Efrem

I would accept the offer because, for reasons they explained, what you got was not the typical experience that other guests can expect. Even if this is explained by an edit or by the owner's response, people who read these reviews take them as representing what they'll find. This is not the case, so your review is misleading - not through malice or deliberate action on your part, you didn't know when you wrote it, but misleading nonetheless. The fact that they're offering you compensation to take it down is nice, but almost irrelevant.

Darren

Ditto. They screwed up, but it sounds like they are willing to make it right.

lhrsfo

This shows how useless TripAdvisor is. Not useless, in fact, but dangerous and misleading. Why people rely on it is beyond me.

But, to the OP, why on earth not complain to the owner rather than in public? When things go wrong, assuming you want satisfaction rather than grandstanding, a complaint in the right place is the best way to sort it out.

kokonutz

Yeah, that's honestly my biggest concern: contributing to the unreliability of TA.

A good and fair question. My first impulse was to email the owner. But then it occurred to me that the sub must have been answering my emails to the owner about arrival logistics the day before since she told us the owners had been out of town all week (it was an [email protected] type of email address).

So I figured an email complaining about the sub sent to an email address that the sub was replying to would be pretty worthless.

Also, there were a couple of issues unrelated to the sub that seemed under-reported on TA (and that i wished i'd known about), such as accessibility issues and the ferry schedule.

Yes, the issue of the sub is apparently a rare occurrence. Maybe even a one-off, if i am to believe the email offering the refund.

And, assuming that's true, that's the strongest case for accepting the offer and taking it down.

burbuja0512

I agree but what's the alternative? Trip Advisor reviews have saved me on several occasions.. like the time I almost booked in Frankfurt's red light district.

I have stayed at places with poor reviews and been fine and I also don't rely solely on positive reviews. It's more the information included in the reviews that I like. Other than that, you have to take it with a grain of salt and understand that people who are angry or extremely happy are more likely to leave reviews than the average person.

kokonutz

Using TA to make travel decisions is indeed an art. The overall rating is meaningless since some peole give one star becasue the pool was too cold or five stars because they had maple bacon. You gotta read, read, read. I always start with 3* reviews then work my way up from there. I also try to provide as much detail as possible in my reviews and appreciate it when other do as you never know what is important to someone.

But I start every travel investigation with a google of flyertalk: xyz hotel or whatever. I find Flyertalk reviews (when they exist) to be far more reliable and relatable than TA reviews. @:-)^

invisible

I do not think 300 would be enough for business class seat...

YuropFlyer

I'd take it down and NOT asking for money.

(I really expected something TOTALLY different from this thread)

Badenoch

Sure. If the hotel is willing to refund the full amount I'd take the money without a second thought.

Kagehitokiri

if one lets the property know that they are going to check-out, that should usually clear up questions of motives.

would be nice to see more discussion of things like checking-out early, and service recovery, on FT. but of course service recovery requires good service, which seems to be less common in most places. sometimes may require experienced guest.

review sites by their definition are unreliable. that does not mean one cannot find information on them.

on a forum there is discussion, you get to know forum members, there is no business relationship between suppliers and forum (forum is not selling services to suppliers), moderation helps limit/prevent fake reviews (good/bad) and guerrilla marketing (and members do the same), AND the forum has a limited (primary) target audience. the biggest review sites have massive market/mainstream/public awareness. very different from say FT. forums like FT also avoid many negative aspects of social media, while review sites are / and have become very much social media.

SpewyMcSpew

Uhhhhhhh, YES YES and YES.

DonCarpenter

1. No one should take any single review seriously. Also it's not our job to keep TA legit, so that's why taking the money is a no brainer.

2. Complaining in public is the only thing that gets results anymore. There are people (we've all seen them) that complain about EVERYTHING on social media, and it pays off very well. That's more of a problem than review sites being unreliable. For every dishonest bad review that gets refunded, we pay more for the product or service.


I've written bad TA reviews and the only thing that has ever happened for me is the business owner replying calling me a liar. So maybe I should be louder.

Finkface

I rent our vacation home on VRBO and that part of me says hell no! Reviews from actual guests are the only true barometer to judge a property and the service you received. Believe me, it is easy enough to put up a bunch of glowing, fake reviews on your own property that the only ones I ever look at when I am renting are the negative (or neutral) reviews and how the owner responded to the issues raised.

No place is perfect and I like it much better when I see negative comments and an owner responding favorably with an explanation and/or how they remedied the situation. It shows they are committed to service and care about their guests/property.

Now on the other hand, 1300 Euros is nothing to sneeze at so if I am being totally honest, I'm not 100% sure I wouldn't take it. Quite the conundrum.

LtKernelPanic

Unless something *really* bad happened for 1300 euro (~1450USD) yeah I'd almost certainly take it. Unlike some people here who are quite wealthy I'm far from it and that amount would be hard to turn away from.

Kensterfly

The proper thing would have been for you to write the management in the first place to express your concerns and disappointments and given them to the chance to make things right, thus saving you the moral dilemma. They are now trying to make it right to the benefit of both of you. If you really want to take the high road, take down the review and donate the money to your favorite charity.

I seriously doubt that they attempt to buy off all negative reviews. They could not stay in business doing that and the truth would out in the end. Sounds like and up-and-up management.