The monolith that is Trip Advisor is apparently subject to the threat of legal action!  This threat has apparently come from an internet marketing and reputational protection company called Kwikchex.  They are claiming that amongst many holiday review websites, Trip advisor allows the posting of ‘unverified’ travel reviews.  They also claim that that ‘entirely false’ comments are made on ‘food poisoning; accusations of criminal acts; including theft, assault and racism; Misleading and malicious descriptions of the property’ are amongst those found on Trip Advisor.  They also provide other related complaints against Trip Advisor.  It appears that they are forming a group action of affected hotel properties and they state that;

“Many specific cases have been prepared, and particular instances of serious, unproven allegations and misleading information generated by TripAdvisor have been identified and if necessary will be used in a legal challenge”.

Trip Advisors response to this news was perhaps characteristic in that they did not comment on the intended litigation.

Travel review websites are big businesses and provides for interesting findings about their operation and ownership.  They also highlight the potential financial liability you could face if you place a false review!

We thought that it would be interesting and helpful to holidaymakers reading this article, to review the mainstream travel review websites used by most holidaymakers.

Trip Advisor:

We can see that Trip Advisor is part of the Expedia Inc.  Within Trip Advisors control are the following travel provider (some with links into the reviews on Trip Advisor) & travel review websites:

1. Airfarewatchdog;
2. Bookingbuddy;
3. Cruisecritic;
4. Familyvacationcritic;
5. Flipkey;
6. Frequentflier;
7. Holidaylettings;
8. Holidaywatchdog;
9. Independenttraveler;
10. Onetime;
11. Seatguru;
12. Smartertravel;
13. Travel-library;
14. Travelpod;
15. Virtualtourist;
16. Kuxun;
17. Daodao.

We can see that they claim some 50 million visitors a month across the entire brand and that they hold 35 million ‘reviews and opinions’.

The site also has very comprehensive terms of use, posting guidelines and content policy pages; amongst many issues it considers fraudulent activity to also include the pressuring of a member of their site to remove a negative review.  A breach of any of the terms of the website could see you being held responsible for damages and costs payable by Trip Advisor in any claim made!

HolidaysUncovered:

The Holidays-Uncovered review site is owned and operated by TUI UK Limited.  Again there is an extensive set of terms and conditions of use of the website along with the conditions for submitting reviews.  Understandably, they expect genuine reviews and by posting on that website you warrant this is the case and if you are found to have breached their ‘warranties’, you agree to indemnify TUI for any damages as a result of any breach!

RealHolidayReports:

RealHolidayReports appear to be independently owned with a registered office in Merseyside.  The terms on the site indicate that the reviews are those of the holidaymakers, and again, that you will indemnify them ‘from all liabilities’ arising from the use of the site and any post you make therein, that gives rise to a legal action!

Holidaytruths:

(holiday-truth) states, ‘We’re 100% independent’.  The formal terms and conditions are brief and appear to contain no indemnity clause.  When you attempt to place a review on the site, there is a brief notice which confirms the issues raised in the terms and conditions highlighting how posts are made and the ‘etiquette’ rules on what is not acceptable. 

Having read these websites and their terms and conditions, you have to ask the question why people make their reviews. 

A cursory glance of any of these travel review websites reveals that in fact the majority of reviews are indeed positive!  Holidaymakers are indeed motivated to provide positive reviews where they believe that they have received good service and value for money.  Why shouldn’t they; everyone loves a happy ending?

Where however, the experience is not so enjoyable, shouldn’t the holidaymaker also be entitled to freely express his or her opinion?  We have recently spoken to one holidaymaker who claimed that she was ‘shouted’ down by people in one forum, simply because she offered a balanced, but negative review of her experience.  Indeed, you can often see the comments, ‘Ignore the bad reviews’ which are sometimes personal and dismissive of the experience of that holidaymaker!  This is what we call the ‘groupie’ effect; where ‘positive’ like minded holidaymakers appear to band together to drown out a point of view that tarnish their memories.  In those circumstances you are bound to ask, what motivates such reviewers who appear to hunt in packs through the various travel review websites?

We also note the tendency of hoteliers placing their response to reviews, who search the internet for comment, and again, often ‘shouting down’ the holidaymaker making the negative comment, ignoring the many points they have raised in their complaints (I note from the Kwikchex website that there is some suggestion of lack of space to make a meaningful comment provided by one travel review website).

Interestingly, Kwikchex claim that their research suggests that 60% of ‘online accusations of food poisoning are probably false’.  It would be interesting to see the publication of that research, but in light of our own work we question how that can be so, when so many of the same hotels, the same resorts, crop up year after year with the same holiday illness complaints?

Consider this case study on so-called DIY or Dynamically Packaged Holiday Complaints – do these holidaymakers deserve to sit in silence, not band together or not have their holiday claims resolved?

We also note that Kwikchex want to create windows of opportunity for consumers to report matters to local health authorities.  That is indeed laudable, however, a case in point relates to a hotel in Turkey which for 6 years running produced serious holiday illness complaints.  We wrote 3 letters to the Turkish Ambassador in 2009, requesting his assistance to bring this problem hotel to the attention of the Turkish Health & Tourist Authorities’ – One Year on we are still waiting for a response (don’t worry we haven’t given up on this issue yet!)

This year we called for urgent action by the Egyptian Tourist & Health Authorities to deal with the growing problem of illness in hotels – we are still waiting to hear if any action was taken!

It might also be appropriate to reflect on the practice of some tour companies to take charge of ‘medical bills’ in resort, with doctor’s often prescribing anti-biotics for ‘viral’ or other undetermined illnesses or ‘negative’ results from stool samples.  We should also consider the role of UK GP’s who faced with a holidaymaker who has been prescribed with anti-biotics will often not order a stool sample test; some doctors dismiss the test altogether stating that their illnesses will settle after a few days!  We work closely with Environmental Health Officers and often receive guidance from them – I doubt that many would recognise the issues quoted as being relevant to the many cases that are common between us.  We should also ask why tour operators frequently fail to answer EHO correspondence highlighting the serious health and safety issues found in some hotels.  On the question of the Health Protection Agency (HPA), we wonder why they do not promote a more proactive stance on stool sample testing, from all returning holidaymakers who are ill, this would surely identify problems from a given location at an early stage; surely the HPA is the correct body to liaise with foreign health authorities?

Consider also our survey which estimated the cost of returning holiday illness to the UK at over £200m per annum and some several billion Euros across the EU!

It might also be timely to review the report and other reports we have submitted to the EU Commission et al on Consumer Rights – the anonymised stories, written by the holidaymakers themselves, without reference to hotels, tour companies etc provide sober reading – the stories this 2010 holiday season are no less depressing for consumers!

We would urge care on the issue of what is perceived to be false reviews or claims, if serious efforts are to be made to create a new portal for consumer opinion, then it must not alienate those with negative comments nor lead them to settle any justified claim at a less than appropriate level!

In the fifteen years that I have operated in this field and the many thousands of holidaymakers I have spoken to, I can honestly say that I have only dealt with one suspected holiday claimant and he was dispatched very quickly!

So where are all these ‘fraudulent’ holidaymakers, or is it really the case that the travel industry is so hungry that it has started to feed on itself and its own fears?  Is the consumer actually the red herring?

Let’s be clear about this, quite obviously Kwikchex are creating a pressure group to change the very nature of how reviews are posted with the possibility of legal action in reserve!

Is there anything objectionable to what they propose to lobby on? Here are their main points:

1. Improved management response facilities – no problem there!
2. Auto-deletion of reviews older than 2 years – no problem there except where a hotel consistently provides holiday illness complaints, should not that record be available for everyone to view?
3. Deletion of reviews where the problem has been resolved – what about mass illness cases that have run for several years, should not that record be available for everyone to view?
4. Qualification that reviewers are anonymous and unverified – No problem there, but how is verification going to be achieved?
5. Screen out keywords such as poisoning, theft etc – That is controlling the message and affects the very freedom of expression we take for granted – anyway if you are going to verify contributors what is the problem?  This is probably the most worrying proposal!
6. Stop the use of broadcast e mails highlighting best/worst hotels – We have never understood the value of these as they often refer to destinations most British Holidaymakers will never visit.
7. An improved response system for owners – We consider the response system questionnaire should mirror that of consumers found on most travel review websites.  We support the right to respond, however caveats should be posted next to such reviews highlighting, that disputes are never resolved through such portals and that consumers should seek independent advices!

So is there anything wrong with the current travel review structure, is it something we can trust, or should we take care from suggestions that could potentially restrict genuine reviews – are these proposals a serious threat to internet freedom by corporate control?  Only time and perhaps the courts will tell!

Tags: holiday complaints, Holiday Illness Claims, Holiday Review Sites, Hotel Food Poisoning Claims, hotel sickness, negative reviews, reputation management, Travel Industry Political Lobbying

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 7th, 2010 at 5:04 pm and is filed under Holiday Compensation, Political Lobbying, The Crows Nest. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.