Lay My Hat

sazzleevans, we're much like you in that we've moved almost totally into listing site independence now. I've never asked my guests for reviews - I don't like being asked myself, I find it annoying and intrusive - so I've never had published reviews and it's never affected my bookings - we fill up reliably (and early) every year.

Almost all my guests email me when they get home, and I've copied some of their comments onto a page on my site. I also offer to put prospective guests in touch with past guests if they want a 'reference'.

So I guess what I'm saying is, don't stress too much about reviews - the kind of guest that is willing to seek out independent websites and book that way isn't going to be too concerned about the ansence of commercial reviews.

Thanks. Yes, that is a point we get dragged into worrying about it maybe!

French Cricket is probably in the minority, but there's at least two of us.....

I do wonder how many people are suffering from "Review Weariness", not to mention "Review Cynicism". Are they now worth the pixels they're made from? Maybe, maybe not - it depends partly on your own market and where you advertise.

I'm now suffering from "Review Revulsion". A few weeks ago I used ebay to buy - wait for it - a couple of cleaning cloths for my specs as it was simpler than making the trip.
Today I receive an invitation to review said cloths. How sad would I have to be to do that? Presumably as sad as the people who seriously believe their opinions matter....... But that's just my opinion.

I think there's a lot to be said for pix of guestbook reviews (if you have them and suitably anonymised) on your website, or reproducing chunks out of follow up email responses. Question - are these more or less likely to be fake than reviews on eg TA?

Having said that, taking some pix of guestbook entries has been on my to do list for a while; today's excuse is <insert suitable>

I thought I would resurrect this old thread rather than start a new one on a similar topic. I am debating where to collect independent reviews for bookings that come in via my website. I have a few now for Summer 2017 and need to decide where to send them.

Putting a review on my website itself doesn't seem right as clearly it's not independent. I am dithering between Google my business and the freetobook review system. Either of which I could link to my website I would think.

Atm I am thinking Google my business as it's more well known but if anyone has any other ideas I would be grateful to hear them.

Thanks
Jenny

After my recent post experience with TA I looked into setting up an account with Trustpilot. They tried to get me set up with a business account with would be perfect but just way way too expensive but I don't know/haven't had time to see if there is a free option. Or, is there another well known review site I've not thought/heard of?

If guests have booked direct with me then I'd ask them to review on the site they originated from and I usually copy and paste the review to my own website

Jenster wrote:I thought I would resurrect this old thread rather than start a new one on a similar topic. I am debating where to collect independent reviews for bookings that come in via my website. I have a few now for Summer 2017 and need to decide where to send them.

Putting a review on my website itself doesn't seem right as clearly it's not independent. I am dithering between Google my business and the freetobook review system. Either of which I could link to my website I would think.

Atm I am thinking Google my business as it's more well known but if anyone has any other ideas I would be grateful to hear them.
Thanks
Jenny

I use FreeToBook for the majority of my reviews; this is because I use the FabPay system and as a result FTB automatically sends out requests for reviews. I get many more reviews through this route. TA has dried up completely; I haven't has a TA review for nearly 2 years. I have some HA reviews; again. because of the bookings I get through them.

I think it's best to show all review channels on your website.

greenbarn wrote:French Cricket is probably in the minority, but there's at least two of us.....

Three.

Sam V wrote:After my recent post experience with TA I looked into setting up an account with Trustpilot. They tried to get me set up with a business account with would be perfect but just way way too expensive but I don't know/haven't had time to see if there is a free option.

Sam, I saw this today while on Trustpilot:

"Complete the form to get your Free Trustpilot Account"

"Start Collecting Reviews"

This is the page: https://uk.business.trustpilot.com/sign ... nsumer_cta

After watching Karen Spencer's very helpful Facebook masterclass I discovered you can have a 'Reviews' section on your Facebook business page which guests can complete if they are FB users. Wish I had known this and set it up before!

Or you can collect Google reviews from Google users.

I don't have any yet, but I'm planning to make efforts in that direction this coming season. Fingers crossed!