Trip Advisor - Review did not match reality
 

We've always had good luck with regards to Trip Advisor reports. But, sadly, our experience with the 7 Seasons Apartment Hotel in Budapest did not match the glowing reports. We are seasoned travels and realize that not all trip reports match our expectations. However, we are concerned that the glowing reports continue for this property and our report has been deleted. If you are considering the 7 Seasons apt, please consider other properties.

Oh thank god you posted this. Thank you so much.

Sorry.. but what were your complaints.. because I seriously doubt that the EIGHT HUNDRED and thirty three excellent reviews,, and TWO HUNDRED and twenty eight Good reviews are less valid then you coming on here and slamming the place but making no specific complaint.

Well, be fair, folks.

The OP is not whining.

This issue here is the disappearing negative report. We don't know what the content was, but there is growing suspicion, perhaps to the point of certainty, that TA is not as reliable as many have assumed.

It is useful to have specific instances of this, especially when phrased so calmly. Everyone has to make a first post.

Assume good faith in the absence of rage.

I would really like to hear more about the "our report has been deleted" part. SPECIFICALLY, did TA send a message about the deletion and, if so, exactly what did that message say? Or did the report simply disappear without any notice whatsoever?

Yes, and I agree about the "first post" issue.

I am not SO concerned about the first post. I am very conceded about the fact that the OP provided NO details. Does this mean reservation was not honored, it was dirty, amenities not available, staff offensive or ??????

Just saying something is no good is useless.

It was not her first post, anyway. She had one previous post which conveyed her advice for driving in England and France. Unless her identity has been hijacked, I'm pretty sure she's a legitimate forum member. The post would have had more credibility if she had told us what the problem was. No one will blackball a hotel without particulars just because someone said so.

I don't know the circumstances of this post, but I know that TA will remove reviews if they judge them to have a whiff of slander, or if the language used is inflammatory. They are coming under heavy pressure from the travel industry over the issue of defamatory reviews. They are the object of several lawsuits in Italy at the moment as a result of complaints by the hotel lobby that they don't remove slanderous reviews quickly enough. There's a restaurant industry journal called Italy a Tavola or something like that who are on an anti-TA crusade.

I'm sure there are plenty of false reviews on Tripadvisor, both positive and negative. I've read of cases, especially related to tours, of incentives and discounts in exchange for good reviews on Tripadvisor. I'm sure that competitors also are not above inserting a dreadful review. And there are people who get their kicks out of cyber vanada

Some false reviews are purely accidental. I once read a review that was obviously for a different restaurant; I knew the restaurant being reviewed, and its description was totally mistaken. The name of the other restaurant was in the review, so I'm sure it was just a case of mistaken identity. I reported the fact to Tripadvisor, but it was never moved to the correct place.

At issue here: disappearing negative reviews

Not at issue: what was wrong with the property. That would be another post.

If I were going to Budapest, I might ask that question of her. I'm not. But I will be looking at Tripadvisor, so I care if it is being manipulated. I am very conscious of the issues bvlenci raises.

The thing is.. I have read MANY bad reviews on Tripadivsor.. simply read them.. they are still there for many other hotels and restaurants. So why did they remove this particular bad one.. there is likely a reason that has nothing to do with being deceitful.

I once wrote a review for a restaurant in a hotel in our town. It was thorough,, fair,, and not complimentary at all. However.. I recievced a notice they would not post it.. why.. well they pointed to the review guidelines that said former employees may not post about a place.

I had included in my review that 25 years ago I had worked at the hotel and that since the renovation a few years ago I had given it three chances to prove to me it was as good as it used to be.. but it had failed all three times and that it would be my last time going there..

Yes.. so if I hadn't included that.. it would have been published. I understand the rule, because of course former employees can be bitter or vengeful. However it didn't occur to me that working there decades ago would mean I would be someone posting just because I got fired or something.. as it was I had worked there for 5 years and loved the place..only quit after my first child came.

Its easy to include something that might get you censored without realizing it at the time.. wish I had been given an opportunity to edit my report. but hey.. guess because it was negative and they already knew I had worked there it could have still been a dicey review .. ( it wasn't.. trust me , the Snug sucks now)lol

As I recall the site gives you an opportunity to review what you have written before you send it in. The "problem" is that you have to be thoughtful and catch anything "wrong" right after you compose the review, not afterward.

I've given bad reviews on Tripadvisor and they posted them and I've read many others, also. They have standards, your review can not be posted for reasons that violate their TOS, some of which you may not even be aware of. I am not sure they notify you, either, of the reason. I know that happened to me once and I know they didn't tell me the exact reason but I suspect it was because I referred to some comment in another review of the same place, and they tell you not to do that (ie, if you say "I don't know what's wrong with the prior review, the place was not filthy.")

SO we have no idea what the review said, but it probably violated some terms.

The fact that the OP has not returned to comment makes me somewhat suspicious. Perhaps I am jumping the gun here since not everybody spends every waking minute of every day on the internet.

I am sorry that one cannot "refute" some of the comments made by other reviewers but I can understand why TA does not allow that to occur.

I think the best way to "use" TA is to read between the lines sometimes and also evaluate some of the adjectives used.

I have written both positive and negative reviews for Tripadvisor( hotels, restaurants, sites) for several years. They all seem to get published, so am surprised this writer had a "bad" one disappear. I agree, it must have violated a term. That said, Tripadvisor would never be my sole source for research.

yeah, I am not sure how rigorous the rule about commenting on another post is, I thought part of it was just that if that review disappeared, it wouldn't make sense. I don't know. I think it's okay to make generalities like "in contrast to many others, I found the owners delightful" but maybe not specifically refer to "the review by MaryJones on October 1st".

"That said, Tripadvisor would never be my sole source for research."

Understand that and I also understand that any "review" site has to be subject to the very same biases, activities, etc., because these reviews are in one way the same: people write them.