How much do we weigh reviews that we see online?
Recently my husband and I decided to take a somewhat spur of the moment trip with our children for a long weekend. The location that was chosen is one we have been to a small handful of times and had a good idea of what the girls would like. After tickets were purchased for a football game and checking availability of tourist locations, we moved on to booking a hotel room. My husband naturally booked the hotel that we had stayed in twice before that was in the perfect location between the football stadium and the sightseeing. We had stayed at this slightly outdated hotel in 2015 and 2019, but that was pre-pandemic. So I went online after he told me where we were staying and I was not pleased by the reviews that greeted me online.
Let’s say that not only were there a lot of reviews, but most of them were really awful for this hotel we have stay at in the past. So terrible in fact, we changed our reservations to a different place altogether. Both of us want our children to stay in a clean room, but all the bad reviews referred to, but not limited to mold, feces, unmentionable hairs, stains and strong animal odors. My husband who likes to save when appropriate to, was willing to spend more just for the peace of mind. I felt bad not showing loyalty to a place that had been good to us in the past, but a dozen or two of the most recent reviews would have clearly been too much for a good night sleep prior to the stay.
Typically when I am looking at reviews, I select the option for the most recent ones and look over a couple of months worth. I also check to see if there is any repeat complainers in the reviews to make sure that the comment pool is not tainted by one person with a grievance against that business. When I am looking at car dealerships, doctors or things I find to be important, there is definitely an interest on my end to look to see what people said. In the case of the hotel, the reviews mattered to us and unfortunately for that business, we took our money elsewhere out of concern.
