vsevolod4

Has anyone encountered this when posting a negative review of a property on ihg.com?

However, I did not post "specific dollar amounts or rates." That is a completely fabricated reason to reject my review!

And nothing was irrelevant nor inappropriate; only Candlewood's behavior which was inappropriate and hence my poor review.

I've submitted a review twice and got the review rejected both times. You think they're censoring reviews which are negative? Thankfully I will be persistent, but I imagine many people will not be.

This censorship is probably why the ratings of the hotels on the ihg website are completely inconsistent with the Yelp!, Orbitz, Expedia, Tripadvisor and other ratings.

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I had a guaranteed reservation for a STUDIO SUITE 1 QUEEN NONSMOKING at the Candlewood Suites Houston IAH/Beltway 8.
Just before boarding the shuttle I noticed my reservation was changed to a SMOKING room.
I called the Priority Rewards number and they confirmed that the hotel changed my reservation unilaterally.
I showed up and there was no apology for the hotel changing my reservation. There was no sympathy. In fact, in a decidedly unfriendly fashion, I was told that it is my fault for checking in just before midnight, and that they can give me any room they want; the "guaranteed" reservation is just a "request."
I was given a room where the cigarette stench was so strong I could not sleep.
My status was not recognized.
I called the front desk repeatedly and finally went downstairs and the clerk was not to be found.
I left and checked into another hotel.
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How is the above irrelevant or inappropriate?
It is factual.

The only thing "inappropriate" is the property's cavalier treatment of guaranteed reservations and their guests.

People need to know this -- and the hotel needs to change its behavior.

I stay over 100 nights a year in ICH hotels, and have been doing so for well over a decade.

This is the first time that I've been treated this shabbily, to the extent I was moved to write a review.

And it appears that someone -- I'm not sure whether it's ICH or whether it's up to the hotel to "verify" and reject the review. But I betcha they don't reject any positive reviews.

This is complete B.S.

htb

Your review has the numbers "1" and "8" in it. I guess those could be interpreted as "exact dollar amounts" by the average computer algorithm.

HTB.

virtualaris

I ever got the "� the mention of specific dollar amounts and/or rates." warning on my review.

Fortunately I have saved my reviews so I don't have to rewrite again so I simply exclude the amount that I paid to the hotel. However, never had the inappropriate content.

catharsis

Post it on tripadvisor - and add a note explaining that you tried to post the exact same review on IHG.COM but that it was refused.

make it FACTUAL do not include any subjective opinions or yur suspicions about the refusal to accept your review on IHG - instead just note the facts as they happened and let people draw their own conclusions.

IHG Service

Dear Vsevolod4,

Thank You for bringing to our attention your concern about your review posted to IHG.com. Your review titled "Bait, switch and rude treatment" has been published and can be seen here http://goo.gl/8sUxbG. Please accept our apology with your review being initially rejected during the moderation process.

We have found the rejection was a system error we're working to immediately resolve. We can assure you we do not censor negative reviews. We take guest feedback seriously and welcome all comments in an effort to enhance our guest's experience in our hotels. We have brought your review to the attention of the management of the Candlewood Suites Houston IAH / Beltway 8. We have requested they be in touch with you under separate cover.

Thank you again for bringing this to our attention.

Sincerely,


Myrna M
Case Manager
IHGCare

FlyerTalker688786

One of my positive reviews was rejected (overall 4.5 and recommended back) for the same reason, granted that I did mention I did not like the �25 swimming poor charge.

Another positive review was rejected because I wrote a detailed explanation of how to reach the hotel by public transportation, which includes some bus numbers...

After this incidence I only trust the hotel reviews from tripadvisor. I look at IHG reviews for Platinum member experiences only.

IHG needs to manually moderate the reviews if a warning was given by computers.

catharsis

Just wanted to give a ^ to IHGCare for responding on the thread, it's always nice to see someone taking an issue seriously and providing an explanation.

Wish it happened more often, but credit where it's due.

vsevolod4

Thank you, IHGCare!
Very nicely done!

BRAISKI

Thats why I always post both in Tripadvisor no bias and then IHG.com. The do post negative comments but for sure they still do some filtering.

Kudos for IHG for lurking and replying!

MikeinBL

I have the exact problem with posting a review on their web site. Here was my review (which Tripadvisor posted with no problem).

Stayed here for 3 nights June 5-7. 2014. Nice size room with full-size refrigerator and stove even though I had no need of them. However, the bed spread had food stains on it. Decided not to say anything as I remove bed spreads in hotels anyway. Needed ice to replenish a cooler, so went in search of an ice machine. Finding none, I inquired at the front desk about where to find ice. Was told they did not have an ice machine, but was told I had a conventional ice-maker in the refrigerator in my room. I checked the ice-maker only to find it turned off and no ice. Went back to the front desk and the receptionist said she could provide me ice from the employees ice-maker if I brought a container to place it in. I returned with the container and was given the equivalent of about one tray of ice.

Having been gone all day the following day, we returned to our room around 5:00 pm and found the beds had not been made nor the room and bathroom maintained in any way. I called the front desk to ask if housekeeping would provide standard room maintenance. Was advised that this was an extended stay hotel and sheets were changed every 6 days or we could bring our sheets to the front desk in 3 days to be replaced. I advised the receptionist that nowhere on their signage or web site does it say they are an extended stay facility. She agreed with me.

While I have no trouble making my bed at home, I expect a little pampering when I travel. Had the hotel publicized their policies I would have selected another hotel as there were plenty to choose from in the area. Even the budget hotels provide basic services and amenities.

I have no problem with extended stay facilities (use them sometimes on business trips), but I thought I was booking a full service hotel and no where do they say they�re not. At best, their actions were misleading; at worse, deceitful. Candlewood is providing a disservice to its customers, both those seeking an extended stay facility and those who are looking for a full service facility. They need to clearly state their policies."

In my case, they said the use of another hotel name was not allowed. I was invited to revise the review and they gave me a link to their web site. This link only sent me to the original web site. There is not way to revise the review so I reposted under another name but first removing the hotel name and substituting the name with "budget hotels".

This review was also rejected due to "irrelevant or inappropriate content...". I sent three e-mails to them requesting (1) how do you revise a previously submitted review - 2 e-mails, (2) asking what was "irrelevant or inappropriate content".

All three e-mails were responded to by saying:

"Delivery to the following recipient has been delayed:

[email protected]

Message will be retried for 2 more day(s)

Technical details of temporary failure:
The recipient server did not accept our requests to connect.

Ultimately it rejected all three e-mails.

Clearly, they have no interest in addressing their customers concern and only post the positive feedback.

sosafan

That's a large charge for poor swimming

pa3lsvt

I had a clerk at a HIEX (Boston) change my rate when I arrived. I noticed when I got to my room, then went back to the front desk and had to go three rounds to get my reserved rate reinstated. I was told that because they were booked full my rate had changed. Nonsense.

I left a review that mentioned the bait/switch on IHG. It never saw the light of day and I never even got anything saying why.

Steven NH/BOS

I post all my hotel reviews on Tripadvisor. IHG has a long way to go before they convince me to post on their site too. Not sure what the point is of having reviews on the IHG website anyway? IHG just take my reservation, list the rates and describe the properties amenities.

uk1

It is strange that most start by being suspicious of TA, but in the IHG environment they make TA look trustworthy. It's clear that IHG review listings are intended to be a new breed of pseudo "positive feedback from our customers" rather than a genuine "warts an all" balanced inclusive feedback. They are clearly deleting negative feedback. I wonder how long it will be before they start rewarding or incentivising positive feedback. In the end their approach will be self defeating.

TA has at least matured and you can discount single or low posters whether positive or negative and just sift through regular posters that have a balanced style and history.

There seems to be several new converging mismanagement trends that are damaging their credibility as being trustworthy.

carrotjuice

I won't bother with reviews on IHG site - both reading (due to the many cases of perceived censorship, whether technical or intentional) and contributing.

The only reason IHG is providing this capability is to strengthen the 'credibility' of its booking site and draw more people in... but the frustration of rejected reviews is too much bother.