In today's news, there are reports of an Irish cafe owner who responded to a negative review by posting the CCTV footage up online of the reviewer tucking in to her meal (which she then dissed).
I have fairly strong opinions on negative reviews. Generally I think it is better to point out issues to the staff at the time of the meal rather than go home and post a negative review. I think it's better to give the establishment the chance to rectify the situation at the time of the dissatisfaction. However, if they don't do anything to fix the issue I think writing a negative review is fair enough.
On the whole I think I write fair and measured reviews. Most of my reviews tend to be positive. I also like to give places a second chance and will return to a place where I had a bad experience if my experience appears like it was an isolated incident. After all, restaurants & cafes are run by humans and sure we can all make mistakes and have an off night from time to time for numerous reasons.
As far as basing my decisions on whether to frequent somewhere or not I tend to be careful about giving weight to certain reviews. I have noticed that some reviewers can be overly harsh, for example, I've noticed Americans in particular knocking hotels because there has been no air conditioning in bedrooms (see this one for example). While of course, being from Ireland, this would be the norm for me and I wouldn't even notice it and in fact it fairly standard for most older hotels in Europe to not have AC.
So over to you readers, do you have any thoughts on Online Reviews?
Out of curiosity, when you visit the United States do you you stay in a hotel with air conditioning? I think that is a valid point that should be brought to a traveler's attention. I hardly would say that is overly harsh. It's very informative.
ReplyDeleteSure it is informative.....but I don't think I would rate a hotel negatively if it didn't have AC (it's just not a priority for me).
DeleteYes there is generally AC in places I stay in when in USA. I tend to switch it off as it makes the room so cold!!!
They generally have thermostats on them, so that you can control the temperature setting. : )
DeleteLol.....I know
DeleteI read the review that you link to above and don't believe it to be very harsh. I think the reviewer gives very useful information and gave the hotel a 4 out of 5 star ranking. I think you have written much harsher reviews in your own blog. LOL. Just saying.
ReplyDelete