MONEY MORAL DILEMMA. Would you write a bad review about a friendly B&B? 1 May 2009 at 5:25PM edited 5 May 2009 at 5:26PM in Money Saving Polls 58 replies 14.3K views

MSE_Jenny

Here's this week's hypothetical situation for you to cogitate on:

Would you write a bad review about a friendly B&B?

You’re a keen hotel review website contributor, often using them to plan holidays (see the Cheap Hotels guide). You stay at a lovely B&B, run by a sweet, friendly couple. They mention the recession has hit business, and how grateful they are for the custom from review sites. All’s going well, until you spot three cockroaches in your room, and are so grossed out you leave the next day. You’d normally write a stingingly negative review straightaway, but feel a bit cruel, knowing it might affect the nice owners’ business.

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brightonman123

and so it should be bad-

recession or not, hygeine must have been very poor.

they have a duty to keep the pace clean, tidy and SAFE. goven the choice, which hotel would you go to? a clean one, or dirty one?

mrscb

I would leave an honest review.The whole point of these sites is to help people come to decisions about where to stay.You could also tell the owners what you found so they can do someting about it.

Gavin83

You can get cockroaches anywhere though, I've had them in really clean hotel rooms before. Never left a negative review for it though.

In fact I had a cockroach in my room at a hotel that was the #1 hotel in that particular city on tripadvisor, and it was a large popular city too. They were particularly nice about it but I didn't really see it as a problem and I'd stay there again given the chance.

Tarry

I would review the positive factors about the B&B, ie, the friendliness of the hosts, etc, but I think I would comment to the owners personally (ie, not on a review) about finding cockroaches in my room so they can contact pestcontrol and whatnot.

scotsbob

Depends how much of a discount they are going to give me to keep quiet about it.





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iank_2

Bad reviews can be very harmful for a Hotel or B&B , once the review is posted , it is there forever. Sometimes reviews are written without much thought of the impact that they may cause, sometimes they are just malicious.
I think it is fairer to bring complaints to the owners so that the problem can be sorted out then and there.
The internet can be a very powerful weapon if someone choses to use it as such.
:beer:

pennypinchUK

Cockroaches look for warm, damp conditions. While most people immediately think they only live in squalid conditions it's very possible for them to live in the cleanest of homes. If the B&B appeared clean it's probably as clean as your own home, and no more or no less likely to harbour cockroaches than your own house. So the best thing to do is to have a quiet word with the owners. If they immediately take action to resolve the problem then good on them - and that's something positive you can write up.

Writing a stinging review after the event, with the cover of anonymity, and without having given the owners a chance to correct the problem is churlish and somewhat cowardly.

jenniewb

Personally? bugs make me scream, I would have screamed when I saw one. Promting any service with good friendly customer service, to come to my rescue. I would expect to be offered a room at a later date, when the roachs had gone.

It would be on the second visit I would report on them to the website- and I would be honest the second time around- fully mentioning any cockroaches and if they had been cleaned and how quickly.

RolyRoly

I would have mentioned the cockroaches to the owners and discussed the situation with them. I would still have left and expect a full refund of the time stayed there. Then I would have wrtitten a balanced account of my stay as a review.

Other people can judge for themselves, I would simply report my experience. That's the whole point of review sites! If they're to be of any value, they need people to write accurate accounts of their customer experiences.

penarthian

When ever you recieve poor service you should give them the opportunity to put it right. If the food is cold in a resturant you would complain so how is this situation any different? Tell the owners what you have found. If they are as lovely as you think they are they will be very upset and take immediate steps to put it right. Once the problem has been solved the poor review would be unfair.