Braving the backlash

Q: In the last week or two, I have seen a couple of stories about hospitality businesses that have been outspoken in response to negative TripAdvisor reviews. Part of me applauds their stand and their attempt to overcome public naivety; part of me is a little shocked and worried this doesn’t reflect well on the industry. I was just wondering whether you have an opinion?

A: Just bringing the readers up to speed. Bennetts Café & Bistro in York issued a lengthy response to a one-star review it received after charging a customer for hot water with lemon. The post, which has since been removed by Tripadvisor, explained in detail the breakdown of costs invested in the ‘simple’ drink, including staff time, wages, overheads etc., justifying the charge. Similarly, owner of the How Do You Do Pub in North Shields issued a 1,000 word rebuttal to a guest who claimed staff were ‘abusive’ and that they let guests ‘take drugs’ at the venue. He called for better regulation of TripAdvisor reviews, saying “venues, small businesses and owners very rarely get to provide the sober reality of what happened”.

It is fair to say that whether you agree with the approach or not, both owners took a brave stand against what they perceived as unfair and biased public assessments of their businesses. It is a very difficult thing to judge, whether this approach is ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ and my honest opinion is that it’s simply not that black and white. Inevitably, there always has been and always will be a level of public naivety, which we face on a regular basis. I remember a number of bizarre complaints we received for our hotel (thankfully before TripAdvisor and widespread social media), including one guest who complained about the ‘noise of seagulls outside’ and one who complained of being cold in the night, yet slept with the window open mid-winter.

Ultimately, you need to make a personal decision whether this approach is for you and frankly, there isn’t a right or wrong approach, just a hard and an easy one. Keep your mouth shut, or vent your anger, but if you opt for the latter, make sure you’re taking into account the following:

• What really happened? In the case of the hot water with lemon, the guest really did have hot water with lemon and got charged. The story probably ends here with no ‘hidden’ exposé waiting in the wings. If however your staff are accused of being ‘abusive’ and you weren’t there yourself, you need to be damn sure it didn’t happen. Just as you suffer at the hands of social media and TripAdvisor, you can suffer even more at the hands of a smartphone and video, released in anger by the punter you reply to.
• What is the complaint about? I’m not here to judge the specifics of the two examples, but you need to try to rationally assess the ‘severity’ of the content in the post. There is a difference between it being ‘a bit noisy’, and a picture review of a lack of hygiene. If you’re not sure whether a review will affect your trade, take a straw poll of your friends and ask them whether it would affect their opinion of a potential hotel stay. This will help you gauge whether it is actually worth getting upset about – after all, nobody is perfect and your guests are subjective.
• Can you be fair and calm? This is a really difficult one; you have poured your heart and soul into the business, worked all sorts of hours, filled in for staff who’ve not bothered to turn up. The list goes on. If you have assessed the situation and feel you want to reply, then you need to ask yourself if you can do it calmly and rationally, without inflaming the situation further.
• Could you ride out further backlash? Whilst you can reduce the risk, you can never predict who might ‘kick off’, or how bad it might be, so you have to think about the worst case scenario. If there is a risk they have a negative photo or video, you aren’t sure what happened, or you don’t feel you’ll be able to stick by your arguments, don’t do it. Once you start, you have to see it through, right to the end. Do you really want to get started?
• Is it time to leave? This doesn’t relate to the review specifically, but something I would advise you to ask yourself is ‘should I leave’? This is not to say the review is true or even fair, however in reality usually less than 10% of guests are ‘bad’ ones and 90% are good.

Taking on a negative review and crafting a reply isn’t easy, particularly when it is your own business. Whatever happens, if you decide you simply have to reply then make sure it puts you and your business in the best possible light. If you’re not confident with the answer, but do want to reply, look for a crisis media manager, who may be able to give you advice or even right the response if it simply must be done.

This feature first appeared in the February 2016 issue of Hotel Owner.