Holiday Truths Forum

Hi i am not allowed to post a link but have noticed TripAdvisor to face legal action over reviews.
Could this happen here.

I heard that somewhere too- It might have been on the Watchdog programme. It's in connection to libellous comments being made. I know HT is very well moderated and disallows any such comments in order to protect themselves and us. I'm sure the mods will put our minds at ease about this.

You personally are legally responsible for anything you post. HT can also be prosecuted/sued and even closed down for allowing it.

That is why the mods spend so much time reading, checking, and editing posts. They are not only protecting the site but you the members.

We know that people can be very upset when things go wrong but that is no excuse. We regularly see comments that such and such a TO/agent etc are liars/thieves/rogues and we regularly urge people to moderate their language.
In a recent case the judge was not at all happy with the claimant having posted comments on the internet and said so. The defendant actually tried to use the comments in court to get it thrown out. He didn't in that particular case. The news media may make accusations but they have nice big bank balances - we don't.

In the case of TripAdvisor it is slightly different. Hotels are claiming that bad reviews that are posted cause them to lose business. and the claims made are often untrue. If you read the various forums here on HT then you can see that what someone likes is not to the taste of others. One reason why I never recommend a hotel/holiday. Couple of years ago we did a coach tour of Spain. Never again, yet I know people who take several such holidays a year.


fwh

That's why we should always be careful.... I have posted many reviews both on here and other sites and have no qualms about adding negative comments/criticisms where appropriate and I am able to easily substantiate.. remember, no names, no assumptions, stick to the facts and try to be objective

ATB,J.

well said merseygull, we should always be allowed to express of opinion, wether other people take it as said or not, it is our personal opinion. I would be most disappointed if they stopped people reviewing places as it great to be able to see wether a certain hotel/resort is suitable for me and mine. That said when I read reviews, good or bad I realise that is that persons view and would not necessarily be mine.

We don't allow reviews from the country where the accommodation is situated & if an ip shows this is the case we remove the review and leave a message explaining why & asking the poster to resubmit on their return. We hope that in doing this we are discouraging rival owners from posting bad reviews, or, positive ones for themselves

We also have a strict code here on the forums and many words, which could be seen as libellous, are in our swear filter, ie you should always post air cond and not the usual abbreviation.

This action is also why we don't particularly like links to other sites, as, we could also be in trouble for linking to libellous comments

We are very small compared to TA & are not owned by any travel company so we don't have the funds to fight legal action, hence us maybe appearing strict on occasions.

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I "do my homework" extensively on every holiday/hotel that I book - especially for our 2 week no expenses spared trip to the caribbean each year... in my experience, every hotel gets a bad review... very often you can see that the reviewer has had "other issues" or their complaints are just plain ludicrous (too much sun, too windy, wrong kind of sand/waves/heat etc. etc.).

There was recently a poor review on this site about a hotel that I have excellent memories of (and it still regularly gets excellent reviews)... the poster clearly had other "issues"

By and large I take some of the negatives with a pinch of salt... everyone can have a bad day...

There are, however some establishments that attract REGULAR bad reviews and I steer clear as we would all be best advised...

ATB,J.

Got to be honest and say that in my personal opinion I have found that many really negative people seem to hang out on TA leaving reviews. Such sites have surely also saved many a person from a potential holiday from hell though so in some cases the truth must hurt the pocket of the hotel owner, how to police honest reviews from malicious ones is nigh on impossible.

If you could see some of the comments and language used in reviews, they would make your hair curl.

It is a very fine line between disallowing a review because the comments are potentially libellous and leaving the review to inform and warn others. We try to get the balance right, but as Glynis has said, we don't have the funds to defend a law suit.

luci

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I think (especially on Tripadvisor) it's not just the reviews that can be an issue.

I post on the TA Goa forum (as I do on here) and there are quite often blatent (in the opinions of many regulars) attempts to besmirch the reputations of various businesses, including jewellers, restaurants and hotels by rival owners posting on the Discussion forums.

I guess because TA is a more global website than HT and because HT spurious reviews are less of an issue with HT.

Regarding accommodation reviews, I find them useful but I think it's important to read between the lines.
I read a review of a hotel in Goa that we were thinking about booking and almost all the reviews were 8/10 or 9/10 then this one with 2/10.
Reading through the long review all the poster said about the hotel was 'it was clean, and the staff were friendly'.

Then followed a long rant about Candolim and Goa - from the red dust, taxi drivers, beach sellers to the cows in the road and the mosquitos!
None of which had anything at all to do with the hotel.
It was clear the poster hated his holiday overall.

I agree with merseygull about some people having hidden agendas, if a party has been chucked out of a hotel for anti-social behaviour and/or causing damage, they are unlikely to post a glowing review.

The trick is separating out the wheat from the chaff.

We also check the details of posters on the forums as well Prettypollycat just to ensure that they aren't 'spamming'...........you'd be surprised how many new members ask about a certain sport for instance in say Turkey, then, on investigation, you find they are from Turkey

Mind you, we have David HT Mod on our team who is excellent at 'investigations'

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I have been called a not-very-nice-name on Trip Advisor, I tried to get it removed but to no avail! I don't know how personal & cruel comments about resort staff have any relevance to hotel reviews. I was quite upset at the time.

That wouldn't happen here Loubychew - it's more likely us mods being called the not - so -very -nice - names'

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I also think we should be wary of headlines such as "Do not use" and "Do not book with...". As one who has traveled a lot and seen things from both sides of the fence even the best of operators can have a bad day. Perhaps topic subjects such as "Bad experience with....." or "Felt badly let down by..." might be more appropriate? Enough headlines like this appertaining to a particular company and readers will be able to form their own opinion.

Trip advisor is owned by expedia and what I read in the sunday papers is that you can post on tripadvisor even if you have not stopped in a hotel!

To be honest, busdriver, I read posts telling me with a pinch of salt and make my own mind up whether there is any basis for concern in the post.

I've read many reviews for many different accommodations and what sometimes comes out pretty clear is the often inflated expectations of guests.
If I've paid £750 each for flights, in-flight meals, transfers and 3 weeks bed & breakfast in a 3* hotel in Goa (which I have), I wouldn't expect to get the same level of accommodation as a 5* AI resort in say, Mexico or St Lucia - but some people do expect too much.

I DO expect my accommodation to be clean, kept clean and for most things (electricity etc) to work most of the time.

I've always read reviews carefully and we've never (in 25 years of holidaying in Europe, Caribeean, Indian Ocean & Far East) been disappointed.

I do agree with you, though, that some people can be easily misled by a bad report.

We have also stayed in some hotels that got mixed reviews, the bad ones saying on no account go there.
We usually take these with a pinch of salt.
Ones we have went to that were getting bad reviews we have always found nothing wrong with them.
Have also seen reviews from different family's who were at the same hotel at the same time both said different things one good the other bad.
Have also seen bad reviews at hotels we have stayed at at the same time as the reviewer and we couldn't fault the hotel yet they slatted it.

The only time i have taken any notice of a review was when the accommodation we were going to were getting broken into all the time, we changed on that occasion.

The Guardian have Article on the full picture. (google trip advisor legal action)

As it is based is Massechusetts, the point would be if any case would hold up under US/Mass. law.

I have been following this with some interest as I have posted a few reviews on TA over the years, some good some not so , but all honest and a reflection of my visit to the hotel or restaurant which I reviewed.
I came across, what I think is fair comment, on the situation, on the Holiday TravelWatch website. I didn`t even know this website existed before now.
I did a review of the hotel we stayed in this summer , not favourable, have written twice to the tour operator, without reply, and tried several times to post a review of the hotel on their website only to find that it won`t accept it, nothing to do with content.
I read as many reviews as I could find before we had booked , I always do, and weighed the good and bad points, first time I`ve made a bad choice.
I will still consult the review pages , ask questions on the forums, and most importantly post an honest review, wether it suits the business concerned or not.

The posting of "honest reviews" I don't believe to be in dispute. They will I am sure still welcome those and genuine feedback should be welcomed (and acted upon) by the businesses concerned. What clearly Trip Advisor needs to do is put improved controls in place to moderated, control and ultimately stop the people that post malicious and misleading reviews.