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Who can write Reviews???

Hello,

Last year some of my reviews were lost....because BDC customers made reservations on behalf of their friends.

Before my guests left I asked them very politely to leave me a review but they told me they couldnt since they did not make the reservation.  

I know that the guest review questionnaire is send to the customers that make the reservation, and they can forward it to the guests who actually stayed at the property but do the guests understand the procedure???

It seems a little complicated and if guests are not used to it they probably will not take the time to do it.

Is there a better way to proceed???


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fluff 4 years ago

For payment reasons we don't accept bookings made by a third party.

The guest must be the same name as the card used and sign the card docket on arrival.

 

 

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The Reinhold G… 4 years ago

Hi Fluff, - there are a couple things we have experienced:

A third party can book for a guest, and prepay for the reservation online.

The booking confirmation from BDC is being sent to the "booker" , and not the actual guest.  - We have experienced three incidences like that. --- that  means that the "booker" ,and not the guest ,( who would be staying at the premises) receives the invitation from BDC to post a review,without actually having experienced the services provided by the guesthouse.

(( our recent post is referring to this issue )

Earlier this week we communicated with BDC staff who quoted the following::::::::

"We send review invitations to guests within 48 hours after check-out and only to the guests that they have stayed at the property."

This statement is false, as we have experienced.

What about the case when a friend books accommodation for me and leaves a review without my consent?

 

---Just for thoughts...---

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M Adamopoulou 4 years ago

This statement has to be rephrazed!!!

"We send review invitations to guests within 48 hours after check-out and only to the guests that they have stayed at the property."

I will send feedback to BDC today....

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The Reinhold G… 4 years ago

Good morning M Adamopoulou,

This may be of interest to you in connection to our talk 9 days ago.

This morning, after receiving another "Knock-back" from the BdC support team, we checked our communications with them and found that the quote :

"We send review invitations to guests within 48 hours after check-out and only to the guests that they have stayed at the property."

was removed from their message to us  ( 2nd February) and the link to their HELP pages ((can I ask for a review to be removed))

https://partner.booking.com/en-us/help/guest-reviews/can-i-request-review-be-removed?utm_campaign=followup&utm_medium=note&utm_source=as

does not work at the moment.

===================================

Their latest stand is as follows:

Dear Partner,

Unfortunately it is too late to make a call, that's why I am writing a letter.

We can only remove reviews in certain situations. You'll find more info on removing reviews here:

Can I ask for a review to be removed?

In a case when the guest which booked your property did not showed up, you could have marked the guest as a no show, and the person who checked in, should have made a new reservation. But it would not mean that the guest who stayed at the property would have changed his mind and made a different review. So the result would have been the same.

Because you did not marked a no show, the system recognize this reservation as stayed and that the guest have full right to add the review.

Other case is when one person is booking the property for another person (for example daughter books for her mother the property).
Again in this case one person booked, and another one lived in the property.
Still the review will be valid. Because this is the subjective opinion of the person who stayed at the property.

Whenever you need us, we're always here.

Kind regards,
--
xxxxxxxxxxxx
Booking.com Partner Support Team

Ask a question or search by keyword at our Partner Help Centre

 

Greetings from Bali

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M Adamopoulou 4 years ago

Very very difficult situation Bali...

Thanks for feedback.   Hope we only have responsible and trustworthy guests....

Cheers!!!

 

 

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M Adamopoulou 4 years ago

Oh!  fluff, didnt know this can be done.... how do you do this??? Have you a restriction????

Please give more details.

Thanks for info.

 

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fluff 4 years ago

@M Adamopoulou & @The Reinhold G…

 

We simply use the invalid card system. We also write to the guest explaining our stance and how to make  the reservation valid for us.

We have an extra danger here where a guest can actually stay on a pre-paid card and after they leave claim they were never there, the bank ALWAYS takes their side and unless we have the signed dockets there is no appeal.

As BDC offers zero protection we have to find our own ways of securing payments and bookings.

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M Adamopoulou 4 years ago

Oh I see...thats a good explanation.

Thanks for sharing your experience.

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The Reinhold G… 4 years ago

Good morning Serge,- maybe you are able to enlighten us with your thoughts on a review issue:

1) A person books a one-bed dorm room for 2 nights, and pays online for the reservation.the booker asks for early check in  (11:00 to 12:00 ) which was granted.

2) The booker arrives not at 12:00 but late at night and informs our house staff that the room was not for her, but for her ( Indonesian ) driver, whose identity remains unknown to us.

3) because the reservation was prepaid, the anonymous guest was allowed by our staff to access the room, which has a separate, private entrance.

4) After the initial short contact between the staff member and the 2 persons , neither of the two (the booker, nor the "driver")  were ever seen again by any member of our staff.

5) a few days after this incident, an anonymous review was posted to our BdC page with a rating of ( "1") --- our overall rating is 9+  ---

6) the booker of this reservation sent us a message via BdC inbox, requesting a male's jacket to be sent to the "driver" - who had accidentally left it behind when vacating the premises (  he never officially checked out in person)

7) This was the first time ever, during our 9 year association with BdC, that our Guesthouse Management had NOT met the "guest" ,nor the booker , in person.

8) Although the review was posted anonymously, we have established written , and physical proof, that the review in question is associated with this booker, who , we claim, had absolutely no right to write a review, as she ever stayed at our premises.

With regards to the driver ( the anonymous "guest" ) -- our staff informed us that that person was a native Indonesian, with NO knowledge of the English language.

After a number of lengthy discussions with several BdC support persons, we have ,so far , not been offered a satisfactory solution on this issue.

Management and staff at the Reinhold Guesthouse take this anonymous  review ( with a rating of   "1" -- which is absolutely out of character )) as a direct insult on the quality of our service that we provide to everyone of our guests, and furthermore, we all feel intimidated by BdC for having permitted the placement of this ( fake ) review on our member's page.

 

 

 

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M Adamopoulou 4 years ago

Sergei, thanks for feedback,

Yes, I do have questions... even though I must say my local BDC, was kind to  call me immediately when I posted my question.

"We send review invitations to guests within 48 hours after check-out and only to the guests that they have stayed at the property." 

Is not exactly correct.

I understand that the guest review questionnaire is send to the customers that make the reservation, and they can forward it to the guests who actually stayed at the property.....

Last year, Customers that made the reservation, did not bother or did not understand the procedure and guests never got the questionnaire to evaluate my property. One guest left me an excellent comment in my fb page since she could not leave me a review. The other one never bothered....so I actually lost two valuable reviews....

Sometimes guests give more value to reviews before making a reservation....so its a pitty to loose good reviews.

Maybe review questionnaire should be send to both the customer and to the guest staying but only the guest staying to be allowed to evaluate the review questionnaire.

Thanks again for your kind support.

 

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M Adamopoulou 4 years ago

Hi! Reinhold,In my iPhone I have problems again seeing comments when Partners reply.... the box is cut in the right side.

I cannot upload photos again...to send screenshot...

As soon as I get to my computer I will reply to your message.

Cheers!!!

 

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fluff 4 years ago

Yup, someone in the tech. dept. has hit the silly button.

If you have "auto rotate" activated on your phone and turn it 90 degrees for landscape viewing you will then see the whole entries.

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M Adamopoulou 4 years ago

Wow!!! fluff, of course....

Thanks you saved me....you cannot imagine how hard it is to read in iphone...

Wish you a have evening.