed us as tho he HAD stayed, but didn't. ILove Inns also removed it from their site for me. I could swear that, at the time, TA had in their guidelines that you could not post a review based solely on telephone or email conversations.
Well they left mine up and she states in the first sentence that she has never stayed here.
RIki
 
Okay, I just heard from Virtual Tourist. They are operating as Yelp used to in the old days, until Yelp realized they would not get very far operating only from one side and now allow responses. In a nutshell, they don't allow me to respond as they say it is "advertising for my hotel" (I guess she didn't really read my email as I'm a two room B&B).
She suggested I send others to review me to bury the bad review. Oh yeah, I'm going to help them get better positioning? Do their advertising for them? Thank goodness this website is not a popular one.
Here is her response to my request to answer the bad review who never stayed here:

"Thanks for writing to us to express your concerns with our site.
I understand from your email that you would like to respond to this review to express your side of the story on our site. In maintaining our reputation as a travel website for real people to share real experiences with the world, we do not permit people to join as or speak on behalf of businesses, such as a hotel, because it is considered advertising. Businesses who wish to advertise on our site do so by purchasing banners, links, etc. and it would be unfair to welcome other businesses to advertise in any manner, whether it be in the forums, in tips, or even being present as a member. Aside from that, welcoming a business to join would mislead the rest of the membership who joined on the basis that they wouldn’t be subjected to advertising from other members throughout the site.
I do have a recommendation for you, as many other hotel owners have approached us and found success in an alternative method. Rather than responding to the review yourself, it is better to ask your more satisfied guests to post positive reviews of their experiences. The general direction to follow is to assume that the more positive reviews you receive on our site, the better your potential guests will feel about booking with your hotel and the single bad review that you mention below will grow smaller in terms of the credibility it receives, which will in turn cause potential guests to realize that this one bad review is not a good representation of your hotel. The best approach is always to overcome with great customer service, which is what I’m sure your hotel exhibits every day.
Again, thank you for writing and we wish you the best of luck.
Hoping to help,
DanielDiNicola
VT Staff

I told her I was not about to promote her website in any way, thank you.

RIki.
I didn't even know there was such a website. But, I'm on it. Waaaaaaaaaaaaay down the list of popular places to stay.
 
Riki that is why I would't worry about it either, that first sentence says it all. YOUR response was the ideal response, one to take note of, to learn from.
 
I would like to report that I received an email from Bedandbreakfast.com that they also received the bad review from the guest who wanted to cancel last minute with no payment. They would not post it, they said, as the guest had not stayed at my inn.
At least they check them first, and think of both sides. I wish TripAdvisor had some ethics instead of looking for sensationalism.
RIki.
That's good...But I can't get over this woman!! She must have too much time on her hands...waiting for grandma to die. GHeez...what is it with her? I am ready to send her an email and tell her to cool it...but I won't...don't worry :) Just expressing my frustration for you.
 
oops...they posted their response under the wrong review!! Words to the wise to be careful about that....
 
Some of the WORST mgmt responses I have ever seen were posted by a former member of this forum..........
New Mexico? I actually stayed at that guy's B & B before I ever joined this forum. When I joined and perused all the posts, I recognized him just from his posts and first name. He was worse in person!
 
I would like to report that I received an email from Bedandbreakfast.com that they also received the bad review from the guest who wanted to cancel last minute with no payment. They would not post it, they said, as the guest had not stayed at my inn.
At least they check them first, and think of both sides. I wish TripAdvisor had some ethics instead of looking for sensationalism.
RIki.
egoodell said:
I would like to report that I received an email from Bedandbreakfast.com that they also received the bad review from the guest who wanted to cancel last minute with no payment. They would not post it, they said, as the guest had not stayed at my inn.
I love that about bb.com...guest has to provide proof of stay for a poor review. AND, if you use their review widget, you can choose not to show the poor reviews on your site. PLUS, they make it far easier for guests to post reviews...no being forced to open an account. That would be why we have 100 bb.com reviews and 54 on TA.
When my false review was posted, everyone took it down for me. BB.com because the guest never stayed, and TA because either a) I told them bb.com would not post it ...or b) because guest reviewed us as tho he HAD stayed, but didn't. ILove Inns also removed it from their site for me. I could swear that, at the time, TA had in their guidelines that you could not post a review based solely on telephone or email conversations.
.
I think the key for the removed review was that the guest led the public to believe that they had stayed there. That's the same scenario with what happened with the one bad review I received that was also removed.
 
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