How do I deal with negative feedback?

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Darwin
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How do I deal with negative feedback?

Post by Darwin »

I have been letting our holiday cottage for over 7 years and just recently had a couple who I tried really hard to help, but weren't having any of it.
Our cottage is in a rural location. After 3 nights of their stay, the local farmer, put some cows in a nearby barn. They were mooing constantly overnight and after that the mooing was still audible, but less so. We live on site and our bedroom is about 50m closer to the barn. We heard the cows on day 1, but not after that. After staying 6/7 nights of their stay, they said that they'd had enough and went home. Before I had even got home from work, they'd been on the phone to our agent demanding 4 nights money back. My husband and I had agreed to give them something as a goodwill gesture (after all, we have no control over cows mooing in the countryside and we didn't know the farmer was going to put the cows there). However, they had stayed for 6 nights, eaten everything from the welcome pack and had the heating on etc.
Despite us giving them £100 back and our agents giving them money off their next holiday, they have left the following feedback:
"for an October booking this was expensive especially as it was small ,no separate lounge to escape to ,just a kitchen/diner with a couple of settee's and a coffee table at one end . cottage was clean and well equipped. very good location."
They are the first guests to have been troubled by the cows. Shame they were bothered by them, when they live next door to a railway line with trains rattling past until 1am every night....
How do I politely respond? The agent sets the price, not us. It is a 2 bedroom property, so I don't know why they couldn't find somewhere else to escape to..... or what even they were trying to escape from! [/b]
e-richard
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Post by e-richard »

Loads of questions:

Where was this review left ? How public is this ?
Can you post an owners reply ?
Do you have any other reviews at the same place ?
Are they mostly good reviews ?
It does not look as if the cows were mentioned in their review. Have you transcribed all of their review ?

I know this hurts, but only 1 less than perfect review among many other 5 star reviews does no harm - in fact it makes the others more plausible. A good reply is worth 20 great reviews. Let some of us help you construct that - but only if you give us the full story.
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Nemo
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Post by Nemo »

Sorry to read this, so I went looking at the advert. Firstly, as you say, you're not responsible for the prices that are set. Secondly, your photos are good and give a clear indication of what to expect. The description is very basic, as so many agency listings are, but all you could add are the words open plan to the living/dining room/kitchen. It appears the guests did not receive the value for money they expected and with the noise of the cows weren't happy overall but they didn't mention them at least. If guests don't get sleep whilst on holiday, it's not going to make for happy guests, even if you are not to blame for it.

Do you feel you need to respond? Are you able to? Your overall score is still 9 out of 10 and it's obvious on reading the review that the guest is not the most literate of guests. Value for money is a very personal subject that means something different to each guest.

If you decide you want to respond here's my initial thoughts. Thank you for your recent review and we are sorry that you were not clear that the cottage has just one living room. We hope the photos convey the layout of the property, but we have asked the agency to expand the cottage description to ensure future guests know that it is an open plan living room and kitchen. The agency is also responsible for setting the prices.
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pambon
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Post by pambon »

If what you have written here is the total sum of their review then I don't see a big problem.
No mention was made of the cows.
The price? They should take it up with the agency but surely they knew it in advance so why accept it if they thought it was expensive.
The internal layout, did they not see photos and read the description of the rental.

When they left early did they actually say it was due to the cows disturbing them?

Unless, as e-richard says, there is more, I don't see a problem in replying in this vein, frankly.
Darwin
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Post by Darwin »

[quote="e-richard"]Loads of questions:

Where was this review left ? How public is this ?
Can you post an owners reply ?
Do you have any other reviews at the same place ?
Are they mostly good reviews ?
It does not look as if the cows were mentioned in their review. Have you transcribed all of their review ?

This review is on Reevoo. I can post an owners reply, but I have to go via the agent, so wanted to compose myself first! To be fair, their review has dropped our overall rating from 9.5/10 to 9/10 so I guess rationally it's not the end of the world. It's just that it's the most recent one that future guests will see first.
All of the other reviews are what I'd consider to be good ones.
Yes, I have copied their review in it's entirety. It's similar to what they wrote in our guest book as well....

Help with a reply would be great. Thanks!
Darwin
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Post by Darwin »

[quote="pambon"]If what you have written here is the total
The internal layout, did they not see photos and read the description of the rental.

When they left early did they actually say it was due to the cows disturbing them?

Since they left, I've looked at the description and photos carefully and although it doesn't state "open plan" the photos should clarify....

Yes, they told my husband they couldn't cope with the cows. They also phoned our agent and said they'd had "3 great nights and 3 nights where they'd got no sleep at all"
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charles cawley
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Post by charles cawley »

This is an interesting situation. Recent feedback we received might illuminate. We do have a country noises clause in our Terms and Conditions but something in a contract does not obviate the upset for anyone. The feedback, below, was well meant and very genuine.

I thought to post this feedback we received from an appreciative guest but it has a twist which goes to show how complex and interesting the holiday letting business can be:

"It is a fantastic property furnished and equipped with all anyone could need - very well considered.

To explain my noise comment, although by no means a complaint, the only blip was that the noise of the occasional passing vehicle rumbled through the velux windows as it approached, passed and went on its way, which was accentuated by the contrasting silence. We live in the centre of a busy town and used to live under the Heathrow flight path, so are used to noise, but I think it was the contrast with the countryside silence that allowed the traffic in Caynham to spoil our sleep! Despite sounding as if they were open, we checked the velux windows were closed.

I don't mean to offend or annoy, but simply to explain my earlier text comment and why we've left early!"

The house is on a b road that could get, perhaps, 6 cars an hour or fewer in the small hours. The road is quite twisty so high speeds are out. But the key was the ambient noise level contrasted to disturbance. The let has otherwise had sparkling feedback but circumstances were simply not right in this case.

The longer I work in holiday letting, the more complex and interesting it becomes.
Last edited by charles cawley on Mon Nov 09, 2015 4:57 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Gary2604
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Post by Gary2604 »

I would leave well alone ! People reading reviews tend to see through the rubbish! I book lots of hotels on line and read the reviews and there are always plenty of negative comments but usually they are for things that have happened during the stay rather than problems with the hotel! In your case they made no mention of noise which would have been a concern, instead they complained about the price which they presumably knew when they booked and the layout which should have been obvious to anyone view the pictures! Really nothing to worry about and as has been said the less than 5 str review makes the good reviews stand out!
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charles cawley
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Post by charles cawley »

I agree with Gary.

Such remarks may hurt but, in contrast to the good stuff, they do little harm. It is the nature of the business that this sort of thing arises from time to time. Most people will be able to see through it.

The more your care the more it can cut.
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e-richard
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Post by e-richard »

Darwin wrote:Help with a reply would be great. Thanks!
Think who are you writing a reply for ?
Is it for yourself to make you feel better, is it aimed at the ungrateful guests or is it for future guests. A reply should ONLY consider future guests and so in this case, I'd recommend no reply is needed.
** Richard
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They say we learn from our mistakes. That makes me a genius !
Darwin
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Thanks!

Post by Darwin »

Thanks for all of your comments. I feel a lot better now. I think you are right Richard, it's probably best I let sleeping cows lie!!!!
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kevsboredagain
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Post by kevsboredagain »

I was trying to figure out just how much £100 was compared to the total cost but couldn't find any prices on the website.

I think this is a good example where being generous and giving a partial refund gained you absolutely nothing. If it was expensive for October then why did they book in the firs place?
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Post by tavi »

Clearly the review doesn't desperately need a reply but if it were me I'd definitely respond....with future guests in mind. It's an opportunity to show future guests you're on the ball, you care, and you listen to them.

A short, carefully worded comment from you...along the lines of Nemo's suggestion will gain you far more in the eyes of future guests than you've lost by the slightly lukewarm review.

By the way, your booking page still refers to 2014/15 prices - maybe could do with an update/rewording. Your accommodation page doesn't show any photo of the open plan living area (only the bedrooms) - might be worth adding some?

Sorry.......I know you didn't ask for a website appraisal :) - couldn't find your agency listing.
Darwin
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Post by Darwin »

The prices are listed on the hoseasons/C4U website. The guest booked through them and there are clear recent photographs on there, also depicting the rural location admittedly with horses rather than cows! I have to be honest, I don't update our own website very often as most of our bookings come via them. I thought in 7 years, I'd seen it all, but these are the first out for compensation. I certainly won't be so quick to accommodate next time.
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Cymraes
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Post by Cymraes »

charles cawley wrote:
"It is a fantastic property furnished and equipped with all anyone could need - very well considered.

To explain my noise comment, although by no means a complaint, the only blip was that the noise of the occasional passing vehicle rumbled through the velux windows as it approached, passed and went on its way
I've had almost identical feedback! In the deafening silence of the country, the (very) occasional car does stand out. We are double glazed and have thick lined curtains and there really isn't anything else I can do!
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