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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on May 22, 2018 11:35:08 GMT -5
While we were on vacation last week, I realized that I had used reviews from TripAdvisor to help me make a decision as to where we were going to stay. I also used it when I made our reservations in South Africa and the Maldives, so decided it was only fair to contribute to help others too. Another thing, the last night of our stay a manager came up to us and asked us if we'd do this for them (including mentioning the trio of employees who went out of their way to make our trip incredibly enjoyable). So I just finished writing a review for the resort and mentioned all the things that I normally look for in reviews to help me make a decision as to where to stay.
I know Athena has mentioned that she has done this, and now I'm really wishing I had done so for our trip to Africa. However, I plan on doing it from this point onwards.
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jitterbug
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Post by jitterbug on May 22, 2018 11:40:24 GMT -5
I use Trip Advisor all the time and it's kind of hit or miss for me as to whether I do my own reviews. Part of the equation is whether I have the time to put forth the effort. Otherwise, it's when something is exceptionally good or exceptionally bad. If it was just a normal hotel room - no review. If it was a hotel room that had the best bed ever - I'll review it. I do like to do Trip Reports for places that have a lot going on - like Las Vegas. One, I find trip reports from other people interesting to read, so I assume others would appreciate mine. And two, it helps ME remember my trip! I typically jot notes on the hotel note pad while waiting for my husband to get around, then write up a full report once home. (I've learned to write the trip report in Word and then copy and paste to Trip Advisor in the reply section of my own topic, to keep it tidy).
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Deleted
Joined: May 19, 2024 6:59:29 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on May 22, 2018 11:47:00 GMT -5
As you said- yes, I do! I think I'm a frustrated travel writer so I enjoy it- sometimes I even re-read my old ones and they bring back nice memories.
While I have 300 reviews on TripAdvisor, I have very few elsewhere. EVERYBODY wants your review- the review sites can sell a lot of ads because the readers are typically people looking for that particular product or service and the more people they can get to write reviews for free, the better. TripAdvisor recently sent me several e-mails after I got back from India bugging me to review a flight. Ummm... no. There's so much variation in the factors affecting a particular flight- weather, crew, aircraft, etc. that I can't see how a handful of reviews would be useful even if they managed to collect that many for the same flight.
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Shooby
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Post by Shooby on May 22, 2018 12:00:27 GMT -5
I sometimes write product reviews on Amazon. I do find that helpful when I make purchases.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on May 22, 2018 12:01:34 GMT -5
I really would like to go back and write a review of the places I stayed during our last vacation but as I look at the dates when I am researching places, anything I say about a place I stayed on Sept. 2016 could have changed by now. If I was going to the same places, I would not automatically assume that service was the same and would still look for more recent reviews to verify.
One of the reasons we chose a new resort in Mexico was the last time we went the place we stayed at was not the same. We went in 2/2010 and it was wonderful. We were scheduled to go back in 2/2012 and I was down a hip so I had to postpone our reservation until my infection was cleared and I got new hips, so didn't get a chance to use it until 5/2013. The second time, it was just ok. Stupid things annoyed me - like rather than having cut up fruit on the breakfast bar, they put whole pieces of fruit like mangos. Yeah.....what am I going to do with a whole mango and a dinner knife? There were other things, mostly minor but a lot of minor irritations become major annoyances.
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andi9899
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Post by andi9899 on May 22, 2018 12:02:40 GMT -5
I write reviews on Yelp all the time.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on May 22, 2018 12:03:23 GMT -5
I sometimes write product reviews on Amazon. I do find that helpful when I make purchases. I did this too. The shower chair I bought after surgery had a 250 lb limit for it. I weighed nearly 100 lbs less, and after using it for 2 months the legs bent to the point where it was dangerous for me. At that point, it was a safety issue, and pissed me off.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 22, 2018 12:09:28 GMT -5
I do, but usually only when I'm mad about something, so not very often good reviews.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 22, 2018 12:16:25 GMT -5
I really would like to go back and write a review of the places I stayed during our last vacation but as I look at the dates when I am researching places, anything I say about a place I stayed on Sept. 2016 could have changed by now. If I was going to the same places, I would not automatically assume that service was the same and would still look for more recent reviews to verify. TripAdvisor pulled something recently that really annoyed me. I reviewed the Hilton near Heathrow's T5, which I'd used for an overnight on my way to India in March. In late April they sent me an e-mail saying that the hotel had undergone extensive renovations since I reviewed it and they were deleting all the reviews prior to the "renovation" Really? I hadn't seen any signs of major work while I was there. The location is still well away from T5, requiring a shuttle that runs every half-hour and costs $9 one way. (I should have done my homework on that one.) I'm sure that the excellent Indian restaurant on the property is still there. My observations about the area around the hotel and the view from my room, all good, would not have changed. I wonder what strings Hilton pulled to get that done. And it was a perfectly fine hotel with reasonably good reviews- no reason to wipe the slate clean and start over, and plenty of hotels that have undergone renovations still have pre-review renovations up.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on May 22, 2018 12:22:37 GMT -5
I really would like to go back and write a review of the places I stayed during our last vacation but as I look at the dates when I am researching places, anything I say about a place I stayed on Sept. 2016 could have changed by now. If I was going to the same places, I would not automatically assume that service was the same and would still look for more recent reviews to verify. TripAdvisor pulled something recently that really annoyed me. I reviewed the Hilton near Heathrow's T5, which I'd used for an overnight on my way to India in March. In late April they sent me an e-mail saying that the hotel had undergone extensive renovations since I reviewed it and they were deleting all the reviews prior to the "renovation" Really? I hadn't seen any signs of major work while I was there. The location is still well away from T5, requiring a shuttle that runs every half-hour and costs $9 one way. (I should have done my homework on that one.) I'm sure that the excellent Indian restaurant on the property is still there. My observations about the area around the hotel and the view from my room, all good, would not have changed. I wonder what strings Hilton pulled to get that done. And it was a perfectly fine hotel with reasonably good reviews- no reason to wipe the slate clean and start over, and plenty of hotels that have undergone renovations still have pre-review renovations up. I'd have made some noise about this. I was thinking about reviewing the hotel we stayed at in Seattle before catching our flight and after arriving (very early departure, late arrival). It was a brand new hotel, a Four Points Sheraton that I snagged through Hotwire. Other than a great shower, very comfortable bed and very good hotel restaurant (much better than average), it was a chain hotel where there should be a standard level of expected service.
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TheOtherMe
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Post by TheOtherMe on May 22, 2018 15:44:45 GMT -5
I use and write reviews on TripAdvisor. I tell the truth. So far, all of my reviews have stayed the way I have written them.
If I have had an issue with the hotel (like over Thanksgiving), I give the hotel an opportunity to make it right. In this case, they did so I also mentioned that in the review. The issue was that I went out on a Saturday and didn't come back until late. When I turned the bed down, there were no sheets under the covers. I had to call the front desk who brought over sheets, etc. and make my own bed. The hotel did make it right as far as I was concerned.
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toomuchreality
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Post by toomuchreality on May 23, 2018 15:21:58 GMT -5
I write reviews for Amazon purchases. Most other things I only write a review if it was exceptional- either very good or very bad.
I read reviews. That's why I started writing them. In my opinion, be it good or bad, if it isn't honest, it isn't helpful.
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daisy
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Post by daisy on May 23, 2018 20:45:12 GMT -5
I write reviews all of the time - got into the habit years ago when I was heavily into Ebay. Now I write Amazon reviews, restaurant reviews, hotel reviews....whenever it's necessary. With my business I prefer to shop with small companies on Etsy or local companies and I always leave a review, generally favorable. Running a profitable small business means that you rely on positive reviews to encourage other shoppers to buy from you, so I figure it's only fair of me to do so for other worthwhile companies.
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msventoux
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Post by msventoux on May 23, 2018 20:52:02 GMT -5
I don’t typically write reviews. In the past I have, but now I usually only do so if something was outstanding about the experience...either good or bad. I will make an exception for something if I went looking for reviews and there either weren’t many or the majority of them are contrary to my experience.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 25, 2018 17:20:15 GMT -5
With very rare exceptions, I only write positive reviews and usually only for national vendors, not local. I wrote one honest review on a local service provider and received a very threatening phone call. Folks like that know where I live and it's not worth it. That's not to say I'm less than scathingly honest when talking to friends personally but I don't post negative reviews on social media.
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Deleted
Joined: May 19, 2024 6:59:29 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on May 25, 2018 18:04:18 GMT -5
With very rare exceptions, I only write positive reviews and usually only for national vendors, not local. I wrote one honest review on a local service provider and received a very threatening phone call. Folks like that know where I live and it's not worth it. That's not to say I'm less than scathingly honest when talking to friends personally but I don't post negative reviews on social media. Yeah, one of the things I don't like about Angie's List is that you have to provide enough info that the provider can figure out who you are even if it's not obvious from the details in the review. I wrote a review there only once and it was pretty factual. Car service supposed to pick us up after our flight; DH and I both had colds and were exhausted from an early-AM flight from the West coast, looking forward to just being picked up and driven home- and my cell phone rang. Too many flights were coming in late, not enough drivers, they couldn't pick us up. I asked if they'd pick up the excess cost of whatever transportation we found on our own if it was more expensive. No. Didn't hear from the after the review. It IS heartening to see what power reviews have, though. I know that can be abused on both sides but there's a lot more accountability than there used to be.
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tcu2003
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Post by tcu2003 on May 25, 2018 20:07:09 GMT -5
I do, but it’s in spurts. Usually I only review travel stuff on Trip Advisor. I usually review Etsy purchases on Etsy, and once in a while will do an Amazon purchase.
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Knee Deep in Water Chloe
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Post by Knee Deep in Water Chloe on May 25, 2018 20:37:04 GMT -5
I will write on Yelp if I remember and have time--so that's only a few occurrences per year. BIL is a major contributor to Trip Advisor--seriously like 30K reviews from him. That will go up exponentially now that he's retired and travelling even more than he was.
DS#1 hit 500 reviews on Google a few months ago (before the grandbaby was born ). He has some type of Google badge for that saying he is an expert on the area in which we live.
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