“They know the squeaky wheel gets all of the attention”

Social media is making headlines in the travel world today, whether it’s my colleague Anita Potter’s wall-to-wall coverage of Cruisecriticgate, or my recent observations about the growing influence of travel bloggers. Both of these stories raise an interesting question: What happens when the travelers who wield new-media power are wrong?

I had to think about that after hearing from Ed Stumpf, a hotel industry veteran who now runs the Mohala Ke Ola B&B.

Spend a day at the front desk, and you will see legitimate complaints where people deserve compensation for the inconvenience they have suffered. Likewise, you will see scammers. They know the squeaky wheel gets all of the attention.

How do guests with bad intentions leverage social media to questionable ends?

In my bed and breakfast experience I can tell you how one squeaky wheel caused the cancellation of multiple reservations through her deceptive on line storytelling.

A guest wrote on line about having an unacceptable curfew at my home and being treated as a young child. She wrote with humor that made even me laugh. What she did not reveal in her story was how pushy she was right from the start. She entered the house, loved the place, spoke effusively about how great it was then demanded a discount because they had booked two rooms for three nights. Three nights is our minimum, but she was so pushy I actually gave in.

Each night they drank and smoke outside on the pool deck and became quite rowdy. They had been partying for a week to celebrate a family wedding. They invited outside guests over to party, and were totally inconsiderate of the other guests staying in the B&B.

They accused me of lying and said no one else was staying there. They didn’t like my explanation that we live in a residential area on a valley that echoes. They did not like the idea that we have a 10 p.m. quiet hour rule. Previously they had stayed at a beachfront vacation rental where they partied all night.

When these people checked out, the new in-laws who had stayed in the other room privately gave me a large tip and apologized for the rude behavior. Too bad the damage was already done. The party went home and wrote about their experience on TripAdvisor. I had more than a few bookings cancel over the review, and potential guests often quoted that review as the reason they chose not to stay here.

A look at TripAdvisor’s otherwise positive reviews of the property suggests this is the social media hit he’s talking about.

The empowerment for travelers quickly evolves into an emboldened tourist with a brazen attitude. For the hotelier or vendor involved there is no recourse when Web lies proliferate. Please let me know what recourse you suggest for the unjustly vilified vendor.

Interesting question. This is one of the problems with user-generated reviews. There’s no way of knowing who is behind them, or their motives for writing about a travel product. Even TripAdvisor, with its celebrated fraud-detection algorithm, can’t discern a reviewer’s motive.

One controversial solution is being tried by doctors, and it involves patients signing a pre-treatment waiver that essentially bars them from reviewing their physician online. A property can also hire a company like Reputation Defender to take down or bury unflattering information.

But I think Stumpf’s problem will go away — actually, has already gone away — on its own. By running a first-rate property, and getting good reviews which push the bad reviews down lower on the page, he’s essentially dealt with the issue without having to do anything.

Maybe there’s a lesson for all of us here: Don’t believe everything you read online.

Actually, don’t believe everything you read. Period.

  • Richard Clarke

    This raises an interesting point. For sure there are many instances where people have valid grievances, but it is worth looking at this from the service provider’s perspective.

    I work in software development and many times find my customers obstructive, counterproductive, unreasonable and difficult to work with. And they are mostly savvy businesspeople with a stake in making things work.

    I can’t imagine what it must be like having a business where you have a 3 hour or 2 day window or whatever to fully meet the unstated expectations of people right off the street whom you don’t know and will never see again.

  • Lianne

    >>One controversial solution is being tried by doctors, and it involves patients signing a pre-treatment waiver that essentially bars them from reviewing their physician online.<<

    If this practice is legal than it’s appaling. I don’t see how posting a TRUTHFUL account of an experiance anywhere can be restricted.

    Back on subject…no one should base their opinon on one bad review, particularly when many other postivie ones are available.

  • http://www.PublicityHound.net Joan Stewart, The Publicity Hound

    The solution you offered—getting lots of other great reviews to “push down” the bad reviews—works equally well with press releases.

    When bad news strikes, just start churning out press releases and posting them through paid distribution services like PRWeb and Expertclick: The Online Yearbook of Experts. As a publicity expert, that’s one of the little tricks I recommend.

    The search engines will pick them up and “push down” the bad news on pages 2 and 3 of the organic search results, and possibly beyond.

  • http://www.hodgespart.com Caroline Platt

    Chris, this is such a timely issue, thanks for raising it. Managing your online reputation – whether individual or business – is something we’re all getting used to and just figuring out and no one has the easy answer yet. It’s not just online consumer reviews – consider the power of a single bad review from an influential member of the media (ahem!). As consumers we need to be mindful that no single review can tell the whole story. You review a ton of travel companies, I’d be interested in a follow-up post on how to tell the really good guys from the bad. If a legitimate poor review can be buried by a press release, as Joan explains, how do consumer figure out which companies are worth dealing with? Thanks again for the interesting read, as always.

  • Christopher Elliott

    @Caroline, thanks for the comment. I think you have to take any complaint seriously, whether it’s raised by a customer or a journalist. But the good news is that it’s pretty easy to bury bad news, particularly under a pile of good news. Trust me. I know what I’m talking about!

  • http://donaldlafferty.com Don Lafferty

    Another example of real-world practices crossing over into Social Media.

    Just as in the real world, there’s no getting around consumers whose nature it is to complain.

    In addition to “Don’ believe everything you read.” , perhaps the moral of the story is, no business is too big or too busy to listen.

  • Paulette

    I’ve seen this kind of hatchet job on TripAdvisor before. There were two really negative reviews of a property I visit frequently in Bar Harbor, Maine. In fact, I barely recognized the place from the way these two women described it. But when I reread the reviews carefully, I noticed that the wording and syntax were very similar, as were the monikers used. The two separate reviews obviously had been written by the same individual or two people staying together. Something had pi**ed her/they off, and the “review” was written in an attempt to punish the property by steering others away. That’s why although I check TripAdvisor and similar sites when considering an unknown property, I always take the reviews with more than a grain of salt and look for the trend. A few negative reviews in a sea of positives won’t deter me.

  • Roberto

    I read reviews online for all things, not just travel. Eventually, you learn to put the bad reviews into context and realize that some people have unrealistic expectations, or are simply insane. If you cancel a reservation due to a single negative review in a sea of praise, then you have overreacted.

    Regarding what someone like Stumpf can do in this situation, I’d advise the following:
    1. Only process cancellations over the phone. That way, the cancellation is a dialogue, not an informational notice.

    2. Politely request the reason for the cancellation.

    3. If the cancellation was due to a negative review, reply: “Yeah, I saw that, too. While I process your cancellation, would you like to hear the whole story? It’s actually kind of amusing.”

    4. Offer to provide a whole list of references of satisfied previous customers.

    Extra Credit. Many review sites allow the reviewee to post his or her side of the story. Might be worth doing just that.

  • Chicky

    When I’m looking at online reviews, I always look at the ratio of positive to negative. Then, I look at the negative reviews and see if all the reviewers are bascially complaining about the same things. Are they all saying the place is filthy, that it’s in a bad neighborhood, etc.? I totally discount all reviews that are no more than someone whining that the pool was closed, or wasn’t warm enough, or wasn’t cool enough, or that the treadmill in the gym didn’t work. While these things may certainly be annoying, they’re not enough to warrant a totally negative review, IMHO. I also look at other sites, if it’s a chain place, like hotels.com, to see what the reviewers there are saying. I’ve found that with truly negative experiences, people tend to focus on the same things.

    Also, are the negative reviews based on actual experiences at the hotel, or those circumstances beyond the hotel’s control? For instance, several reviewers have given negative reviews to hotels in Nashville, Tenn. that are near the airport, because of the noise. Well, duh! It’s an airport!! These large, loud machines called jets fly in at a low altitude so they can land! Again, while this may be annoying, is it the hotel’s fault? It might be worth a mention as a caveat, but should not merit a wholly negative review.

    So when people look at negative reviews, they need to put on their critical thinking hats and look for similarities, and for real problems — not merely artifically high expectations that weren’t met.

  • Riroon

    When reading the reviews for anything online, I basically ignore both the MOST and LEAST flattering. I’m always suspect that the best stuff could be written by an owner/manager/fanboy apologist, while the worst could be written by some little whiner with a personal beef.

    (Take a look at the reviews for movies and games on metacritic.com, for example. Almost all user reviews are either ’10′s or ’0′s. Almost no one ever scores items in-between the extremes.)

    If I can’t find a ‘level headed’ opinion (on anything) while skimming, I try to keep track of how many ‘bad’ reviews. One or two, I’m thinking a whiner wrote it. More than a few bad reviews, however, and the spidey senses go off.

  • Carver

    I use tripadvisor often. It really is like separaring the wheat from the chaffe. I tend to look for themes. Alot of people complaining about the same thing is worth noting. Singular instances of negativity tend to be ignored as whining or not normative.

    I also look at where the poster is from. Americans tend to complain about small rooms in Europe. Well, rooms are smaller in Europe than in the US. That’s not a valid complaint. Similiarly I’ve seen European posters complain about the fact that everyone seems to want a top. Again, usually not a valid complaint about a US property.

    But after a while, you tend to get a feel for the truth

  • Kathleen Eaton

    Online reviews may be the only way the buying public can balance the power of any industry or business so I don’t think the solution to false reviews is to stop the information flow.

    It should be much like community conversation. When you ask for people’s opinions or hear them, you try to get as many inputs as possible, look for patterns and consider exactly what is said. Years ago, I wanted to rent an apartment in a large city and knew very little about well managed buildings vs. poorly managed buildings. It was important to me to NOT have to deal with sloppy or ineffective management.

    I went online and read reviews written by tenants. Yes, I read scathing reviews and very flattering reviews but the building I eventually chose had a preponderance of excellent reviews that were very specific and the few angry reviews could easily have been caused by either an unreasonable tenant or an unreasonable employee reaction that didn’t resolve well. My guide was the overall conversation about that building and the types of comments I read about other buildings. Turned out my choice was very satisfactory. I don’t look for a perfect business with a perfect review record. Usually I want to know how that business handles problems that arise and that they do handle them.

    One negative impact of shutting down information is doctor reviews. Years ago when online registries first appeared, it was comforting to be able to look up a physician and find out where he or she attended medical school, how long in practice, etc. That information is much harder to get now and its curious. Also the registries on line don’t always contain up-to-date information so I rarely bother using them. Still, its a puzzle as to why that information was/is threatening to have out there. Calling a doctor’s office and asking where the MD went to medical school, etc. is often give as advice but in practice, the person answering the phone and getting such a question quickly becomes very defensive and even unwilling to provide the information. Have just never understood it….but do understand that as a consumer, I need someplace to go to find out what other consumer experiences have been.

    A very, very good house painter, upon learning of the existence of Angie’s List became very upset about it. Years before he had had a difficult experience with a customer and was convinced that that experience, if publicized, would ruin his buisness. He was dead-set against allowing consumers to express an opinion for that reason. ???

  • Joe Farrell

    yep, there are scammers – you can tell them from the feigned outrage. Just like you can tell the people who have a legitimate complaint – like sewage in their room. I complained when I was younger – now I just make the effort to check the place out before I go since with the internet – everything is knowable.

    I have high standards – I’m willing to pay for them. When I go on vacation and spend good money I want to get value for what I spend and for what you promise. When I’m on vacation I don’t want anything to bother me – can’t you just have my special requests in my room when I get there? Why do I have to ask three times and bitch about extra towels? Why if I ask for a minor thing, I have to ask for it over and over again and every single day? If you have a pool and hot tub, and provide towels, how about making sure you HAVE towels available, instead of forcing m to tell you the towel bin is empty? How hard is it to do you job as a hotel?

    You KNOW room 522 has no air conditioning. Its July. Don’t give it to people. Is it just a minor amusement to you? I do NOT want to worry about complaining on my vacation – I complain for a living- I do not want a busman’s holiday. You do your end, I’ll do mine and not bother you.

  • Mike

    @ Chicky – I think you summed it up pretty well. One bad review in a sea of good ones will not sway my opinion or my desire to stay at that specific location. After all, I did decide on wanting to go there for a reason to begin with. As you have noted though, there are cases where even positive reviews have a complaint about one specific thing and should be taken into consideration.

    For example, a certain Vegas property that I have visited did not have an in room safe and I read about it even in good reviews. It almost influenced my decision but I found out they had plenty of secure lockboxes available. Other bad reviews though for another property focused on location rather than the actual property and once discounted, the good reviews easily outweighed the bad.

    It would be good for sites that allow reviews to also also allow property/business owners to state a rebuttal. In my experience it is even easier to weed out the bad places because they often attack the original poster instead of just stating facts and letting people draw their own conclusions.

  • Consumer Equalizer

    On March 24th, 2009 at 6:51 am Lianne said
    >>If this practice is legal than it’s appaling. I don’t see how posting a TRUTHFUL account of an experiance anywhere can be restricted.

    That practice is an illegal violation of the First Amendment. Public postings on the internet are protected free speech. They are not libel as long as they are truthful and factually based. That being said, have witnesses or receipts ready if you have any reason to believe the business is stupid enough to sue you.

    The frivolous lawsuit filed against the Yelper in San Fran just encourages all of us to shove video cameras, cell phone photo snappers, and pocket audio recorders in retail employees and managers faces to protect ourselves from lawsuits…”Hold on, shut up until I hit record…now, repeat that horrendous thing you said?”

    On the other hand, they then cannot also forbid us from recording things on their property where they invite business – they can’t have it both ways.

  • Consumer Equalizer

    Another thing to consider and a favorite tactic of mine is not to post multiple reviews on one site, but find 10 or so different places where the truly horrible and deserving business has a profile, and cut and paste the same review on all of those, so your comment surrounds the business’ online reputation like a glove, and dramatically raises the chances that ANYONE looking the business up ANYWHERE will see it and not do business with them.

    Oh well, the business should have tried harder to please them, and it is highly unlikely anyone without a legitimate beef would go to such extremes.

    Finally let me say in this economy, businesses should WORSHIP all consumers, and really are not in ANY position to sue any consumer for a bad review, lest they risk a consumer JIHAD backlash against them for daring to attack people that give them their livelihoods.

  • Mr Bad Example

    I have stood at ticket counters, gates, front desks and I must have a good BS Meter because I can smell the the scam artists from 3 miles away..

  • http://www.hodgespart.com Caroline Platt

    @Chris, I really don’t take comfort in the idea of burying bad reviews or complaints, however convenient that might be for the reviewed, because it makes the whole business seems more like a game than a balanced representation of information. I hear you that every complain is important and I know you hear many of them. But social media is a reflection of human nature, so it seems that the old adage applies – if you have a great experience you’ll tell maybe a few people but will share a bad experience with many more. It’s just easier and more entertaining to present the negative sometimes. Personally, I agree with many others here that you need to read the best and the worst and look for what matters most to you in the details.

    @Kathleen Eaton, I heartily agree with your opening comment wher you describe the “Groundswell” effect social media has had on empowering consumers. It’s very important.

  • Kevin M

    @Consumer Equalizer: Sorry, but *buzz* Wrong. The First Amendment only protects speech from censorship by the government. As part of a contract, two parties can agree that one will not release certain information about the other, and to do so can be an actionable (read: lawsuit) violation of the contract. If you doubt this: consider the millions of non-disclosure agreements people sign every year. Whether this is good policy or not in the case of doctor reviews is debatable, but such a contract would almost certainly be enforceable. (I’m certain there are exceptions, such as filing a complaint for malpractice, which would be ruled not a violation of the contract.)

    And yes, a business can forbid audio or video recording on its property. The First Amendment is not a license for you to do whatever the *$#!$ you want under the rubric of Free Speech.

    @JoeFarrell: I’m sure you like things just the way you do – and that’s fine – but understand that from a hotel’s standpoint, it’s difficult to prepare a room for a specific individual’s tastes very far in advance. You have, say, a reservation to check in on Friday. The hotel knows not whether you will be there at 2 PM, 5 PM, or 9 PM – or if in fact you may end up cancelling completely. In the meantime, other guests are arriving, and may make conflicting requests – a group arrives and wants four rooms, preferably close together. The only block of four includes the room the hotel might, in theory, have set aside for you, with the supply of extra towels. They might set aside a room and when you arrive, you realize the hotel faces a stunning set of mountains and you request a room with a view – except the room they’d pre-stocked is on the other side of the building.

    For many such reasons, hotels generally will honor special requests, but wait until a guest actually shows up before starting. Of course that’s not the case when you’re paying $1,500 a night for a room or $2,500 for a suite in a really high-end property, but I doubt those complaints apply in such a case anyway.

    The reason you have to ask every day for certain things is that (in my experience) hotels do not provide ongoing communication between the front desk/reservation staff and those responsible for amenities, like the housekeepers, sometimes for good reason, It wouldn’t be uncommon for a list of room requests appended to the housekeeping cart (put 2 extra sets of towels in room 112 Tuesday through Thursday this week) to be ignored because nobody on the housekeeping team could read English.

    And in their efforts to cut costs (to manage debt loads from overextending themselves on acquisitions and building), hotels don’t have the staff to check the towel bin at the pool every 30 minutes. Perhaps they should, but it’s not likely that the staff doesn’t care; it’s that Rosario has 14 rooms to clean between 9 AM and 3 PM and she can’t stop every 30 minutes to see if a bunch of teenagers have used one towel each to dry off, another one to lay out on by the pool, and a third dry one to carry their clothes up to their room in.

  • David Z

    no one should base their opinon on one bad review, particularly when many other postivie ones are available.

    Agreed, though it can’t be helped there are such people who do that anyway. OTOH, and just one out of a gazillion possibilities, those people who cancel or so-called “research” around might also be potential headaches vendors won’t thankfully need to deal with.

    Welcome to the Internet, where anyone can write anything about anybody and (usually) not be held liable for what might turn out to be unrealistically untrue and/or unreasonable. Fortunately (and kudos to some of the posters here) there are some options how to handle that otherwise irritating issue.

  • Dori

    It appears most of us agree advice websites like tripadvisor are very useful if used with discretion. I personally read quite a few before picking a hotel for a week long stay, less for one night. I must admit I am personally guilty of not filing reviews on all my stays. Average properties that fulfill a need for one night rarely get my reviews even though they filled my need at a reasonable price. I suppose its time to sit down and send in those reviews even if they are only simple one liners. Every bit of advice does help and balances those over the top positive and negative reviews.

  • Jay

    ANOTHER simple answer. Tripadvisor allows owners and managers to post a rebuttal. Why didn’t THIS owner do it? I’ve seen many of them on Tripadvisor.

    Plus, Chris. Have you ever SEEN Tripadvisor? Bad reviews are NOT pushed down. NEW reviews push down OLD reviews. Hello??

  • Duke Nukem

    Speaking of negative reviews, Hukilau cafe sucks! They treat you like dirt!