Holiday Lettings yet again

[annafern]

Yet again Holiday Lettings have upset someone with their reviews.

As most of the owners on this site have confirmed that they don't wish to start getting involved with reviews which Holiday Lettings have now adopted through Trip Advisor.

I havent got the time to start emailing guests to ask them to put a review on a website, anyway, I think we ask them to write in our comment book and then to ask again is a bit pushy. With 7 different directory i advertise on and 9 different properties its an unmanageable task.

Holiday lettings, i purposely chose not to collect reviews and yet again the one guest (with OCD) who stayed in one of the properties this summer has written a damming review and also gone into personal reasons why she didn't like the cottage.

This is one of my best properties and now it has a bad review it is likely to affect future enquires and bookings.

I have spent half an hour arguing with Holiday Lettings about the unfairness of their reviews via Trip advisor. Its made no difference they are adamant that they policy is fair.

I have siad it on this forum before but i am going to say it again. Its time that these open forums are monitored more carefully and also, its time someone took the legal approach and sued for libel/slander.

These are my reasons for hating them so much.

They encourages blackmailers and vindictive people.

As self catering properties we fall into a very different category than hotels and B & B (and remember thats how Trip Advisor started in the first place), in that we can not hope to get the amount of reviews they do which makes a very unbalanced review process.

Most of our properties are independently owned and unless they have been purposely built, usually the owners put their own personal stamp on them with the decor and nic nacks. When someone criticises that it actually becomes a very personal attack.

Holiday Lettings, Trip Advisor and FlipKey charge us for advertising on their website. We are their customers- please don't forget that. When they publish damming reviews about our properties they are cutting off the hand that feeds them.

Today i have taken off line that particular property as i feel so strongly about it.

Anna
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[kendalcottages]

Sorry to hear of your problems, Anna.

You might find this welcome news:

http://www.travolution.co.uk/articles/2 ... ation.html

...though I'm not sure if Holiday Lettings would count as a 'third party' site even if this was to be outlawed.

[Nemo]

Sympathies Anna. They do seem to forget who their customer is so all you can do is vote with your feet as you have done.

[Mouse]

On Monday I was sent a request to complete a feedback form for HL. I spent most of the spaceon that form pointing out that I was not a fan of their review system.

I wonder how many of you also had it? If so then feedback via that. Or perhaps start a petition?
Sadly I think it is all too easy for HL to bat off owners who complain one at a time.

Mouse
x

[Cassis]

You might find this welcome news:

http://www.travolution.co.uk/articles/2 ... ation.html

Ooh - that's interesting! The nub is this:

Existing advertising rules mean no reviews can be used to market product if the author’s identity cannot be verified.

An increasing number of hotel, travel agency and tour operator websites pull in TripAdvisor content, or link to it to help promote their product and improve their search engine ranking.

...

Marketers must hold documentary evidence that a testimonial or endorsement used in a marketing communication is genuine, unless it is obviously fictitious, and hold contact details for the person who, or organisation that, gives it.

The code does allow testimonials to be used by third parties from a “published source” without permission of the author, however this places the onus back on the originator of the review to authenticate it and Kwikchex believes TripAdvisor’s current procedures fail to do this.

In the submission Kwikchex makes reference to a number of cases in which it believes the CAP code is being breached. These include use of TripAdvisor content on hotel website Accor, Thomson’s tour operator site and tourism body VisitLondon.

[Maurmc]

...yet again the one guest (with OCD) who stayed in one of the properties this summer has written a damming review and also gone into personal reasons why she didn't like the cottage.

This is one of my best properties and now it has a bad review it is likely to affect future enquires and bookings.

Hi Anna,
Sorry to hear that you are going through this- the same happened to me. A vindictive guest wrote a nasty review (uninvited, of course!) Believe it or not, we got a booking for a week at the end of April the day that the review was published, so it didn't seem to have had a negative impact on them! But that doesn't lessen the potential negative impact it could have on future bookings.

We have 10 months left on our HL listing, so I couldn't afford to drop it. You are the 2nd person I've read about on this forum to have pulled your listing- I wonder how many more custmers have HL lost?

[Cassis]

If owners vote with their feet then Holiday Lettings may change - but I doubt it. They are owned by the TripAdvisor group.

http://www.holidaylettings.co.uk/press_tripadvisor.asp

[annafern]

I also found this interesting development. Good prove an interesting.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/trave ... aints.html

[Bridg1t]

Hello All... I have spent yesterday tweaking my T&C on cleaning & departure further to all the helpful advice from other LMHer's.

I wonder if we can use better systems to resist the bad reviews and HL (and others) and make it hard for people to complain, actually and psychologically.

1-Somewhere in your T&C or "welcome letter" it should say that guests should alert you within 24 hours of arrival if they are not entirely happy with any aspect of your accommodation. Make sure they can! Free landline calls/free PAYG mobile/courtesy telephone call from you or your agent....The implication being that if they haven't complained in those first 24 hours, it is because they have no cause for complaint.

2-Give them a "feel good" experience they weren't expecting. This isn't me, but those of you who make jam/cakes something special/hand made from the owner. Hold back some of your "offer" so that they feel they have something extra when they arrive. Or just a simple and inexpensive bottle of wine with glasses laid out for when they arrive; something they weren't expecting in the welcome pack.


3. Once you have given your guest an unexpected (and not too costly) feel good experience. Have a "system" for mishaps. Banks & wholesalers do this to diffuse irate customers; if something goes wrong, race round with your (bulk purchased) chocolates, bowl of fruit...whatever. I realise this is OTT and hard for people at a distance, but some sort of token or recognition should be possible.

4. Lastly, cover your a&*?S. Supply a feedback form (tick boxes...whatever). Leading questions interspersed with helpful and considerate questions "Did you need to call us during your stay, and did we deal with your issue in the best way possible"? To make sure they fill it in, leave a pen, an envelope, and somewhere secure for them to put it. Make the feedback form seem more important by asking them for information so that you can re-pay their deposit. (Even if you already have these details).

Having a feedback form will also allow you to know which guests to ask if they will kindly leave you a review on your listing site.

In summary, do everything possible to make the guest feel you are their friend.This isn't really that wa-wa, and it's what the big brands seek to create; that people have a "relationship" with the brand. People find it harder to complain if you have made friends with them; even if they have a good reason to complain. This doesn't have to be, too intense, just some little notes & tokens rather than full on bonding or phoning every day!

If the guest has left a poor review but didn't inform you or this contradicts your courtesy call and follow up email, and furthermore if you have a feedback form which shows this, you have a real defense against the listing sights. You can "prove" that the bad review is malicious.

I'm sure this won't head of the most determined, persistant and vexatious complainer, but it should (a) minimise the potential to complain and (b) give you something concrete to show the listing sites if you feel you have an unfair review.

With regard to HL, surely, as they have a duty and it's in their T&C that they don't publish defamatory or false reviews, we could run this whole system by them.

They are very close to me geographically (Summertown in Oxford). Perhaps a posse of LMHers could have a meeting with them and discuss this.

The whole system seems rather mysterious and I would like to know what process is behind their decision to publish a reveiw once an advertiser has protested about it.

I would suggest that if you had reasonable evidence that a damaging review had caused you to "pull" your ad, several months early, and you had provided them with sufficient evidence that it was false, you could take them to the Small Claims court for the remaining price of the ad and/or loss of business.

[Cassis]

I think the article is referring to the challenge mentioned in the Travolution piece mentioned by Kendalcottages above. I looked up the CAP code concerned and it certainly does seem relevant:

http://tripadvisorwatch.wordpress.com/2 ... marketing/

If it curtails the inexorable spread of TA's monopolistic influence it will be welcome news indeed!

[annafern]

Giles

Some excellent points you have raised.

I do many of those things anyway.

I have adjusted my T & C to say that guests need to inform us during their stay if there are any issues.

I leave a very generous welcome pack, although i must admit i don't keep anything back as a surprise.

I do leave a separate comment sheet which allows guests to rate us for various things and air any issues which they may not want to leave in the comment book. Some very useful things are detailed on the comment sheet and i act on at least half of the suggestions.

However this guest in question did contact my local representative to complain about the childs chair and she replaced it within 24 hours.

When she left, she did leave 2 pages full of comments which frankly anyone with a bit of intelligence would see them as a time waster.
Comment like ' water too hot' and she stuck a sticker on the tap saying very hot. 'Tumble dryer too high'. Its on a shelf in the boiler room. Not enough towels. We leave a huge bath sheet and a hand towel for each guest. 'Too many useless ornaments' Now she is getting personal . There were other useless points and complaints.

But this was six months ago and she has only just found the HL review system.

So i would have no leg to stand on- she did stay in my property and she did complain on papar on the comment form, but the fact is they are very personal issues and i am not prepared to have one damming review of a property which much loved by our guests- comment book, oozes compliments.

On HL front they told me they have a right to change their T & C at anytime without consultation and because they were bought out by TA they automatically took on their T&C.

They describe the TA reviews as an open forum an thats how they get away with open comments.

Need some solicitors out there to advice on these two points.

After more research there is a heck of alot of people out there who are against TA and their reviews and although manly Hotel many air the same grievances.

There is an interesting association called KwilChex who are battling against TA and their reviews. http://www.kwikchex.com/

Anyone know anything about them.

Anna
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Imagine you pay a PR or marketing company to promote your business and pay them £1500 a year in fees only to find they have published bad reviews and comments on their website from a customer about the service and product you provide.

[Bridg1t]

Hi Anna,
It sounds as if you run a very tight & professional ship, and unfortunately you have just had that one in 100 clients who is a needless vexatious complainer.

I would still try in writing to HL to appeal this review, pointing out that you responded in a timely manner to her issues and that some of her issues are beyond reasonable. Presumably your agent, if she took a new child's chair, could have boxed up the "excess" ornaments.

My other thought (and I haven't done this yet) is to email my inventory to the guest ahead of the visit, and, if something is on the inventory, then it's included and if not it isn't! This would give the guest an opportunity to alert you that 2 towels is not enough (but how many towels can you use at one time?).

I agree that most people wouldn't read all this rimmel rammel, but for instances where you have someone making vexatious complaints, you have recourse to these documents to show that they are being unreasonable in what they were expecting.

If they really, really won't pull the review, it would be an opportunity to ask how advertisers can protect themselves from unfair reviews, and what procedures we should put in place. If they say there's nothing you can do, it fairly much admits that their system is unfair and that your investment in their site is open to spurious abuse at any time.

I am no solicitor, but believe that companies cannot make material changes your T&C at any time (unless there is a change of law or circumstances which require it), even if they have said in their T&C that they can!

[Cassis]

There is an interesting association called KwilChex who are battling against TA and their reviews. http://www.kwikchex.com/

Anyone know anything about them.

Anna
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Yes. They are behind most of the current UK lawsuits. But you have to pay for their services.

Phil