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TripAdvisor, the allegedly unbiased, user generated review site, is admitting they are having problems with fake reviews.
It would seem that some hotels have taken it upon themselves to write glowing reviews of their own properties, skewing the reader's perception along with that hotel's position in TripAdvisor's rankings. Additionally, these reviews also hurt TripAdvisor's credibility; how can a reader trust any review if some of those reviews are known to be fraudulent? For the record, writing bogus reviews of the Outrigger Maui Eldorado is not a practice in which I encourage or engage.
There have also been reports of competitors writing negative reviews of neighboring properties in order to steer business their way.
You can rely on TripAdvisor reviews if you'd like but my experience with this company leads me to believe that they are more concerned with the number of reviews on their site than on the quality of those reviews.
Every once in a while, a non-rental guest will post a review of a non-Outrigger managed unit under the Outrigger Maui Eldorado heading. Getting these wrong reviews removed is a lengthy process; it takes TripAdvisor up to a week following my notification to remove the review pending investigation. Meanwhile, anyone looking for the Outrigger Maui Eldorado assumes that the bad non-rental review belongs to us. It is appalling that anyone can post a comment like "just call a non-rental owner to get a better deal than you can get through Outrigger" and the "impartial" folks at TripAdvisor think there's nothing wrong with that!
Clearly, the folks at TripAdvisor do not understand the way in which vacation condominiums work, nor do they care to learn that there are any number of management companies here at the Maui Eldorado. It is impossible to actually talk to anyone at TripAdvisor; my phone calls to their office go unreturned. The decision about whether to leave a review under our name is final - there is no appeal process. Replies to their emails are met with a message saying that their decision is final.
If TripAdvisor were a more credible operation, if they understood how we do business and if they were willing to consider that they may not be right all of the time, their reviews would carry more weight with me. As it is, TripAdvisor is really no more than the National Enquirer of hotel review sites - believe what you read there at your own risk.
1 comment:
Bill
By the same token you have posted uncomplimentary and inaccurate comments about private rentals at the Maui Eldorado. Especially when someone posts a positive review of a private rental
The pot should not call the kettle black.
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