Threatening and intimidating Message from guests before leaving a possible review
Hello all,
We have received the following message from the guests who stayed last weekend with us. We are a private b&b in a historic country house. Can you please give us some advice on how we should proceed with these types of comments? I find the message quite intimidating and offensive to our private property and they are using blackmail to force us to respond in a certain way threatening us with a bad review if we dont proceed the way they want us to, this is the woke culture at its best, they could have easily told us when they were there to our face and we could have adjusted the offending object but they chose not to, our house is full of historic objects of all sorts, we have never received any such comments about the content of our house, certainly not telling us what to do once the guests have left, and nobody has ever been offended by the content of our dining room, thanks, karine
I've no idea where you're located, but in the UK it's pretty much accepted that golliwogs are offensive to many folks, irrespective of skin colour/ethnicity.
While no-one has specifically mentioned it before, you don't really know if anyone else has been offended by it. They may have simply chosen not to mention and chalk you down as a place they won't return to.
The message from the guest, in my opinion, is pretty respectful. They could have photographed it and put it on social media straight away, and we all know what a sh*t storm that would have whipped up.
Rather than feel intimidated, be relieved. Message her back and say thanks for pointing it out and you're sorry for any offence. Bear in mind that they may have taken a pic...
Sometimes in hospitality you just have to suck stuff up, even when it feels completely wrong to do so.
J
Thank you john you are right, i will send a general apologetic message (we are in the UK) to make her feel better, i had forgotten to mention that these people also arrived at 21h30 when check in is at 16h00 and that they wanted a lift to the wedding, they got a free lift at 17h and 1230 at night without thanking us for it in their message either so they would have complained about that if we hadn’t done it, some people are never satisfied, but thanks, karine
Hi Karine,
Historic or not, in my opinion a golliwog has no place in a b&b.
I think the guests have been very kind by sending you a message first instead of writing it in a review. It would have been a difficult subject to discuss in person. From the tone of the message it sounds like she has your best interest at heart.
Please don't send her a message to make her feel better. Instead, send her a message because she has been so kind to point it out to you. You could seriously offend people.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/apr/13/golliwog-dolls-what-are-they-and-are-they-to-display
Thank you Andrea, we do not offend anybody, none of our previous guests anyway, people chose to be offended by whatever reason they don’t like, it could have been our historical and family artefacts, military objects and so one that any historic house could have, our family portraits etc. After sending a very polite and apologetic reply, i am still waiting for a nice review from the guest. I forgot to mention that these people turned up at 21h30 in the evening when check in is at 4 to 6 and expected a free lift to their wedding and back at 12h30 with a free lift from us but forgot to mention that in their comments or a thank you. Some people are every satisfied.
Dear Karine,
Like you, we and many other have the same issues with BDC and we are very unhappy with the rating system offerered by BDC.
Since we are collecting the many compliants that does exist with regard to the rating system and reviews, I suggest to post your problem under the following link.
https://partner.booking.com/en-gb/community/hospitality-and-guests/how-remove-unfair-and-dishonest-review
Together perhaps we can change something.
Thanks a lot for your support.