When it comes to reviews, hotels are starting to fight back. They are taking a “particularly aggressive stance against anonymous reviews found on such sites as Yelp or Trip Advisor,” says The Washington Post.
Once the hotel has identifying information in hand it might thank the poster for the good review — perhaps with a gift basket.
In the case of a negative review, however, it might send an email asking for either a reconsideration or a chance to readdress what was wrong with the person’s stay, according to the newspaper.
“A negative review could earn a poster a black mark in the guest database. Such tactics, though – on both extremes – could backfire against the industry,” says the newspaper.
Efforts by the hotel to pressure a guest to remove a negative review — or reward a guest for a positive one — would be seen as fraudulent by both TripAdvisor and consumers, says April Robb, a spokeswoman for TripAdvisor.
Hotels should try to answer negative reviews even if they don’t know who posted them, according to Daniel Edward Craig, a former hotel general manager turned consultant.
"Some would say that online reviews deserve even more time than internal surveys, as the feedback is just as — if not more — valuable, and the impact is public," he said.
His advice includes responding to any feedback that is damaging to a hotel’s reputation, even if simply to acknowledge the issue and apologize.
Also, don’t fear negative reviews, a Forrester Research report advises.
Forrester recently evaluated 4,000 reviews in the Electronics and Home & Garden categories on the Amazon.com site and found that more than 80 percent of the reviews were positive — and the negative reviews were generally considered helpful to consumers.
While the data was derived from a retail website, Forrester says these findings are applicable to any vertical site from travel to auto, financial services, or healthcare.
By David Wilkening
