Comments on: Can you trust TRIPADVISOR reviews?!

By: RedAndGoldWeb

RedAndGoldWeb — Thu, 15 Feb 2018 14:39:15 +0000

I’m not sure why you think that Tripadvisor reviews “are not professional critics” some of us are. I always give honest but fair reviews on trip advisor.
I think my reviews on my website are equally honest. Sometimes, reviews on TA are not from customers, but from the hotel/pub/restaurant or from their competitors.

Use your common sense, if the majority say a place is ok, it’s probably ok. If the majority say it’s poo, it’s probably not great. I always disregard the best and worst reviews, I read the ‘average ‘ and go by that. I have (honestly) never been disappointed.

By: MikeDoviel

MikeDoviel — Thu, 28 Jan 2016 09:51:13 +0000

No, you can’t trust Tripadvisor because Tripadvisor aims at serving third-parties interests instead of helping travellers. I wrote a one-star review of a restaurant that is high ranked in Wroclaw, Poland but at which I had a disastrous experience. Altough my review was genuine, it was removed from the website because it contained an allegation of fraud (sic). I found it strange since I’ve already written around 70 reviews (most of which restaurants) and never had such problem. Here’s a link to my Tripadvisor profile: http://www.tripadvisor.com/members/MikeDoviel. So I asked the Support about what went wrong. They replied that it contained a report of review fraud (sic) with no further explanation. I sent a second e-mail to ask for more details, they never bothered to reply. I then realized there was nothing wrong with my review. Tripadvisor just decided to censor it, probably in some effort to damage control the reputation of the restaurant I was reviewing. What’s worse, I denunced to Tripadvisor a review that was obviously fake: a first time reviewer who wrote a five-star review, listing items that were not served and stated “next time you’re around just pop in”. I was surprised to find out that my request was rejected, meaning that Tripadvisor finds this review to be genuine. Since, I’ve stopped writing reviews on Tripadvisor. When I travel, I’d rather ask locals or wander around the city and see for myself than trust Tripadvisor reviews.

By: Marc

Marc — Mon, 13 Jul 2015 05:37:32 +0000

Great article. I appreciate all the ideas listed on the article. I have met people who were ready to pay in exchange of a good review or a small treat in return for a great review after the meal at the restaurant. All I can say is that stay open minded.

By: Zara

Zara — Tue, 29 Jul 2014 15:06:44 +0000

Hi Peter!
Thanks for also sharing your views on Tripadvisor!

By: Peter Korchnak @ Where Is Your Toothbrush?

Peter Korchnak @ Where Is Your Toothbrush? — Mon, 28 Jul 2014 19:03:17 +0000

Nice coincidence: “The devil’s in the details: How TripAdvisor ruins travel” is a recent post on our blog (click on my name to read it). I use the site mostly to weed out the places not to go to. Otherwise it’s a time sink, though some of the reviews can indeed be hilarious. Often it’s better to ask locals or inquire with people exiting a restaurant.

By: Zara

Zara — Thu, 17 Jul 2014 20:19:04 +0000

Thanks for sharing your TA story. I didn’t know they would actually take down negative reviews… I mean, the site if full of them, even some that are not even true or of actual customers. I guess it depends on how influential you are.. for instance, big hotel chains would probably have a bigger say on what they want in or out. It’s not a fair game over all.

By: The Gallivantista

The Gallivantista — Sun, 13 Jul 2014 20:05:41 +0000

Great article. So true.
I do use Trip Advisor, but I tend to ignore all the 5 star and 1 star reviews. That tends to clear out a lot of the junk.
I once posted a review for a place in Morocco who effectively sold our booking to a tour party and never bothered to tell us. They eventually admitted it once we were sat in their reception.
The review was entirely honest and was on the site for a couple of days, but was then removed at the request of the hotel. TA refused to even consider my side and the review remains off line.

By: Zara

Zara — Tue, 08 Jul 2014 16:14:43 +0000

Free breakfast in exchange for a positive review?!
I would make sure to leave a negative review and expose that “scheme” if someone was to ask me that. What a cheap move!..

By: Laura

Laura — Mon, 07 Jul 2014 18:48:46 +0000

Loved this article. I am spending the summer traveling in Europe and have spent a lot of time looking through trip advisor reviews. With one budget hotel this summer, I saw the phenomena you talk about where people pay very little money for a hotel then expect it to be perfect. In this case they were easy to pick out but sometimes they aren’t. I feel like reading all of the reviews and seeing what common themes arise tend to help if there isn’t the time to look through individual profiles.

I wonder though if it is such a bad thing if someone’s reviews are mostly possitive. I know this summer, so far, all of my reviews have been incredibly positive. Honestly though, my experiences too have been really positive. Its sad that when you stay somewhere or go on a walking tour there is often pressure to write a positive review whether it was good or bad. One of my friends had the experience where they said they would get a free breakfast if they gave a hotel a good review on tripadvisor. I feel like these cheapen the good (or bad) experiences that people have, and make tripadvisor so much harder to sift through. This article was helpful and provided some new tricks to navigate that

By: Zara

Zara — Fri, 04 Jul 2014 15:26:27 +0000

I think Tripadvisor can be a very powerful tool for small businesses indeed! I too have suggested it to different small hotel and tour company owners we’ve met during our travels, and they did see an increase on their sales afterwards. As for the users side, just have to use it “carefully”!

By: Ian Phillips

Ian Phillips — Thu, 03 Jul 2014 19:00:44 +0000

I really like tripadvisor and contribute wherever I go. I got a local restaurant on tripadvisor and they gained some customers as a result. When reviewing I look for people who write comments that share my view. Yes sometimes people are too critical not sure what they expect. I am a big fan of tripadvisor but it is a tool for travel not a be all and end all.

By: Zara

Zara — Thu, 03 Jul 2014 01:17:24 +0000

Exactly! Your “style” has to somehow match the one of the reviewer, for all his/her comments to mean something to you!

By: Zara

Zara — Thu, 03 Jul 2014 01:16:36 +0000

If you like using other travel blogs as source of info (like I do too!) you should give the TRAVEL BLOG SEARCH a go: http://bkpk.me/travel-blog-search/
You can find a lot of travel tips & general inspiration, sourced from travel blogs only. No generic stuff, no commercially charged info either!.. :)

By: Zara

Zara — Thu, 03 Jul 2014 01:14:30 +0000

You’re right!
Some people only go online to vent when they’ve had a bad experience too, so that doesn’t help to paint the entire picture!

By: Zara

Zara — Thu, 03 Jul 2014 01:13:17 +0000

Yes, I have a similar experience: when a place is known as really over the top by most people, it’s normally true. But just in case, gotta take those other reviews with a pinch (or two!) or salt!