Interesting article in todays Daily Mail - August 5th 2013 very much along the lines of our post on 18th July below...
Reluctant to even write a post about Trip Advisor as it is
like a giant, rabid snoring dog that you really don’t want to disturb. But as
ever a big mouth and an opinion is why I will. And why those who write up their
visits on Trip Advisor do too.
Fair enough.
The main issue is in order to write a review on Trip Advisor
there is no palpable evidence that the reviewer has ever been in or even near
your restaurant.
Yes I agree most of them probably have. But it is also a
fact that some of them haven’t and those reviews are up there in the ether alongside
the genuine reviews.
Once in a blue moon you get a vile, spitting toad, troll - one which gives no details of when they were
in, what they ate, its wrongly spelt, they have reviewed no other restaurants
in the country let alone your local area and they tell you can get better food at ‘McD’s’ then you do suspect foul play. So you write to
Trip Advisor in a calm and measured way and request the review is taken down – you never get a human it is all
automated – and they send you an automated response saying it is within the guidelines of the review process and
it will remain up there.
Anyone with a business will tell you how utterly frustrating
this. The write to reply is there yes
but replying to someone who will never read it because it waas just on a whim they registered and wrote it in the first place is a pointless exercise.
We recently adopted the Open Table /Top Table Booking system
which manages our bookings for us. Once our customer has been in then they are automatically
sent an email to ask about their experience. Good or bad there is no getting away
from the fact the person reviewing you was there so you accept it and are
grateful they took the time to respond.
Walk ins of course are not handled like this and I do
believe most Trip Advisors are genuine but take a look at any businesses reviews and if you get a list of 5 great reviews, then one ranting lunatic one the chances are it’s someone with an
axe to grind, a competitor or a troll with nothing better to do with their day.
Just one negative review can plummet a restaurant dozens
of places in the ratings and in reverse a new business with 12 great reviews
can get to No. 1
The business of running a busy restaurant is paying personal attention to the customer, staff, supplier which is what we are not doing when so much time is spent online. It's fun to interact with our customer online but we love it best of all when they talk to us directly when here. Then we can thank them personally or sort any issues out before they leave. Disappearing off and writing a nasty review after the event does no business any good - the horse has bolted, the party is over etc. so do the business a favour and give them the opportunity to rectify whatever you perceive their mistake to have been then and there. That means everyone is informed, happy and the legacy of a a few harsh words written in haste are not left on line for the rest of time.
So whether restaurants, hotels or attraction take Trip Advisor with a pinch of salt. The good are
good. The bad are bad. But who is writing
either? Well that is for them to know and us never to find out.
Here are ours today....tomorrow....? Well who knows.
