Star Ratings and guests' privacy.

[greenbarn]

The latest act of lunacy from VB, in their lemming-like progress towards self-destruction, centres around those of us with one or more units on the same site (ours are in the same building).

.....your assessor will need to see every unit of your accommodation, even if guests are staying. Once you have confirmed the date of the assessor's visit, please advise your guests that the assessor will need to walk through the unit, but will not be opening drawers or disturbing guests' possessions. Of course, you should accompany the assessor.

So guests shelling out for top quality holiday accommodation can expect to be invaded by the owner, and a suit with a clipboard. And that's okay, is it? Somehow I can't quite get my head around that.....

Unfortunately, VB/VE don't give any suggestions for dealing with guests who object to having their privacy violated, and who respond to "being advised" with a succinct spot of travel advice to the owner.

Can anyone see this leading to the "C-word"?

[Hells Bells]

Greenbarn, when I applied for classification with a French organisation, appointments were arranged for after the tourist season had ended and when it would be unoccupied.
As it happened, they failed to turn up for that appointment, but nevertheless it wouldn't have been when guests were visiting.
They seem to have lost the plot

[kendalcottages]

I can see one solution to circumvent the problem, GB... don't bother with 'em!

I'm sure you'd do just fine without them, wouldn't you?!

[charles cawley]

It is sad to see the rating system slide.

With more photos appearing on the internet for each cottage, it is becoming easier to see what you're going to get. Although there's nothing to replace actually being there, this is gradually reducing the usefulness of the VB rating system.

[Windy]

Why am I not surprised?

I have struggled for the last 4 years to get the assessor to agree to visit between 11 and 3 on a changeover day.

I totally agree that VB/VE are in self-destruct mode. Maybe they want to destroy themselves before they are nuked by Penrose?

[Jenny C]

We are having our first visit England inspection next week and I was pleasantly surprised by the helpfulness of the inspector in booking the appointment. He was very happy to work around our changeover period. Let's hope the inspection goes as well as the lead-up to it!

[Windy]

With more photos appearing on the internet for each cottage, it is becoming easier to see what you're going to get.

I think you have hit the nail on the head Charles.

10 years ago when all you saw in advance of your stay was a 3 line text listing then the VB rating was a safety net.

With the internet and on-line reviews it is really starting to look like an anachronism, although I have found it hard to wean myself of it, as it felt like a security blanket for me maybe more than for my guests.

Couple that with the fact that the star rating system is widely abused (according to their own criteria), and that people even self award star ratings and you can see why it is losing credibility in the days of professional looking owner web sites, multi-page listings, virtual tours, owner videos and Trip Advisor.

Maybe it is a concept that is now past its sell-by date?

[charles cawley]

Sadly, I agree.

VB has failed to move with the times. This was because it was protected and its managers were shielded from competition.

I attended a meeting with some VB people and the distinct impression was that they were deeply concerned with one thing... revenue and how to generate it.

Thus most of the conversation was about which funding to get from where and almost nothing was said about results or effectiveness of the service. This was the public sector at close to its worst fixated on protection of its own jobs and organisation and little concerned with what it was created to do.

Private companies do have their strange excesses and faults... but the market would deal them a swift death if they behaved this way. The tax they pay, threatening their future, goes partly towards such public sector waste.

VB could still come round... but it has to do it very quickly. The odds are that it will be history within two years as the reality of this economic mess strikes home.