Thursday, 1 May 2014

Do You Post Reviews?

/Minor rant

Almost every time you buy something online these days, a day or two later, you get an email asking you to review your purchase. I almost never respond, though I tend to leave feedback on ebay purchases, because then I am generally reviewing the service provided by the seller rather than the actual item that I have bought.

The popular trend for online customer reviews possibly began with reviews for accommodation, with Trip Advisor being one of the biggest names in the accommodation review marketplace. Bogus posts on Trip Advisor are allegedly commonplace, though I do not wish to discuss that issue in my blog. We do not actively encourage our visitors to post on Trip Advisor, or on any other review website, but post they do, and we do have reviews on Trip Advisor. (TA don't do self catering cottages, but Roskhill Barn B&B is here). We get cottage reviews on the website of our online booking system - Freetobook. There are links to these reviews from the home page of each of our cottage websites.
Loch View Cottage - website
So, what is useful in an accommodation review? For the owner, it is good to hear that people have enjoyed a stay in one of our properties. Potential visitors will certainly be pleased to learn that the accommodation is clean and that the owner is friendly, and information about local things to do or places to visit might be useful. Recommendations about places to eat are, in my opinion, less useful, as eating out is a matter of taste (pun intended) and what is perfect for one visitor might be completely unsuited to the next.

We value all feedback, and constructive criticism is welcome, but if you find something minor that you think is wrong - we would much prefer that you speak to us straight away so we can deal with the issue for you, rather than putting up with a problem for the duration of your stay and then writing all about it in your review.

/Rant over

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