M & A Rainmaker

TripAdvisor is a monster that is out of control and you know what happens to out of control monsters ??? They get shot !!

More and more people are joining the movement against TripAdvisor which allows people to post defamatory comments on it’s website and then denies any responsibility for them doing so.

Duncan Bannatyne is one of the more recent victims,

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/8277098/Duncan-Bannatyne-to-campaign-against-cowardly-TripAdvisor.html

and it must have come as a bit of a shock to him to find that even with all his money you can do very little to move TripAdvisor when it is on the rampage.

In general the comments on TripAdvisor are polarised towards those that are either trying to damage the business in question or those that are trying to defend it.

People only actually take the time to write on TripAdvisor when they have something they really want to say – whether good or bad.

Blackmail is commonplace with TripAdvisor would be posters threatening hospitality venues with ” a bad review ” unless they get ( whatever it is they feel like demanding – a discount, a free meal etc etc ).

However, when everyone realises that the comments on TripAdvisor are worthless pieces of make believe then what is the value of TripAdvisor ??

I feel sorry for all the hospitality business owners who can do nothing against the TripAdvisor monster.

When they try to respond to defamatory posts TripAdvisor delays or fails to post these responses. ( This is implicitly giving control and ” right ” to the defamers ).

Complaining to TripAdvisor  ( as Duncan Bannatyne found ) is next to worthless as they simply defend themselves like cornered rats.

My advice is to invest in a blogsite that complements your main website ( or is part of your main website ) and to understand how to SEO your blogsite to get it ranked for e.g. Reviews about ( The name of your establishment ).

As a powerful website TripAdvisor will always get ranked high itself by Google etc but this does not mean that you cannot rank alongside or ahead of it for certain search terms.

With your own blogsite you can respond in detail and in the way you want to to any posts put on TripAdvisor in a timeframe that suits you.

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g652382-d191629-Reviews-Bannatyne_s_Charlton_House_Spa_Hotel-Shepton_Mallet_Somerset_England.html

In common with many hospitality establishments around the world The Glan yr Afon Inn suffers from enemies of the business posting rude and defamatory reviews.

The main places that reviews on The Glan yr Afon Inn are published is on TripAdvisor and Booking.com.

Reviews posted on TripAdvisor are completely anonymous and anyone can post bad reviews. The sorts of people that do post reviews are typically ex staff members – chef’s and managers particularly. They disguise themselves as proper customers.

Although TripAdvisor says that it regulates reviews it does not. It is completely biased towards the public. Even though it gives the management of hospitality establishments the opportunity to respond to reviews it does not necessarily post those reviews citing that they do not conform to it’s guidelines.

Other articles have been written about TripAdvisor on this blogsite.

Reviews written about The Glan yr Afon Inn and other establishments would be fairer if the people that posted them were required to identify themselves instead of hiding behind aliases like the cowards that they are.

For another example of the damage that ex-staff can attempt to inflict on their previous employers look here

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g186438-d1746487-Reviews-We_Three_Loggerheads-Denbighshire_North_Wales_Wales.html

Most of the reviews that have been posted here are also completely untrue.

There are thousands and thousands of businesses who are being defamed by enemies.

TripAdvisor is going to be facing legal action soon over the defamatory remarks made on it’s website. See here

http://www.techeye.net/internet/travel-and-hotel-industry-gangs-up-on-tripadvisor

As they say ” On the Internet nobody knows that you are a dog “. On TripAdvisor nobody knows if you are a real customer or a friend of an ex-staff member doing their best to cause trouble.