[SIZE=12pt]Rebuttals [/SIZE] Anyone? Experience a Libelous or false review? It seems all too easy to add a "Rebuttals" or "Comments" feature for park owners & operators. Negative comments are too easy to post. My recent favorite revies states: "only landscape are trees and grass. No flowers. Stark looking." My Rebuttal would be simply stated as: "We have TONS of ornamental shrubs, trees and grasses within the Resort. We have flower pots, planters and hanging flower baskets in the common areas." Rebuttals. Rebuttals. Rebuttals. Anyone else interested?
QUOTE(Denali @ Oct 19 2009, 10:54 AM) [snapback]19610[/snapback] If you would cite a few of these parks, maybe the site admins would look at these suspicious reviews. -- Dave Rudisill Dunsmuir, CA In my opinion every thing should be taken with a grane of salt that's why in the pat I have suggested to the moderator to build up a form with the esential items for a park, I. E. size of lots, washroom at reasonable distance, if or not a swimming pool, recriation area and a blank space to put on your on comment
RVfan, Rebuttals are made all the time--by the next reviewer (and in comments by previous ones). If there really are flowers and attractive landscaping then someone is going to dispute the reviewer's comments, and in my opinion it is more credible if this comes from another reviewer rather than the park owner. You also need to consider the possibility that there are no grounds for rebuttal. There may actually be no flowers, and if the reviewer thinks this makes the place look stark, well, that is his opinion. QUOTE(Galli @ Nov 11 2010, 04:32 PM) [snapback]24837[/snapback] I have suggested to the moderator to build up a form with the esential items for a park, I. E. size of lots, washroom at reasonable distance, if or not a swimming pool, recriation area and a blank space to put on your on comment Galli, Isn't the review form already like this? It lists the essential utilities and amenities on a check list and then provides space for the reviewer's own comments.
How about don't mess with a system that works, and instead, encourage people with what they are doing, and realize that everyone's views are different. There are lots of resources available to find good campgrounds, and if one relies on only one website, and it makes that HUGE of a difference to one's plans, then it's their fault for relying on only one website. This is not a paid website, we pay no dues to participate, reviewers are volunteering their time and their resources to help someone out. If a campground has a bad review and think that they are being 'picked on', then maybe they can work harder to be 'better' and the one 'bad apple' will just be forgotten. Pay for a good website, post good pictures, tell the size of the campsites, what ammenities are available, take personal reviews on your own website, and prove that your campground is a good one. Personal interaction on forums, turning into arguing, resolves nothing. I have participated in forums for years, and you cannot please all the people all of the time. The truth will come out, and if you only focus on negatives, then you will miss the gems that come around. Stop trying to change something that has worked for years, worry about your own business, and look forward. If a lot more people followed the Golden Rule..... this world would be alot better place. Be the better person and get over it. This thread is 3 pages, I think that the point you wanted was made. This site is what it is, you had the chance to read the rules when you joined. Move on, and try to do something productive, within the guidelines that you agreed to when you signed on.
I am curious about something. Other than writing similarities how would the reader or moderator or campground owner know the reviews were written by the same person? The names of the poster don't show up (at least when I checked). I know that sometimes it is easy to know who wrote something but if you get lots of reviews how do you know for certain it is the same person. The mods here do respond when we contact them about problem reviews. There was one written by someone that had stayed with us and the review was so obviously vindictive that they agreed and removed it. (Thanks bunches for that one)
QUOTE(dalsgal @ Nov 14 2010, 08:19 AM) [snapback]24852[/snapback] I am curious about something. Other than writing similarities how would the reader or moderator or campground owner know the reviews were written by the same person? The names of the poster don't show up (at least when I checked). I know that sometimes it is easy to know who wrote something but if you get lots of reviews how do you know for certain it is the same person. The mods here do respond when we contact them about problem reviews. There was one written by someone that had stayed with us and the review was so obviously vindictive that they agreed and removed it. (Thanks bunches for that one) Well, I agree that the review should be anonymous for obvious reasons but, in my opinion, the moderator or ??? should review the allegations in advance and eventually, ask some proves before publishing the commentary h34r: . I don't know what kind of liability may be subject the RV PARK but it would be interesting to know :huh: ; let's say someone write some thing very demeaning and the person or company or organization slanted wants to take action, is the RV PARK obligate by law to identify the writer of the accusing document or, the RV Park is personally liable for publishing it ? Il would be interesting to hear a line from the moderator too.
QUOTE(dalsgal @ Nov 14 2010, 09:19 AM) [snapback]24852[/snapback] I am curious about something. Other than writing similarities how would the reader or moderator or campground owner know the reviews were written by the same person? The names of the poster don't show up (at least when I checked). I know that sometimes it is easy to know who wrote something but if you get lots of reviews how do you know for certain it is the same person. It sounds like there are two issues here. 1. Anyone, even members and owners, can click on the link at the bottom of each review and see other reviews by this same person. However, the username of the reviewer is not given out. 2. Now without giving away our trade secrets let me just say that there are ways admins can determine who submitted a review and if different reviews are written by that same person. I could tell you how this is done, but then I would have to shoot you. :lol: QUOTE Galli wrote: in my opinion, the moderator or ??? should review the allegations in advance and eventually, ask some proves before publishing the commentary . We get well over 100 reviews a day--and that is in the slow season. In the warm months it can be double or more that number. Admins do read all reviews before they are posted, but it is impossible to check out every bad comment. (By the same token we would need to check out every glowing comment also to be sure it was accurate.) That said we do try to reject reviews that are vindictive or malicious in nature. However, it is important to keep in mind that much of what a reviewer writes is his opinion--not necessarily the facts. Take the example a few posts back. Someone said a campground looked stark because there were no flowers. The fact is there may or may not have been flowers, but how the place looked was his opinion even though other reviews state how pretty it is. Should his comment be removed because his opinion was different from the other reviewers? This may not be a nice comment, but it appears to be an honest opinion. QUOTE Galli wrote: I don't know what kind of liability may be subject the RV PARK but it would be interesting to know ; let's say someone write some thing very demeaning and the person or company or organization slanted wants to take action, is the RV PARK obligate by law to identify the writer of the accusing document or, the RV Park is personally liable for publishing it ? Il would be interesting to hear a line from the moderator too. Here's my line: I am not a lawyer, and the answer to this (if I actually knew it) is way above my pay grade.
If you read the terms and conditions (which you agreed to abide by when you joined this forum or submitted a review), it might answer some of your questions. https://www.campgroundreviews.com/terms.html Admins of ANY forum, if they are good admins, are able to tell who posts what where and when. It's one of the advantages and one of the headaches of being an administrator.
I know the Admins can tell. I was questioning how the poster knew when he was complaining about the same posters comments.(RVfan). I administrate and moderate another site (not RV's) and understand how admins see things others don't but on this site I can't read a comment about our campground and know who posted it as he said he could.
QUOTE(lauriefla @ Nov 13 2010, 11:31 PM) [snapback]24851[/snapback] How about don't mess with a system that works, and instead, encourage people with what they are doing, and realize that everyone's views are different. Hear Hear Lauriefla!! I'm with you. The system works, and there's really no way and no reason to inprove it. The admins have responded to all my questions and concerns promptly and I'm very inpressed with the work that they do. I say the major reason there are bad reviews here are either from bad attitudes of the employees/owners of the parks, or parks that are not truthful about their amenities, either on their website or on the phone when the reservation is being made. So many people come in asking for "Big-rig friendly" sites and are dissapointed. So many come in expecting good working wi-fi but get intermittant or non-existant service. Many ask for 50amp service, but are given a 30 amp site when they arrive. I my reviews are mainly dependant on my expectations of the park and if those expectations are met, then it should get a high rating. just my 2 cents.
QUOTE(dalsgal @ Nov 14 2010, 07:30 PM) [snapback]24861[/snapback] I know the Admins can tell. I was questioning how the poster knew when he was complaining about the same posters comments.(RVfan). I administrate and moderate another site (not RV's) and understand how admins see things others don't but on this site I can't read a comment about our campground and know who posted it as he said he could. My apologizes. I see now that you are referring to post #35, but I think the answer is still the same. The poster (RVfan) can see all reviews by any member. So if someone wrote 2 false reviews for his park in one month and had a total of 4 reviews (as he stated) he could see them and know they were from the same person. However, he would not know the reviewer's username. My guess is if he thinks he knows who sent in the reviews it is because they talked about a particular incident that happened at his park. If he knows the name of the registered guest who was involved in that incident then he probably does know the person's name. (That is one drawback of making a review too specific.) Course he still does not know the reviewer's username on this website. Does this explain your question or am I still out in left field?
QUOTE(Texasrvers @ Nov 16 2010, 05:49 PM) [snapback]24884[/snapback] My apologizes. I see now that you are referring to post #35, but I think the answer is still the same. The poster (RVfan) can see all reviews by any member. So if someone wrote 2 false reviews for his park in one month and had a total of 4 reviews (as he stated) he could see them and know they were from the same person. However, he would not know the reviewer's username. My guess is if he thinks he knows who sent in the reviews it is because they talked about a particular incident that happened at his park. If he knows the name of the registered guest who was involved in that incident then he probably does know the person's name. (That is one drawback of making a review too specific.) Course he still does not know the reviewer's username on this website. Does this explain your question or am I still out in left field? It is my opinion, of course and I might agree that the moderator can not objectively establish who's right, who's wrong, who's reporting the facts and who's got a poison tooth towards a specific camp site
Galli, We all have different brains and work in different ways to find what we are looking for. I for one never write up anything about washer machines in a park. Most all parks have them and we have one in the motorhome so we never use ones in a park. Next person may zero in on the washing machine part in a review. I write up everything that I think the next person may need to know about this park. The person who reads my review may only care about 50 amp and a table. The next person may be looking for a nice pool. The list never ends. If you look at bottom of all reviews you see a note on number of reviews this person has wrote up. Click on it and you can see if his reviews were positive or negative. If this person is all negative I drop that one and look at the next review. The older reviews from years back will not have this information but all new ones will. The admins job is not to grade the review as good or bad. Admins only correct all the poor spelling, poor grammar, correct all the wrong information on URL's sent in, fix the phone number that was changed, fix the site count and so on. More or less fix it so a person can read it. All RV people can read reviews here and tell you a lot about the park before they pick one to go to. I hope this helps.
Actually I think it is the reviewers' comments that make this site so good. If all you want is just the basics then any of the standard campground directories will meet your needs, but they do not tell you if the owner/workers are friendly, or if the roads are too narrow, or if there are tight turns, or if there is highway/train/plane noise, or if there is dog poop everywhere, or if the Wi-Fi is reliable, or if the views are spectacular, or if the trails are good for biking, or if. . . . .you get the picture. These are things you will only find out from comments made by reviewers. In my opinion, these comments give a far better idea of what the park is like. Yes, there are some bad/false/unfair reviews posted, but if a park is undeserving of these comments other reviewers will set the record straight.
I see this post is a little old, but I still wanted to reply from the "posters" point of view. When we look at reviews, we look at all the reviews, not just the last one. If a place gets eights, nines, tens then suddenly gets a very low mark, I read the review, then I click on the posters other reviews. Often I see a pattern of petty or even particular complaining. I often see patterns, like complaining about prices, or dogs, or roads. Funny thing, I've noticed motorhomers complain about TV signal, wifi and roads, 5ers complain about tight spaces, and tag's complain about stiff for the kids, price and rules. I was recently shocked to see an RV park we frequent get 2's twice in a row. Funny thing. if you check the posters comments, they were traveling together, had similair reviews of other parks. This park consistently gets 9 and 10, so it got hit with a couple of 2's.....but very quickly was back to 9's and 10's. We asked an owner once about a bad review he got....he told us what happen with the guest, admittly his point of view, but it sounded reasonable. We do admit if a place gets a run of low marks for the same thing.....we tend to think there must be something to it. Don't commit to a month before you check it out. So we look at the whole picture and then, in the spirit of adventure, camping, and "taking a shot".....stay where we think we want to......and leave if we don't like it. Run your best camp, owners!! We're still out here and we read the reviews, but we're smart enough to see the two in a pile of eights and nines might just be sour grapes. Happy Camping!!
dalsgal, I wouldn't worry too much. When looking at the reviews for parks when I am deciding where to stay, I look at the entire picture. I read what the people liked and didn't like and decide how that fits into my lifestyle. And I almost always can tell when a review is just someone posting out of spite and figure they were either evicted or a disgruntled employee. As people review your park and the positives outweigh the negatives, you will find that that one review will fade away. By the way, are you in Texas? I am a full timer that works in the oilfield industry so I usually try different parks when I am between jobs. Would love to check yours out if you are in the Texas area.
