My Turn for the POOR Trip Advisor Review

[Breakfast Diva]

i want to throw this into the mix
if you go to the bed and breakfast dot com website you can easily get confused
you can start a search with places that welcome gift cards
OR
check out over to the right on the search page and click on popular destinations - if i click on your town, maddie, your inn is right there. and i can click through to your website. so even though i'm not seeing that you accept those gift cards, i can see how guests are being misled by that website because there is no big headline saying you don't. just a little logo on the places that do that says 'gift'. they're making assumptions. they got to your place via the bed and breakfast dot com website, you must be mistaken that your place doesn't take the cards. voila - angry guests.
i'm assuming this is all set up this way deliberately on the part of the gift card website to push you into enrolling.
that's my guess..

i want to throw this into the mix
if you go to the bed and breakfast dot com website you can easily get confused
you can start a search with places that welcome gift cards
OR
check out over to the right on the search page and click on popular destinations - if i click on your town, maddie, your inn is right there. and i can click through to your website. so even though i'm not seeing that you accept those gift cards, i can see how guests are being misled by that website because there is no big headline saying you don't. just a little logo on the places that do that says 'gift'. they're making assumptions. they got to your place via the bed and breakfast dot com website, you must be mistaken that your place doesn't take the cards. voila - angry guests.
i'm assuming this is all set up this way deliberately on the part of the gift card website to push you into enrolling.
that's my guess.

Yes, it's very misleading to the guest! The cards are supposed to come with instructions that tell the guest how to find which B&B's accept the cards but, WHO READS??? I explain it to them. Guests are also told they HAVE to tell the inn they are using them when they make the rez but, WHO READS???
.

i want to throw this into the mix
if you go to the bed and breakfast dot com website you can easily get confused
you can start a search with places that welcome gift cards
OR
check out over to the right on the search page and click on popular destinations - if i click on your town, maddie, your inn is right there. and i can click through to your website. so even though i'm not seeing that you accept those gift cards, i can see how guests are being misled by that website because there is no big headline saying you don't. just a little logo on the places that do that says 'gift'. they're making assumptions. they got to your place via the bed and breakfast dot com website, you must be mistaken that your place doesn't take the cards. voila - angry guests.
i'm assuming this is all set up this way deliberately on the part of the gift card website to push you into enrolling.
that's my guess.

Yes, it's very misleading to the guest! The cards are supposed to come with instructions that tell the guest how to find which B&B's accept the cards but, WHO READS??? I explain it to them. Guests are also told they HAVE to tell the inn they are using them when they make the rez but, WHO READS???

I do get the calls asking if we take the GC, but tell them no, and why. I also take the time to tell them how to find b&bs that do take it. Of course they are upset because they just spent all that time trying to find just the right place for them and now they can't use their card. I tell them that they need to contact bb.com and complain.
Since I have posted on our website, ResKey confirmation box AND in their e-mail confirmation letter that "The only GC we accept are issued by XYZ inn or Our State Association, I no longer get the folks that whip out the GC when they're here to pay the balance.
It now has been years since I've had any issue with bb.com GC/cards.

 

[Copperhead]

Mama, so sorry you are dealing with this. It is hard, tugs on your very soul. We all work hard to build a great reputation and when someone feels slighted on policies they turn on every aspect of our business.
I am like you, I want to set the record straight in detail just as the reviewer had done. It is very hard for me not to write a book but I know it is not in the best use of the valuable space the reviewer has made for me.
My last response to a bad review went from over a full page down to a few short paragraphs once I edited it as my steam died to a simmer. I still posted it with too much info, but I am learning.

I agree that you should take time to read it over and over again as a possible guest. You don't need details, just facts.
'we have not accepted b&b.com gift cards for X yrs so would never have said we would. We believe this guest confused us with one of the many accommodations of her trip and due to that, nothing else seemed to be right'.

 

[Breakfast Diva]

Mama, so sorry you are dealing with this. It is hard, tugs on your very soul. We all work hard to build a great reputation and when someone feels slighted on policies they turn on every aspect of our business.
I am like you, I want to set the record straight in detail just as the reviewer had done. It is very hard for me not to write a book but I know it is not in the best use of the valuable space the reviewer has made for me.
My last response to a bad review went from over a full page down to a few short paragraphs once I edited it as my steam died to a simmer. I still posted it with too much info, but I am learning.

I agree that you should take time to read it over and over again as a possible guest. You don't need details, just facts.
'we have not accepted b&b.com gift cards for X yrs so would never have said we would. We believe this guest confused us with one of the many accommodations of her trip and due to that, nothing else seemed to be right'..

I agree that you should take time to read it over and over again as a possible guest. You don't need details, just facts.
'we have not accepted b&b.com gift cards for X yrs so would never have said we would. We believe this guest confused us with one of the many accommodations of her trip and due to that, nothing else seemed to be right'.

Perfect!! You have learned well, Grasshopper!

 

[Momma Smurf]

Mama, so sorry you are dealing with this. It is hard, tugs on your very soul. We all work hard to build a great reputation and when someone feels slighted on policies they turn on every aspect of our business.
I am like you, I want to set the record straight in detail just as the reviewer had done. It is very hard for me not to write a book but I know it is not in the best use of the valuable space the reviewer has made for me.
My last response to a bad review went from over a full page down to a few short paragraphs once I edited it as my steam died to a simmer. I still posted it with too much info, but I am learning.

I agree that you should take time to read it over and over again as a possible guest. You don't need details, just facts.
'we have not accepted b&b.com gift cards for X yrs so would never have said we would. We believe this guest confused us with one of the many accommodations of her trip and due to that, nothing else seemed to be right'..

Actually, Copperhead, this does sum it up very very nicely; am still on the fence. We get tons of people who point out details of our reviews that don't seem significant at the time. They really do fixate on negatives: like despite tons of positive feedback on one room, someone said it was dark (on a cloudy day). So I keep hearing "is X room dark?" even though that review was last summer! In the past, all my other responses have been long, and I get nothing but compliments from guests who absolutely chose us because they feel we take the time and care enough to set the record straight with an original response. We have a very high percentage of due diligent TA guests. I am often amazed what they quote from our reviews. We have one shot at this and I want to make sure that we pre-emptively cover all bases.

 

[Madeleine]

Mama, so sorry you are dealing with this. It is hard, tugs on your very soul. We all work hard to build a great reputation and when someone feels slighted on policies they turn on every aspect of our business.
I am like you, I want to set the record straight in detail just as the reviewer had done. It is very hard for me not to write a book but I know it is not in the best use of the valuable space the reviewer has made for me.
My last response to a bad review went from over a full page down to a few short paragraphs once I edited it as my steam died to a simmer. I still posted it with too much info, but I am learning.

I agree that you should take time to read it over and over again as a possible guest. You don't need details, just facts.
'we have not accepted b&b.com gift cards for X yrs so would never have said we would. We believe this guest confused us with one of the many accommodations of her trip and due to that, nothing else seemed to be right'..

Actually, Copperhead, this does sum it up very very nicely; am still on the fence. We get tons of people who point out details of our reviews that don't seem significant at the time. They really do fixate on negatives: like despite tons of positive feedback on one room, someone said it was dark (on a cloudy day). So I keep hearing "is X room dark?" even though that review was last summer! In the past, all my other responses have been long, and I get nothing but compliments from guests who absolutely chose us because they feel we take the time and care enough to set the record straight with an original response. We have a very high percentage of due diligent TA guests. I am often amazed what they quote from our reviews. We have one shot at this and I want to make sure that we pre-emptively cover all bases.
.

That's the really odd thing about ta - we have tons of guests say "you have really good reviews!" And never mention our responses.
Reviewers will mention other reviews and things they know nothing about. But not that we responded to other reviews. Not even that it made a difference that we did respond.
A couple of people a few years ago mentioned a scorcher of a review on yelp where they thought my point by point rebuttal left too many questions unanswered. Huh? "What really happened?" was what they asked on the phone or in person.

 

[Momma Smurf]

Mama, so sorry you are dealing with this. It is hard, tugs on your very soul. We all work hard to build a great reputation and when someone feels slighted on policies they turn on every aspect of our business.
I am like you, I want to set the record straight in detail just as the reviewer had done. It is very hard for me not to write a book but I know it is not in the best use of the valuable space the reviewer has made for me.
My last response to a bad review went from over a full page down to a few short paragraphs once I edited it as my steam died to a simmer. I still posted it with too much info, but I am learning.

I agree that you should take time to read it over and over again as a possible guest. You don't need details, just facts.
'we have not accepted b&b.com gift cards for X yrs so would never have said we would. We believe this guest confused us with one of the many accommodations of her trip and due to that, nothing else seemed to be right'..

Actually, Copperhead, this does sum it up very very nicely; am still on the fence. We get tons of people who point out details of our reviews that don't seem significant at the time. They really do fixate on negatives: like despite tons of positive feedback on one room, someone said it was dark (on a cloudy day). So I keep hearing "is X room dark?" even though that review was last summer! In the past, all my other responses have been long, and I get nothing but compliments from guests who absolutely chose us because they feel we take the time and care enough to set the record straight with an original response. We have a very high percentage of due diligent TA guests. I am often amazed what they quote from our reviews. We have one shot at this and I want to make sure that we pre-emptively cover all bases.
.

That's the really odd thing about ta - we have tons of guests say "you have really good reviews!" And never mention our responses.
Reviewers will mention other reviews and things they know nothing about. But not that we responded to other reviews. Not even that it made a difference that we did respond.
A couple of people a few years ago mentioned a scorcher of a review on yelp where they thought my point by point rebuttal left too many questions unanswered. Huh? "What really happened?" was what they asked on the phone or in person.
.

Honestly, they tell me that they love the way that I point by point devalue the reviewer's credibility. So we tend to get lots of guests that match our personalities and casual style wanting to come here... Most of the time... then there are those super reviewers who simply pick us because we are rated #1, not reading our responses, not realizing we defend our policies ...
Have gone through almost an entire ink cartridge now, passing edits back and forth to Poppa.....

 

[Madeleine]

Mama, so sorry you are dealing with this. It is hard, tugs on your very soul. We all work hard to build a great reputation and when someone feels slighted on policies they turn on every aspect of our business.
I am like you, I want to set the record straight in detail just as the reviewer had done. It is very hard for me not to write a book but I know it is not in the best use of the valuable space the reviewer has made for me.
My last response to a bad review went from over a full page down to a few short paragraphs once I edited it as my steam died to a simmer. I still posted it with too much info, but I am learning.

I agree that you should take time to read it over and over again as a possible guest. You don't need details, just facts.
'we have not accepted b&b.com gift cards for X yrs so would never have said we would. We believe this guest confused us with one of the many accommodations of her trip and due to that, nothing else seemed to be right'..

Actually, Copperhead, this does sum it up very very nicely; am still on the fence. We get tons of people who point out details of our reviews that don't seem significant at the time. They really do fixate on negatives: like despite tons of positive feedback on one room, someone said it was dark (on a cloudy day). So I keep hearing "is X room dark?" even though that review was last summer! In the past, all my other responses have been long, and I get nothing but compliments from guests who absolutely chose us because they feel we take the time and care enough to set the record straight with an original response. We have a very high percentage of due diligent TA guests. I am often amazed what they quote from our reviews. We have one shot at this and I want to make sure that we pre-emptively cover all bases.
.

That's the really odd thing about ta - we have tons of guests say "you have really good reviews!" And never mention our responses.
Reviewers will mention other reviews and things they know nothing about. But not that we responded to other reviews. Not even that it made a difference that we did respond.
A couple of people a few years ago mentioned a scorcher of a review on yelp where they thought my point by point rebuttal left too many questions unanswered. Huh? "What really happened?" was what they asked on the phone or in person.
.

Honestly, they tell me that they love the way that I point by point devalue the reviewer's credibility. So we tend to get lots of guests that match our personalities and casual style wanting to come here... Most of the time... then there are those super reviewers who simply pick us because we are rated #1, not reading our responses, not realizing we defend our policies ...
Have gone through almost an entire ink cartridge now, passing edits back and forth to Poppa.....
.

Have gone through almost an entire ink cartridge now, passing edits back and forth to Poppa.....

Email! No tree killing for this guest! ;-)

 

[Momma Smurf]

Mama, so sorry you are dealing with this. It is hard, tugs on your very soul. We all work hard to build a great reputation and when someone feels slighted on policies they turn on every aspect of our business.
I am like you, I want to set the record straight in detail just as the reviewer had done. It is very hard for me not to write a book but I know it is not in the best use of the valuable space the reviewer has made for me.
My last response to a bad review went from over a full page down to a few short paragraphs once I edited it as my steam died to a simmer. I still posted it with too much info, but I am learning.

I agree that you should take time to read it over and over again as a possible guest. You don't need details, just facts.
'we have not accepted b&b.com gift cards for X yrs so would never have said we would. We believe this guest confused us with one of the many accommodations of her trip and due to that, nothing else seemed to be right'..

Actually, Copperhead, this does sum it up very very nicely; am still on the fence. We get tons of people who point out details of our reviews that don't seem significant at the time. They really do fixate on negatives: like despite tons of positive feedback on one room, someone said it was dark (on a cloudy day). So I keep hearing "is X room dark?" even though that review was last summer! In the past, all my other responses have been long, and I get nothing but compliments from guests who absolutely chose us because they feel we take the time and care enough to set the record straight with an original response. We have a very high percentage of due diligent TA guests. I am often amazed what they quote from our reviews. We have one shot at this and I want to make sure that we pre-emptively cover all bases.
.

That's the really odd thing about ta - we have tons of guests say "you have really good reviews!" And never mention our responses.
Reviewers will mention other reviews and things they know nothing about. But not that we responded to other reviews. Not even that it made a difference that we did respond.
A couple of people a few years ago mentioned a scorcher of a review on yelp where they thought my point by point rebuttal left too many questions unanswered. Huh? "What really happened?" was what they asked on the phone or in person.
.

Honestly, they tell me that they love the way that I point by point devalue the reviewer's credibility. So we tend to get lots of guests that match our personalities and casual style wanting to come here... Most of the time... then there are those super reviewers who simply pick us because we are rated #1, not reading our responses, not realizing we defend our policies ...
Have gone through almost an entire ink cartridge now, passing edits back and forth to Poppa.....
.

Have gone through almost an entire ink cartridge now, passing edits back and forth to Poppa.....

Email! No tree killing for this guest! ;-)
.

TeeHee! Yup, we are now emailing, cause the printer is all confused!

 

[Copperhead]

Mama, so sorry you are dealing with this. It is hard, tugs on your very soul. We all work hard to build a great reputation and when someone feels slighted on policies they turn on every aspect of our business.
I am like you, I want to set the record straight in detail just as the reviewer had done. It is very hard for me not to write a book but I know it is not in the best use of the valuable space the reviewer has made for me.
My last response to a bad review went from over a full page down to a few short paragraphs once I edited it as my steam died to a simmer. I still posted it with too much info, but I am learning.

I agree that you should take time to read it over and over again as a possible guest. You don't need details, just facts.
'we have not accepted b&b.com gift cards for X yrs so would never have said we would. We believe this guest confused us with one of the many accommodations of her trip and due to that, nothing else seemed to be right'..

Actually, Copperhead, this does sum it up very very nicely; am still on the fence. We get tons of people who point out details of our reviews that don't seem significant at the time. They really do fixate on negatives: like despite tons of positive feedback on one room, someone said it was dark (on a cloudy day). So I keep hearing "is X room dark?" even though that review was last summer! In the past, all my other responses have been long, and I get nothing but compliments from guests who absolutely chose us because they feel we take the time and care enough to set the record straight with an original response. We have a very high percentage of due diligent TA guests. I am often amazed what they quote from our reviews. We have one shot at this and I want to make sure that we pre-emptively cover all bases.
.

That's the really odd thing about ta - we have tons of guests say "you have really good reviews!" And never mention our responses.
Reviewers will mention other reviews and things they know nothing about. But not that we responded to other reviews. Not even that it made a difference that we did respond.
A couple of people a few years ago mentioned a scorcher of a review on yelp where they thought my point by point rebuttal left too many questions unanswered. Huh? "What really happened?" was what they asked on the phone or in person.
.

Honestly, they tell me that they love the way that I point by point devalue the reviewer's credibility. So we tend to get lots of guests that match our personalities and casual style wanting to come here... Most of the time... then there are those super reviewers who simply pick us because we are rated #1, not reading our responses, not realizing we defend our policies ...
Have gone through almost an entire ink cartridge now, passing edits back and forth to Poppa.....
.

Honestly, they tell me that they love the way that I point by point devalue the reviewer's credibility. So we tend to get lots of guests that match our personalities and casual style wanting to come here... Most of the time... then there are those super reviewers who simply pick us because we are rated #1, not reading our responses, not realizing we defend our policies ...
Have gone through almost an entire ink cartridge now, passing edits back and forth to Poppa.....

But how many are you NOT hearing from/ not booking?
How about a happy medium? Sum it up quick and simple, then in very few words make bullet items of the things you feel really need to be addressed.

I know it is hard, as said I am a detail person myself but am trying hard to minimize before I loose the few that actually read!

 

[Momma Smurf]

Mama, so sorry you are dealing with this. It is hard, tugs on your very soul. We all work hard to build a great reputation and when someone feels slighted on policies they turn on every aspect of our business.
I am like you, I want to set the record straight in detail just as the reviewer had done. It is very hard for me not to write a book but I know it is not in the best use of the valuable space the reviewer has made for me.
My last response to a bad review went from over a full page down to a few short paragraphs once I edited it as my steam died to a simmer. I still posted it with too much info, but I am learning.

I agree that you should take time to read it over and over again as a possible guest. You don't need details, just facts.
'we have not accepted b&b.com gift cards for X yrs so would never have said we would. We believe this guest confused us with one of the many accommodations of her trip and due to that, nothing else seemed to be right'..

Actually, Copperhead, this does sum it up very very nicely; am still on the fence. We get tons of people who point out details of our reviews that don't seem significant at the time. They really do fixate on negatives: like despite tons of positive feedback on one room, someone said it was dark (on a cloudy day). So I keep hearing "is X room dark?" even though that review was last summer! In the past, all my other responses have been long, and I get nothing but compliments from guests who absolutely chose us because they feel we take the time and care enough to set the record straight with an original response. We have a very high percentage of due diligent TA guests. I am often amazed what they quote from our reviews. We have one shot at this and I want to make sure that we pre-emptively cover all bases.
.

That's the really odd thing about ta - we have tons of guests say "you have really good reviews!" And never mention our responses.
Reviewers will mention other reviews and things they know nothing about. But not that we responded to other reviews. Not even that it made a difference that we did respond.
A couple of people a few years ago mentioned a scorcher of a review on yelp where they thought my point by point rebuttal left too many questions unanswered. Huh? "What really happened?" was what they asked on the phone or in person.
.

Honestly, they tell me that they love the way that I point by point devalue the reviewer's credibility. So we tend to get lots of guests that match our personalities and casual style wanting to come here... Most of the time... then there are those super reviewers who simply pick us because we are rated #1, not reading our responses, not realizing we defend our policies ...
Have gone through almost an entire ink cartridge now, passing edits back and forth to Poppa.....
.

Honestly, they tell me that they love the way that I point by point devalue the reviewer's credibility. So we tend to get lots of guests that match our personalities and casual style wanting to come here... Most of the time... then there are those super reviewers who simply pick us because we are rated #1, not reading our responses, not realizing we defend our policies ...
Have gone through almost an entire ink cartridge now, passing edits back and forth to Poppa.....

But how many are you NOT hearing from/ not booking?
How about a happy medium? Sum it up quick and simple, then in very few words make bullet items of the things you feel really need to be addressed.

I know it is hard, as said I am a detail person myself but am trying hard to minimize before I loose the few that actually read!

.

Have pretty much summed it up now in my first paragraph... if anyone wishes to read beyond, it's there. Part of Trip Advisor's key advice in responding is to use the review as a means to tell more about yourselves and your property. In my rewrites, am taking advantage of that. The yadayada about our maps tells the guests the lengths we go out of our way to enhance their experience, etc, what they can expect when they arrive here. The part about our proximity to beaches, etc, continues to be informative and at the same time negates the reviewer. TA advises us to do this. I really wish you all would read the recent post by Puff-----in Inn in O#gun@quit. You truly grasp who they are AND it is much more detailed than mine. It most definitely lures the reader in. I will state this again, savvy TA readers read the negative responses FIRST and make judgments on the response by the innkeeper.

 

[Momma Smurf]

Mama, so sorry you are dealing with this. It is hard, tugs on your very soul. We all work hard to build a great reputation and when someone feels slighted on policies they turn on every aspect of our business.
I am like you, I want to set the record straight in detail just as the reviewer had done. It is very hard for me not to write a book but I know it is not in the best use of the valuable space the reviewer has made for me.
My last response to a bad review went from over a full page down to a few short paragraphs once I edited it as my steam died to a simmer. I still posted it with too much info, but I am learning.

I agree that you should take time to read it over and over again as a possible guest. You don't need details, just facts.
'we have not accepted b&b.com gift cards for X yrs so would never have said we would. We believe this guest confused us with one of the many accommodations of her trip and due to that, nothing else seemed to be right'..

Actually, Copperhead, this does sum it up very very nicely; am still on the fence. We get tons of people who point out details of our reviews that don't seem significant at the time. They really do fixate on negatives: like despite tons of positive feedback on one room, someone said it was dark (on a cloudy day). So I keep hearing "is X room dark?" even though that review was last summer! In the past, all my other responses have been long, and I get nothing but compliments from guests who absolutely chose us because they feel we take the time and care enough to set the record straight with an original response. We have a very high percentage of due diligent TA guests. I am often amazed what they quote from our reviews. We have one shot at this and I want to make sure that we pre-emptively cover all bases.
.

That's the really odd thing about ta - we have tons of guests say "you have really good reviews!" And never mention our responses.
Reviewers will mention other reviews and things they know nothing about. But not that we responded to other reviews. Not even that it made a difference that we did respond.
A couple of people a few years ago mentioned a scorcher of a review on yelp where they thought my point by point rebuttal left too many questions unanswered. Huh? "What really happened?" was what they asked on the phone or in person.
.

Honestly, they tell me that they love the way that I point by point devalue the reviewer's credibility. So we tend to get lots of guests that match our personalities and casual style wanting to come here... Most of the time... then there are those super reviewers who simply pick us because we are rated #1, not reading our responses, not realizing we defend our policies ...
Have gone through almost an entire ink cartridge now, passing edits back and forth to Poppa.....
.

Honestly, they tell me that they love the way that I point by point devalue the reviewer's credibility. So we tend to get lots of guests that match our personalities and casual style wanting to come here... Most of the time... then there are those super reviewers who simply pick us because we are rated #1, not reading our responses, not realizing we defend our policies ...
Have gone through almost an entire ink cartridge now, passing edits back and forth to Poppa.....

But how many are you NOT hearing from/ not booking?
How about a happy medium? Sum it up quick and simple, then in very few words make bullet items of the things you feel really need to be addressed.

I know it is hard, as said I am a detail person myself but am trying hard to minimize before I loose the few that actually read!

.

and here's another point (am often told I missed my life's calling as a lawyer due to my rebuttals)... do I really want guests here that are that judgmental? We shouldn't be held hostage to TA reviewers, something has to give. Someone has to have the guts to hold their ground. (can you tell that I was once upon a time a pioneer woman in corporate America who was told she couldn't become a GM because she had a baby and a new house and then went on to run that corporation's most profitable store?)

 

[Momma Smurf]

OK, this is why I wait 5 days without replying.