Wilko Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 Channel 4 tonight 10.00pmw Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russethouse Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 ??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quillan Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 He is taking about this....Hoteliers call for new online travel review lawsWhich although old has ended up being made in to a documentry on Tripadvisor which will be shown tonight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cooperlola Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 Here's a link to the actual prog':http://www.channel4.com/programmes/attack-of-the-trip-advisors Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russethouse Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 I'll try and remember to watch it...... I'm quite a frequent user of Tripadvisor and I leave reviews too..... I always try to be fair even if I'm not very keen on somewhere......if I am looking up reviews I try and read back a few too, not just stick to recent ones.I know reviews can be manipulative too, for instance a place near my sister in Oxforshire got consistently bad reviews from people in the community who were in a planning dispute with them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loiseau Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 NB It's 9pm if you are viewing in the UK.Angela Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russethouse Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 Oh dear - that means I've missed it ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gardengirl Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 Fascinating viewing!Some odd reviewers, especially the one who made a small mark on his duvet cover so that he could check next day if it had been changed! He said he suffered from a skin complaint and couldn't sleep with the same bedding for two nights; wonder if his own bedding is changed daily?!The owners were an odd lot too. Especially the one from the seafood restaurant, who called customers b*stards and wrote some strange comments in replies to reviews. He also invited someone who wrote a poor review back for a meal in the hope that she would take down her original review - and then harangued her and her party! He and his wife were extremely rude about them and about customers in general - especially those who pay good money to eat at his restaurant in summer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoddy Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 "wonder if his own bedding is changed daily?!"That's exactly what I said to my OH. The reviewers seemed an odd bunch to say the least. I think some of the owners had made the mistake of allowing their personal feelings to get in the way of the reality which is that they are supposed to be offering a service to paying customers.Hoddy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quillan Posted November 1, 2011 Share Posted November 1, 2011 I thought there were problems with the reviewers and the hosts to be honest. I agree with the comment by Hoddy about sheets, I think it would be hard to find any B&B who would change the sheets every day, if you want that then stay in a hotel and then it's pot luck if they get changed every day. One reviewer seemed to make a point of going to places that had already been given a bad review and the other (with his Nan) was just being a bit sniffy, I mean wrong mixer! I thought the comments made about him by his Nan were quite interesting as were some of his own, bullied, no qualifications, a bit of a failure etc. Obviously the act of reviewing places made him feel powerful, something he lacked in his life.I personally wouldn't stay in the the place with the stuffed animals and the lurid 'works or art' although the rest looked really nice. The guy who cooked the fish and the reviewers comment about the amount of sauce, from what I saw, seemed quite justified. I think that if I didn't have to eat with the guests I would pop out and ask if everything was OK for a minute or two but to tell people how wonderful my food is and how the idea of a particular main course came to me 'in a dream' is going over the top, too much information plus your setting yourself up. I am sorry but to also employ somebody who didn't speak the language was a bit stupid really especially when they are 'front of shop'. I thought the comment about the flashing light outside the window and the suggestion the woman put up a curtain was quite valid, her answer about there being "nothing I can do about the flashing light! was disgraceful, perhaps she should try sleeping in the room. It wouldn't cost that much I am sure to put a curtain up.One or two of the owners talked about it being a service industry, well it is but I didn't think they actually understood what it meant. Whatever you may personally think of a guest you don't argue with them and you simply smile and be polite, you can go in to your private area and have rant, kick the cat (only joking) later. On the other hand some of the reviewers had a serious problem and needed help.I actually like Tripadvisor and use it for looking at hotels in places I want to stay but I have yet to review anywhere. You have to look at how the reviews are graded at the top, I mean if you have 30 or 40 'Excellent' reviews and one 'Poor' review then it would not put me off, somebody clearly had a bad day. What one reviewer said about the opportunity to learn from the review is very valid I thought. Don't look at it from a negative point of view but use it as an opportunity to make your place better. The negative side of Tripadvisor is that your competition can 'nobble' you if they really want and there is not a lot you can do about it.Shame there was not a representative from Tripadvisor on the program to give their thoughts. Would I go on such a program as an owner absolutely not because you never know how it's going to be edited. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cooperlola Posted November 1, 2011 Share Posted November 1, 2011 [quote user="Russethouse"]Oh dear - that means I've missed it ![/quote]Never forget Channel4+1, R/H![:)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loiseau Posted November 1, 2011 Share Posted November 1, 2011 Go to Coops' Channel4 link on the previous page, RH; it offers you a chance to view the programme using 4oD (like iPlayer).Actually I hope it works faster for you than it did for me when I was trying to catch up with the Mary Portas programmes last week. I could view 4oD only in 8-sec bursts, followed by 8 sec buffering time, whereas I have no problem viewing iPlayer for BBC progs.I thought it was a pity in the programme that they didn't find a reviewer who made the odd positive comment; it was really giving a platform to the rather creepy folk who were on a power-trip with their criticisms.I agree with everyone that it was ludicrous to expect the sheets changed every day except in a 5-star hotel. Also agree that the hoteliers/restaurateurs often seemed to think that because they had put so much effort doing a place up that it meant clients should make allowances for their shortcomings in some way.I have written the odd TripAdvisor review myself, but only to specify that there are a lot of steps up from the street to the lobby, in case that would be difficult for anyone with mobility problems - that kind of thing.I think when you are using it as a potential holiday-booker, you get quite skilled at spotting either the artificially-puffed or the vindictive slagging-off; there's something about both types of review that doesn't quite ring true. They often lack those details such as the ages of the party, or fail to specify something somebody in the group particularly liked that sounds more personal.Angela Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suein56 Posted November 1, 2011 Share Posted November 1, 2011 [quote user="Loiseau"]I thought it was a pity in the programme that they didn't find a reviewer who made the odd positive comment; it was really giving a platform to the rather creepy folk who were on a power-trip with their criticisms. [/quote]I tuned in with great expectations and had to change channels as I found both the B&B owners and their critical clients too much to cope with. It was excrutiatingly badly done - IMHO only. I was cringing inside and out. I did try more than once but had to back away in dismay.It is obvious to me that I would be useless as a TV programme critic as I am too critical.Sue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cooperlola Posted November 1, 2011 Share Posted November 1, 2011 This is telly, not real life!When the guy with the stuffed animals got talking to his guest it really did look in danger of becoming a constructive and useful exchange so we cut to one of the other places where more confrontation was on offer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSKS Posted November 1, 2011 Share Posted November 1, 2011 Clearly, the hosts and guests were carefully chosen to be controversial, narrow-minded, weird or some permutation of those characteristics. A program about normal people giving fair reviews of perfectly satisfactory establishments wouldn't even fill an ad break.These sort of manufactured confrontation programs make me feel somewhat embarrassed and a little manipulated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catalpa Posted November 1, 2011 Share Posted November 1, 2011 This link was posted on LayMyHat this evening... it's a link to a post and ensuing discussion by Stuart who was on the program last night and it gives an insight into the reality behind the program. Or at least, what he experiences vs what the program showed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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