The best thing I've heard said about this whole review culture is that we're now expected to be the unpaid marketing intern in the company's publicity department.. (I wish I could remember who said this, because it's brilliant and I wish it had been me.)
I've stopped leaving reviews entirely. It takes too much mental energy that I need to save for my actual creative work...
"I had a wonderful stay in this great property, and Myrtle was the perfect hostess oh my god the bathroom almost killed me stay away I can't believe how great the whole experience was and I'm sure it will meet your expectations too. Thanks for a fabulous time and please write me a nice review!"
Review inflation is absolutely a real thing and it drives us crazy. I actually think it started with the hotel booking sites where the ratings start with "Exceptional" and the euphemisms get slightly less enthusiastic until you get to "Nice" which is usually a descriptor for accommodations that are an appliance box under a bridge. Side note...I Executive Produced a television special with Shelley and she was just a delight. She told me that Stanley was running out of money when they were shooting "The Shining" and the studio would not give him any more so he drew advances on the budget and put the cash into short term CDs to increase the amount he had to shoot. Go figure :)
I run an Airbnb and reviews blight my life. Older people don’t get the 5* thing unless it is perfection and I don’t blame them. I’ve never asked for a review, good or bad, from anyone
Dying here… not like Shelley Duval dying 🤪 That was about the funniest thing I’ve read in years! I give you guys a 10-star rating. Or better yet an 11 … on par with This is Spinal Tap. Thank you both for making my day!
There aren't enough "laugh" emojis to show how hilarious this was. I've been reading hotel reviews lately in lieu of a trip and it's amazing what people complain about. A hangnail would require a trip to the ER, for pete's sake. No wonder they want 4.6 or higher just to compensate for the whiners.
If you’ve never seen the Black Mirror episode “Nosedive” … well, once you’ve seen it there’s no more to be said about reviews and where they’re taking us. Which of course Black Mirror specializes in — taking current technology to its logical if absurd and terrifying ending.
I’ve never grasped the mental process behind the reviewing and rating process by guests, nor the expectations from owners. A recent review I came across:
“The room smells, the sheets are not changed, the sink is dead, the water in the bucket is not clean, the bathroom is dirty, there are cigarette butts, the owner doesn't want to accept orders from the online platform, so you have to pay again when you arrive at the place.”
Oh my gosh. Brent, your commentary on reviews and your hierarchy systems had me in stitches. Thanks for the laughs on the matter; I appreciate your comedic take on all this. I'm glad people are seeing the current state of review culture as ridiculous. Reviews themselves are valuable, but they are wholly unregulated save for extreme cases.
I worked in Social Media Content Management years ago (mostly design, advertising, marketing), but when 'Review Management' was added to my plate I stepped away. Reviews transitioned from helpful feedback to advertising, destabilization of consumer choice, and market control. Businesses have weaponized them to mimic the hotel industry's pricing tiers, middle management relies on them to replace the cost of supervising employees (like cashiers, associates, etc), and customers become conditioned to be amazed by mediocrity. Just as 5-star reviews = acceptable, 1-star reviews are more likely to be seen as 'unreasonable' unless colossal failure occurs among a high percentage of users - especially when facing a overwhelming wall of 5-star reviews.
Customer voice and power over businesses has been reduced greatly, once again. It's all about leveraging, and all about money. *sigh*
Ha! This was brilliant!! I've never stayed in an Airbnb that deserved 5 stars. Even if I enjoyed for the most part, something was always wrong. The worst was walking into one that hadn't even been flipped from the last guests. Like, the bedding was just piled up beside the wash machine. Bare mattresses.
I can't believe the balls of essentially telling guests they're assholes if they don't leave 5 stars 🤣
Thank you for the good laugh this morning. This type of review inflation has been around for years. Review culture has gotten so bad, you cannot tell what the truth is anymore. I cannot count the times I have heard a business tell a customer if they cannot leave five stars, not to leave a review at all. I worked in home construction, and at the first walk through the homeowner manual plainly stated anything less than 5 stars IS a bad review... and this goes back over 20 years.
Makes my blood boil, signs like that do. What Airbnb needs to do is standardise their rating system (and show the key at every stage during the review process) so that everyone always knows what the stars mean.
What If We Reviewed Everything Like We're Now Supposed to Review Airbnbs?
The best thing I've heard said about this whole review culture is that we're now expected to be the unpaid marketing intern in the company's publicity department.. (I wish I could remember who said this, because it's brilliant and I wish it had been me.)
I've stopped leaving reviews entirely. It takes too much mental energy that I need to save for my actual creative work...
"I had a wonderful stay in this great property, and Myrtle was the perfect hostess oh my god the bathroom almost killed me stay away I can't believe how great the whole experience was and I'm sure it will meet your expectations too. Thanks for a fabulous time and please write me a nice review!"
Loved this. Loved the Shelley Duvall theme. 😂
Review inflation is absolutely a real thing and it drives us crazy. I actually think it started with the hotel booking sites where the ratings start with "Exceptional" and the euphemisms get slightly less enthusiastic until you get to "Nice" which is usually a descriptor for accommodations that are an appliance box under a bridge. Side note...I Executive Produced a television special with Shelley and she was just a delight. She told me that Stanley was running out of money when they were shooting "The Shining" and the studio would not give him any more so he drew advances on the budget and put the cash into short term CDs to increase the amount he had to shoot. Go figure :)
I run an Airbnb and reviews blight my life. Older people don’t get the 5* thing unless it is perfection and I don’t blame them. I’ve never asked for a review, good or bad, from anyone
Dying here… not like Shelley Duval dying 🤪 That was about the funniest thing I’ve read in years! I give you guys a 10-star rating. Or better yet an 11 … on par with This is Spinal Tap. Thank you both for making my day!
I completely disagree with this. Cannibalism should always get ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐.
This was laugh out loud funny and a great start to my day!
There aren't enough "laugh" emojis to show how hilarious this was. I've been reading hotel reviews lately in lieu of a trip and it's amazing what people complain about. A hangnail would require a trip to the ER, for pete's sake. No wonder they want 4.6 or higher just to compensate for the whiners.
If you’ve never seen the Black Mirror episode “Nosedive” … well, once you’ve seen it there’s no more to be said about reviews and where they’re taking us. Which of course Black Mirror specializes in — taking current technology to its logical if absurd and terrifying ending.
Hilarious. And so true! How can we trust a platform with so many false and inflated reviews?
I’ve never grasped the mental process behind the reviewing and rating process by guests, nor the expectations from owners. A recent review I came across:
“The room smells, the sheets are not changed, the sink is dead, the water in the bucket is not clean, the bathroom is dirty, there are cigarette butts, the owner doesn't want to accept orders from the online platform, so you have to pay again when you arrive at the place.”
Title of review?
“Acceptable.”
🤷♂️
Oh my gosh. Brent, your commentary on reviews and your hierarchy systems had me in stitches. Thanks for the laughs on the matter; I appreciate your comedic take on all this. I'm glad people are seeing the current state of review culture as ridiculous. Reviews themselves are valuable, but they are wholly unregulated save for extreme cases.
I worked in Social Media Content Management years ago (mostly design, advertising, marketing), but when 'Review Management' was added to my plate I stepped away. Reviews transitioned from helpful feedback to advertising, destabilization of consumer choice, and market control. Businesses have weaponized them to mimic the hotel industry's pricing tiers, middle management relies on them to replace the cost of supervising employees (like cashiers, associates, etc), and customers become conditioned to be amazed by mediocrity. Just as 5-star reviews = acceptable, 1-star reviews are more likely to be seen as 'unreasonable' unless colossal failure occurs among a high percentage of users - especially when facing a overwhelming wall of 5-star reviews.
Customer voice and power over businesses has been reduced greatly, once again. It's all about leveraging, and all about money. *sigh*
Ha! This was brilliant!! I've never stayed in an Airbnb that deserved 5 stars. Even if I enjoyed for the most part, something was always wrong. The worst was walking into one that hadn't even been flipped from the last guests. Like, the bedding was just piled up beside the wash machine. Bare mattresses.
I can't believe the balls of essentially telling guests they're assholes if they don't leave 5 stars 🤣
Thank you for the good laugh this morning. This type of review inflation has been around for years. Review culture has gotten so bad, you cannot tell what the truth is anymore. I cannot count the times I have heard a business tell a customer if they cannot leave five stars, not to leave a review at all. I worked in home construction, and at the first walk through the homeowner manual plainly stated anything less than 5 stars IS a bad review... and this goes back over 20 years.
Makes my blood boil, signs like that do. What Airbnb needs to do is standardise their rating system (and show the key at every stage during the review process) so that everyone always knows what the stars mean.