Rant: Fake TripAdvisor Reviews

[athena53]

Can you please take me to Paris? Mrs Scrapr is tired of my prattling on about going back. Trip to Greece? Why we could connect through CDG. And as long as we are here....

The trip may not be long enough to suit you- my primary destination is Edinburgh but I found that a nonstop round trip to Paris from there was only $185. Sold!

 

[marko]

Here is what I worry about with on-line reviews:

We were once staying in a very high end hotel. We were having breakfast one morning and there were two young women at the next table who were obviously unhappy with just about everything.

One of them loudly commented: "Look! Even the orange juice has stuff floating around in it!!".

The waiter politely informed her that it was fresh squeezed orange juice and the 'stuff' was pulp from the orange. Seems she had never had fresh OJ and thought there was something wrong with it.

So some complaints are justified and others are from people who just don't know good from bad.

 

[NoiseBoy]

I used to like Trip Advisor. Now, it is only about activities that cost money. We just got back from Marin County, CA, where there is a lot of hiking, biking, and exploring to be had on public lands. One would think some of these opportunities, like favorite trails and bike routes would be reflected and discussed in the Things To Do menu. No, the only entries were for paid tours to the redwoods and wineries. I’m done the site, I think.

I wondered about this very thing. It used to be easy to find great top ten things to do lists on TA for my vacation destinations, but now it is much harder to tease that kind of information from their website. I've taken to relying on Rick Steves' books and website as my primary sources. I've also switched to staying in Airbnbs instead of hotels, so I don't need the hotel reviews from TA anymore either.

 

[Scrapr]

The trip may not be long enough to suit you- my primary destination is Edinburgh but I found that a nonstop round trip to Paris from there was only $185. Sold!

My Grandpa was from Edinburgh!!!

Just California dreaming right now as Mrs recovers from major surgery. Thinking about Sept travel but I'm not sure if she is going to be ready. Which probably pushes it out to Spring. Maybe a few short trips and such to see how she does

 

[braumeister]

I'll be in Edinburgh in August. DW has always wanted to see the famous Edinburgh Tattoo. I got tickets for the opening evening, so it should be fun.

 

[audreyh1]

Here is what I worry about with on-line reviews:

We were once staying in a very high end hotel. We were having breakfast one morning and there were two young women at the next table who were obviously unhappy with just about everything.

One of them loudly commented: "Look! Even the orange juice has stuff floating around in it!!".

The waiter politely informed her that it was fresh squeezed orange juice and the 'stuff' was pulp from the orange. Seems she had never had fresh OJ and thought there was something wrong with it.

So some complaints are justified and others are from people who just don't know good from bad.

Oh, I run across reviews like that often, but they are easy to spot.

But all of this is a reminder that you actually have to read the reviews rather than looking at overall average score type numbers.

 

[akck]

I look more at the forums. I believe you get honest recommendations from posters. It would be difficult for hotel or activity to just find a bad recommendation since most threads start out non-specific.

 

[CoolRich59]

So some complaints are justified and others are from people who just don't know good from bad.

Good point. Sometimes negative reviews say more about the reviewer than the place they're reviewing.

They can also be useful depending on how the owner or representative responds to such negative reviews. I've seen responses that are so gracious that I am more impressed than I am by the positive reviews. (On the other hand, there is a car wash near me where the owner insults negative reviewers!! )

Here are some examples for your enjoyment:

Comment from John N. of Grand Prix Car Wash
Business Owner 4/25/2018
It clearly states in our menu online and in store, that dog hair is a minimum charge of $24.95, plus the cost of the car wash. It's a car wash and not a detail. I also don't appreciate you calling up and threatening to ruin my business. Take you business elsewhere as you will not be allowed to wash your car here anymore.

Comment from John N. of Grand Prix Car Wash
Business Owner 3/13/2011
You are lying!!! The reason it took so long is because I went to Yelp first, but they are a joke. Speaking of Jerks, just look at all your reviews. All you do is leave bad reviews!!! What is wrong?? Were you late and figured you could just bully someone into opening the car wash back up. You never answered the question. Why can you come on yelp and give bad reviews to everyone and not pull up a map. Or did you pull up the map and YOU can't figure out east from west.

Comment from John N. of Grand Prix Car Wash
Business Owner 11/7/2013
... Seems like you're the one that sucks, Skyler. I was going to use "sux" like you did but I stopped spelling it that way at 10.

So you spent 70 dollars on a wash? My highest wash is $29.95. I have a feeling that you came in to complain about the wash, that's how you know my name. I also have a feeling that you were asking for something to be cleaned, that you didn't pay for. When I called you out on it, you came to Yelp to write your BS review.

We are an A+ rated business with the BBB. That's because the BBB actually investigates a claim unlike your buddies here at Yelp. This comment will now stay on your page, so others can see your racist and blackmailing comments. Stay classy Skyler.

 

[gayl]

Good point. Sometimes negative reviews say more about the reviewer than the place they're reviewing.

They can also be useful depending on how the owner or representative responds to such negative reviews. I've seen responses that are so gracious that I am more impressed than I am by the positive reviews. (On the other hand, there is a car wash near me where the owner insults negative reviewers!! )

Recently (like last 2 yrs) I sort from lowest to highest review. I want to know if what others view as subpar (gym, pool, bar) ect are important to me

I also read that 4☆ on Uber / lift are a cause to discharge. Frankly with those I just want to know promptness / vehicle safe.

 

[Amethyst]

I have not heard that. I usually give 5 stars b/c many of the drivers are struggling youngsters/oldsters who need a job, but I would give 4 stars if the car was very dirty (I had to sit in Cheetos dust once). People need to realize that if they are going to drive a cab, they have to clean it once in a while.

I also read that 4☆ on Uber / lift are a cause to discharge. Frankly with those I just want to know promptness / vehicle safe.

 

[gayl]

https://www.buzzfeed.com/carolineodonovan/the-fault-in-five-stars?utm_term=.tmRYn225x#.bkWLKDDVl

 

[Red Badger]

I have not heard that. I usually give 5 stars b/c many of the drivers are struggling youngsters/oldsters who need a job, but I would give 4 stars if the car was very dirty (I had to sit in Cheetos dust once). People need to realize that if they are going to drive a cab, they have to clean it once in a while.

Most of my Uber rides have been good to great. But I had one a while back that included fairly loud rap [-]music[/-]. I felt generous with my 3 star rating.

 

[Scrapr]

I have not heard that. I usually give 5 stars b/c many of the drivers are struggling youngsters/oldsters who need a job, but I would give 4 stars if the car was very dirty (I had to sit in Cheetos dust once). People need to realize that if they are going to drive a cab, they have to clean it once in a while.

I have been in Ubers that have a small cleaning kit in the car. In Amsterdam the van was very very clean. He handed us a water and carried our bags

 

[bUU]

Hmm, I never looked at it that way. When the burger joint goes to the top of the list, I just figure it's because [assuming an equal level of fidelity across all reviews] the burgers must be stupendous, whereas the foo-food and accompanying service is, considering its much higher price, just so-so.

I agree. There's a difference between "grade" and "quality". Something can be lower grade and higher quality because it satisfies the expectations of that grade better. https://pmstudycircle.com/2012/04/grade-versus-quality-definitions-and-difference-between-them/

Because they make more money not doing it. Sufficient knowledge for the consumer to engage in a transaction might be good for the free market but it is anathema to profits and running a business. Let the buyer beware. That's the business model

Very true. TripAdvisor used to be more useful, but it has trended down into the same quagmire as all other online reviewing sites that don't adequately vet their reviewers.

Amateur reviews have their place, but without the ability to calibrate the reviewer to your own specifications and preferences it's a craps shoot. So it isn't necessarily important that a reviewer has a lot of reviews, but rather that they have enough reviews so that they've reviewed some things for which you have personal experience. If their assessments of those things matches your own, then I would consider their assessments of other things reliable. Otherwise, I would ignore their subjective assessments, good/bad/indifferent, and rely solely on objective details: "Yes they have escargots." "No, they don't have valet parking."

That’s because Trip Advisor owns Viator who consolidates most of these paid for tours. Horrible conflict of interest!

It is interesting what TripAdvisor owns.

TripAdvisor Media Group operates 25 travel brands including TripAdvisor, Airfarewatchdog, BookingBuddy, Citymaps, Cruise Critic, Family Vacation Critic, FlipKey, GateGuru, Holiday Lettings, Holiday Watchdog, Independent Traveler, Jetsetter, lafourchette, Niumba, OneTime, SeatGuru, SmarterTravel, Tingo, TravelPod, Tripbod, VacationHomeRentals, Viator, and VirtualTourist.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TripAdvisor​

 

[athena53]

It is interesting what TripAdvisor owns.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TripAdvisor​

Wow- I had no idea their web was that wide. No wonder they're now sending me e-mails asking me to rate recent flights. After I returned from my last trip and posted a lot of hotel and attraction reviews for India and Nepal, I must have gotten 5 e-mails asking me to review a recent flight. I ignored them. I'd find flight reviews almost useless. On-time stats are good, but so many factors affect an individual flight that other ratings probably wouldn't be representative of what I could expect on my particular flight.

 

[dtbach]

I did a lot of reviews on TripAdvisor. But then realized I don't get anything out of it. Stopped immediately. Still get emails about being a 5 star level or whatever that means. Why should I give a 5 star review when another idiot gives a 1 star. They all end up being useless. Yelp and others included.

 

[kcowan]

I was invited to be a destination expert. I asked what was in it for me? They said nothing. I gave up shortly after.

 

[JoeWras]

Thought I'd drop my experience in here on this thread instead of starting a new one.

I ran into a seriously gamed review on Amazon this week. 200+ reviews, ALL 5 star! NONE "verified purchase." I did not buy this product because it was so obviously gamed. In the last few days, people are responding who did buy it, are now listed as "verified purchase" and are not happy.

You'd think Amazon, with its powerful big data engines could smoke this out. Oh, one more thing. The names of the reviewers are just a bit off. I can't put my finger on it, but I just know they are fake. A random click on these "reviewers" shows they give 5 stars to everything they review, all in the last month or so.

https://www.amazon.com/SNEINO-Menis...07G7ZQ966/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

 

[COcheesehead]

Thought I'd drop my experience in here on this thread instead of starting a new one.

I ran into a seriously gamed review on Amazon this week. 200+ reviews, ALL 5 star! NONE "verified purchase." I did not buy this product because it was so obviously gamed. In the last few days, people are responding who did buy it, are now listed as "verified purchase" and are not happy.

You'd think Amazon, with its powerful big data engines could smoke this out. Oh, one more thing. The names of the reviewers are just a bit off. I can't put my finger on it, but I just know they are fake. A random click on these "reviewers" shows they give 5 stars to everything they review, all in the last month or so.

https://www.amazon.com/SNEINO-Menis...07G7ZQ966/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

Some are verified purchases, but the names are still funny. I think you can assign our own handle to a review though.

 

[Aerides]

Amazon has been cracking down on this a lot in the past year. They banned "paid reviews" and discounted purchase reviews. Used to be a whole 2nd market where you could go and buy new items for a penny, if you promised a review. There were entire companies that ran services to gain reviews. Reviews are a big driver of amazon's search algorithm, so of course are big business.

Lately with the crackdown amazon is removing both legit and fake reviews, but still, their bots have to catch a pattern to do it.

My favorite is when the internet gets on board with a joke review, like these "lady pens":
https://www.amazon.com/BIC-Cristal-1-0mm-Black-MSLP16-Blk/product-reviews/B004F9QBE6

 

[REWahoo]

Fakespot.com agrees with your assessment. Gave the reviews an "F" grade.

https://www.fakespot.com/product/kn...aces-for-women-men-running-knee-support-brace

 

[JoeWras]

Some are verified purchases, but the names are still funny. I think you can assign our own handle to a review though.

I actually expect funny names. The suspect reviews had too many official sounding names. That's what bothered me!

Fakespot.com agrees with your assessment. Gave the reviews an "F" grade.

https://www.fakespot.com/product/kn...aces-for-women-men-running-knee-support-brace

Ah, yes. Thanks for the reminder. We talked about that when this thread was first active.

It deserves every bit of the F. Pure crap.

The product I bought had "B" rated reviews. They seem to be spot on with my initial experience.

 

[deserat]

I tend to look at the lowest reviews to see if they are valid...I then work my way up from there. I narrow my list and then go to their specific site of some other forum to gain more info. For hotels, many times I rely on travel guide books.

I am fortunate in that I have options and friends in most places I go, so I can either stay with them or ask them for advice.

However, to the OP, yes, the signal to noise ratio has significantly decreased for many things online....caveat emptor.

This site/forum has a very high SNR...hence my frequent visits. ☺

 

[brett]

We have seen lots...especially in Turkey and in Thailand.

Now, we look for reviews by Australian travellers. They tend to be similar to us and we have an understanding of how the speak/write.

Some of the fake reviews are so easy to spot.