An open letter to the Community Manager - reviews
Comments
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Quite agree Steve. I think we must maintain a degree of common sense over such things. If someone is writing a review that encompasses their whole stay on a site that should include not only the facilities, the convenience of the site and what can be done from that location but also general comments on customer service which is an important element of any serviced based organisation. There is a world of difference between saying I was not so impressed with the welcome at reception and saying the tall lanky one was exceptionally rude which could lead the the identification of the person concerned. To me a review that only concentrates on the staff service element is not a review, and this has been the case recently will some of the reviews that have subsequently been Deleted User.
The danger we face if any element of comment of customer service is removed is that we will just drive people away from reviewing on this website to the likes of Tripadvisor the Club have immediately lost control of what is said.
David
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Agree DK, customer service is an essential part of the experience, and as such merits a mention. But sadly a small percentage of folks are using the review platform to air personal grievances, perhaps thinking they are anonymous and can get away with being nasty and offensive.
I thought reviews were there to help potential visitors find a site that might suit their requirements, more in terms of location, facilities, quality of pitching surface, space, what’s of interest close by, what are transport links like, are there nice walks from the site, is it a good site for children, dogs, family groups, adventurous types etc.....
I simply cannot understand the fixation with reviewing staff so personally. Yes they can make or break a site, but in my experience of Club Sites, we have never come across one so poor that it merited being personally nasty or abusive to anyone. Nor has a member of staff ever required me to raise a complaint about them as an individual. Staff are just like the visitors, some offer a smile and a chat, some are quietly efficient, some are no doubt weary after dealing with a full season of being at the beck and call of all sorts of visitors. They are simply human beings, in infinite variety.🙂
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I have noted that the majority of "reviews?" that rant about site staff, and am sure any site staff who watch/post on here wiil have also noted,unless there is a pattern, are normally it seems, a self inflicted problem caused by the reveiwer
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yes, it is the nasty and offensive parts that causing issues
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Complaints procedures can have a very positive impact. If an element of a service isn’t providing what customers want, and onsite staff are passing this on, but getting little joy from further up the food chain (so to speak😁), then giving out comment cards, or encouraging visitors to express concerns more formally, and targeting where the decision making is really made (budget holder, safety officer, owner etc...) can have the desired effect!
The LA I worked for decided that customer comment cards were a good thing so introduced them. I gave them out to visitors asking them to use them to put a case for new equipment (which I had been trying to get for months), voila.....what’s all this? Why weren’t we told? You were, but it obviously hasn’t filtered up to you...... No problem, here’s a budget, get it sorted! I won, the customers won. Easy.
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I personally think, that when leaving a review, if you were required to use your membership number or some other identifier other than your forum name then you would see a big reduction from the keyboard warriors using the review system to have a pop at Wardens, Dog owners and other groups the reviewer has issue with.
FWIW, on the many club sites we have visited, Wardens have always been very approachable and helpful and we have often witnessed them going the extra mile to help someone.
A piece of advice to said reviewers, treat them / speak to them how you would like to be treated and you may be pleasantly surprised.
T.W, I see you visited our favorite site and regular haunt in May from the reviews. I hope you enjoyed it as much as we do. ( just returned from there yesterday after a 5 night stay, 3rd time this year
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I don't leave reviews, nor read them either....we make our own minds up where we want to be and take it from there...so I've not seen the 'offensive' narratives...
however, does the review have a pro forma approach (like many surveys) where comments are entered specific to a particular aspect of the site, or is it just a free form narrative?
surely, if the club wants to be more prescriptive in the type of feedback they get re a site (facilities, location, walking, public transport, cost and, yes, customer service) shouldn't reviewers be guided through these elements to produce more pertinent and helpful reviews?
perhaps better than 'please stick to the guidelines'?
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“T.W, I see you visited our favorite site and regular haunt in May from the reviews. I hope you enjoyed it as much as we do. ( just returned from there yesterday after a 5 night stay, 3rd time this year smile) “
Milo, unless my memory has let me down, we were at C&CC Tavistock in May. I somehow can’t imagine that’s your favourite site. 🤔
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Surely, if the club wants to be more prescriptive in the type of feedback they get re a site (facilities, location, walking, public transport, cost and, yes, customer service) shouldn't reviewers be guided through these elements to produce more pertinent and helpful reviews?
But do they? The opportunity is there for the conscientious reviewer to add all that into a review as it stands now and many do. It might seem an odd thing to say but I wonder whether the review section is more about checking that members are happy when they use the site and providing information that future visitors might find useful is secondary? When you read a lot of the reviews they are only two or three lines long and often say "we had a lovely time" "the wardens were wonderful" "will certainly return" For the Club this might just be confirmation that they are providing what members want. If the objective was to provide more useful information then a pro forma review format would help achieve that. It may also mean that many fewer members would contribute and the number of reviews becoming more useful would not have that congratulatory element that the Club seems to encourage. I think all that is needed is for a dialogue box where reviewers have to tick they understand the Guidelines/T&C's and remove the comment button.
David
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Apologies TW, just looked again and it was a 2018
post of yours . Note to self, look at dates properly 
Fairlight Wood is the site I am talking about.
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Ah, that makes sense👍🏻 Can’t say it was my favourite site but I can see it has a certain charm.
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Tick a box is just trickery to give authorisation to remove a review.
We live in a social media world, members want instant access to vent their complaints.
Theres a review complaining about a warden saying "No" I just read, its was right to say "No" it appears, the request being against club policy, but the poster goes onto to say the Warden apologised for her manner in how "No" was said when they met.
From this we can see a specific club policy isnt known about, we can see a Wardens manner on a specific site wasnt acceptable, this being informative to the club, on both counts, and me too.
If the club are saying they dont have the resources to monitor reviews, then I suggest to mine this valuable information, provide instant feedback, they either employ or divert resources, say from the Twitter team to cover.
Nothing wrong with complaining about poor service when the industry is about service!
If Wardens dont like it, one in mind, then dont set yourselves up for it, be polite, be informative, do the job, no complaints can then be levelled.
If I do my job as my employer prescribes then no comeback, and I have for 22 years.
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A good example of a possible (I stress possible) malicious review is on the Brora Site. It is difficult to understand what happened without further details, but of course those are missing. The wardens applied the club policy perfectly in a certain aspect and you can see the result. Again a complaint to the club is better.
https://www.caravanclub.co.uk/club-together/reviews/club-site-reviews/brora-caravan-club-site/
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Corners I'm not saying dont apply the club polices.
What I am saying is if the WAY those conversations are being interpreted by US the customer is of poor customer service, (a number of them, im surprised tbh at the amount) then that's showing a fault with the wardens manner, and maybe a lack of procedures/implementation to follow under such circumstances.
"Hello Mr Swiss person, I'm sorry we are unable to accept you at this time because of abc".
"Can I empty the toilet" ?
"I'm sorry its against club policy, I can provide the number of EGH if you wish to phone them and seek further advice".
Ok so they could still write a negative review, but would it still contain the overtones it did?
I'm not sure, but let's say it did, I've read it, and dismissed it as half a dozen of one and 12 of the other, so it wouldnt influence my decision to go to that site.
You cant have a review section for just good reviews, as I say, wardens form part of the site, they are open for criticism, it's the job, as is anyone in customer services, me too as a representative of the company it's in my contract to be polite at all times, and I just drive a lorry!
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A perfect example of the review section being used inappropriately and another instance where the 'reviewer' has not understood the club's policy.
There is clearly more to it in terms of availability of pitches so it is one common sense dictates is best reported and left to the club to investigate.
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No.
The person was left feeling that there was overtones to the wardens decision.
You cannot expect a person to accept any language, or manner from a warden simply because they themselves havnt read the rule book.
The Warden should have taken time, effort and maybe referred up so the MEMBER didnt feel this way.
What you are saying, in essence is, if the member is making a request not allowed under club rules they can be spoken to any old how!
No.
..........
The subject here is can that person include this in a review?
Yes
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True, but everyone can make up their own minds who reads it
I have, an even though I'm pro member on 99.9% of all issues,
On this one I'm calling it 50 50.
Which we are all free to do.
But again, not the discussion point.
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indeed, and this is not the first time (being turned away) that this had happened to this reviewer, Again I am not saying they are being insincere.
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I think the latter here ET, a possible case of where being told no (or as they put it NO) is then labelled as unfriendly and not welcome, especially as all other reviews I could see are positive. Even the depth to which they found excuses for being turned away indicates something? Being Swiss being the most ridiculous one? How did they get that from the wardens?
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So for the point of this debate,
You have read their review, and others they have written, and dismissed them
I too have partially dismissed them
So you and I are in agreement
Let reviews stand as is, no harm being done, provided Fred doesnt come back from the Quarry!
Brilliant
Only a matter of time before you saw sense X
All I need now is JVB to tell me they have a distant cousin who drives a digger! Clocks ticking
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Apologies for going off thread.
Wellys and Mac – Hope you don’t mind me asking but just wondering if the big gaps between your sentences are part of the software you are using to type into then maybe you copy & paste into CT.
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No, what?
With respect, Brit, you are making huge leaps there and imagining things I have not said. That’s the polite version of my thoughts.
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58 minutes 👍🙃
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Rowena,
I suggest you remove the option to comment completely. Providing the option simply feeds the tiresome compulsion of some to comment and adopt a quasi official role to ‘police’ the review section. I find reviews very useful, but couldn’t care less what others think about the review or reviewer. We’re all big boys & girls here and can work out for ourselves whether a review has merit or not.
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Hey Jay
It's a few things I'm thinking.
I use a mobile for 99% of my post's, its the type that the screen goes right to the very edge. If I'm not careful I can accidentally touch the side and the phone then goes to home screen, resulting in lost post. So I'm in the habit of posting then editing, hence some times the quoted me doesnt match the posted me.
The big gaps are I think the forum not exactly working with android, or the type of software I have running. On another thread I wanted chapter titles, but the big gaps appeared and I couldn't remove them.
So it appears it's a mixture of my fat thumbs and forum and me!
Thank you for pointing it out, I'll have an experiment, see if I can sort things out so my posts appear better and dont take up nearly a whole page 😡.
Thanks again.
Darren
🙂
Edit, seems ok/better?
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