# TripAdvisor doesn't want TS owner reviews



## LisaRex (Oct 2, 2009)

I spent about 45 minutes crafting a review of Westin Kaanapali for TripAdvisor.  As always, I tried to be as honest and fair as I could.  I praised the ensuite washer/dryer and free shuttle to Lahaina, lamented the lack of a true oven, criticized the fact that there were only two tennis courts on the entire property, and topped it all off with pictures of the resort.

I got an email today telling me that TripAdvisor no longer accepts reviews from TS owners.  Didn't matter that I was balanced in my review; they don't want it. 

I have 10 reviews on TripAdvisor and that will be the last one I will take the time to submit.


----------



## Luanne (Oct 2, 2009)

Just curious.  How do they know you are a timeshare owner?


----------



## Timeshare Von (Oct 2, 2009)

I'm a "destination expert" for Trip Advisor and find this rather curious.  If you can provide me with more info, I'm happy to help educate them on the value of T/S owners providing feedback in their "reviews" area.

I'm wondering if as an owner, they are concerned that you might cross the line of attempting to rent or otherwise solicit in some way.

In as much as the two places I "DE" for doesn't have timeshares (Churchill, Manitoba & Fairbanks, Alaska) I would hope they'd see I don't have a personal interest other than as a timeshare owner myself.


----------



## T_R_Oglodyte (Oct 2, 2009)

Timeshare Von said:


> I'm a "destination expert" for Trip Advisor and find this rather curious.  If you can provide me with more info, I'm happy to help educate them on the value of T/S owners providing feedback in their "reviews" area.
> 
> I'm wondering if as an owner, they are concerned that you might cross the line of attempting to rent or otherwise solicit in some way.



I can easily see conflict of interest potential involving timeshare owners.  In fact, I've read reviews by TS owners at Trip Advisor (and here at TUG) that I've thought were clearly conflicted.

Of course, if someone submits a review and doesn't say they are an owner, how would TA know?


----------



## Luanne (Oct 2, 2009)

T_R_Oglodyte said:


> Of course, if someone submits a review and doesn't say they are an owner, how would TA know?



That was my question.  How would they know, unless you told them?  I've never submitted a review to them so I don't know what their input form looks like.


----------



## TUGBrian (Oct 2, 2009)

dont see a westin kanaapalli review submitted on TUG recently either


----------



## timesharejunkie4 (Oct 2, 2009)

TA told me the same thing about reviews of timeshare resorts a few years ago. If you want to send a review why not just post it on a trip report thread? It will at least get seen and will come up thru searches.


----------



## BevL (Oct 2, 2009)

Okay, so now we have two people who have had this experience but nobody has answered the question - how did they know you were a timeshare owner, not just someone who rented or whatever?

Inquiring minds want to know.


----------



## Timeshare Von (Oct 2, 2009)

BevL said:


> Okay, so now we have two people who have had this experience but nobody has answered the question - how did they know you were a timeshare owner, not just someone who rented or whatever?
> 
> Inquiring minds want to know.



Asking here will probably not get you a definitive answer.  Their editorial staff is very good at responding to questions asked, so I would suggest asking them.


----------



## wcfr1 (Oct 3, 2009)

I can see the conflict IF you are the owner of the TS you are reviewing. You might be just a tad bit biased... ya think.

If you are doing an exchange into a different TS then I don't see any conflict. If anything those reviews might be the best since TS owners generally have a better insight on what to expect from a TS.


----------



## Kenrabs (Oct 3, 2009)

With regards to how TA knows your an owner, a lot of people will state in the review they are owners. When writing the review leave that fact out.


----------



## Phill12 (Oct 3, 2009)

wcfr1 said:


> I can see the conflict IF you are the owner of the TS you are reviewing. You might be just a tad bit biased... ya think.
> 
> If you are doing an exchange into a different TS then I don't see any conflict. If anything those reviews might be the best since TS owners generally have a better insight on what to expect from a TS.



 The question was how does TA even know your a owner unless you listed it when signing up on their site! 

 I have to disagree as long as person states they are owners on their review I see no problem. Its hard enough to get reviews now because most people will only write one when they have something bad to say. 

 I have a review for my resort on TA and it states the good points on our last stay but also talked about couple problems with the resort too!

 Only a owner can give a detailed review of a resort they own that really may help others as they have spent time there and see all sides. Yes they are happy or why else would they buy a timeshare at that resort. A review is meant to be helpful information for others and nothing more and not to help sell your unit but give others idea about your resort so they may want to stay there .

 I have read so many reviews of really great resorts and because of a review would have never stayed there. This is a problem of outsiders staying at a timeshare maybe only one time and because someone didn't carry their things to the room for them here comes a bad review.

 I have reviews on resorts we have stayed at from timeshare to nice hotels and my reviews are all done the same way and for same reason. What I have found is TA is one of the worse for reviews of timeshares because more owners don't write reviews and many of the reviews are written by people that know nothing of timeshares and expect same service as in a major hotel.

 If TA doesn't want owners now writing reviews on resorts they own maybe they should just drop all reviews because most reviews are useless because there based on someone having one bad thing happen so they complain about a resort.:annoyed: 


 PHIL


----------



## sailingman22 (Oct 3, 2009)

I submitted a review of a timeshare we own on tripadvisor to correct misinformation that another individual had posted about the resort and I received an email from tripadvisor that my review did not meet tripadvisor rules and was deleted. This was a factual  report on location, ammenties, and condo specs. 

What amazes me is that I have been reading a particular forum on tripadvisor for information on a trip for next year and found numerous poster who are outright rude to new people asking questions.

Its enjoyable to read TUG since everyone is helpful with their suggestions and especially with new guests or members.


----------



## The Conch Man (Oct 3, 2009)

If you are not one of "Boys" or "Clicks" at TA in certain message boards, you aren't going to get any where with them. That's why I stopped going there for this reason & my reasoning goes a couple years back!

TA & Virtual Tourists were going to merge last year but that deal went to the far side or sour as TA thinks they are better but they aren't. TA has lots of people on their website but 66% don't post but a couple of times cause when they do & have something to say bad or good, the rest of the posters are on emmmmmmmm in a flash! There a lot of lookers on TA that don't post cause you can see what is said by everyone & they figure it out quickly as to who is good & who isn't! There are some good views as well as bad reviews but TA is going south cause they are paying for lots of Ads, servers & so-on. The bad reviews they don't want but have to live with it & in the timeshare world, they are wrong for not posting your review!

There are some good posters but few & far in between as the lists grows & with people coming-on to say "this my view & it ain't good"!!!


----------



## Timeshare Von (Oct 3, 2009)

I must admit, even as a "DE" there, I have been treated rudely in PMs by other DE's for other cities/locations.

I had one from the Hawaii forum tell me that I deserved having a terrible experience on our most recent trip, for using "that blue book".  Funny that I only mentioned advising the writers of "that blue book" that their info on the Aloha Angel Cafe is outdated since the place no longer exists and is now "loosely" replaced by Aloha Theater Cafe in the same same building.

I did report him to the TA staff, but nothing was done.

I also had a DE for Williamsburg tell me I was a "wannabee" and didn't know what I was talking about since I didn't LIVE there.


----------



## timesharejunkie4 (Oct 3, 2009)

BevL said:


> Okay, so now we have two people who have had this experience but nobody has answered the question - how did they know you were a timeshare owner, not just someone who rented or whatever?
> 
> Inquiring minds want to know.



I was not an owner of the resort that I submitted a review. I was told they were not accepting reviews on timeshare resorts. My understanding was if the resort is timeshare only, i.e., not a hotel, that a reivew will not be accepted.


----------



## BevL (Oct 3, 2009)

timesharejunkie4 said:


> I was not an owner of the resort that I submitted a review. I was told they were not accepting reviews on timeshare resorts. My understanding was if the resort is timeshare only, i.e., not a hotel, that a reivew will not be accepted.



Oh, thanks muchly.  That makes much more sense to me.


----------



## dioxide45 (Oct 3, 2009)

TUGBrian said:


> dont see a westin kanaapalli review submitted on TUG recently either



Perhaps the OP should take the review they submitted to TA and post it to TUG instead since TA apparently doesn't want it


----------



## djs (Oct 3, 2009)

wcfr1 said:


> I can see the conflict IF you are the owner of the TS you are reviewing. You might be just a tad bit biased... ya think.
> 
> If you are doing an exchange into a different TS then I don't see any conflict. If anything those reviews might be the best since TS owners generally have a better insight on what to expect from a TS.



But then what about the situation where one is a shareholder in Westin, Marriott, Hyatt (or their respective parent companies as the case may be)?  Is there a conflict there too?  Not asking you specificially, but how would/should TA treat that situation?


----------



## LisaRex (Oct 4, 2009)

Here is my review:

Subject: Westin Ka'anapali Ocean Resort Villas
Location: Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii, United States, North America
Title: Great resort north of resort row

Traveled with my family and another family (both have two adults in their 40s with teenage kids) and stayed in a 2 bdrm villa on the north side.  The amenities of a timeshare are great, especially with the $25 2nd luggage fee that airlines are charging.  It's our third trip to Maui and the first time we've ever fit everything into one suitcase per person + one for all our snorkeling equipment.  I cannot overstate how nice ensuite washers and dryers are. 

The north side is much quieter than the south side and more suited toward couples and older kids.  If you don't like children running amuck, definitely ask for the north side.  

The downside to the north side is that it lacks full ovens and relies  instead on a hard-to- navigate convection/microwave combination.  I had to cut up my Costco take-home pizza and cook it in sections.  Why cut on something so basic?  

On the other hand, the bathroom was HUGE, complete with a jacuzzi tub, separate shower and separate toilet area.  However, they put frosted glass on the doors, which was impractical because it lent the entire bathroom unusable if one of the teens was taking a shower, etc.  Regular doors would be so much more convenient.

We took the 1 bdrm side and our kids slept on the pull-out couch.  Our friends used the studio side and their kids slept on that pull-out bed.  No complaints from the kids, so it comfortably slept 8.  Our bed was wonderful.  You could probably fit another 2 with air mattresses or cots, but it would be crowded. 

There was plenty of storage for all of our stuff, including snorkeling equipment and suitcases.  

A downside was the distance from our parking garage to our room.  It was quite a walk hauling groceries, so we opted to use the valet on our second trip.  However, the confusing layout maximizes the ocean views, which is nice.  We spent many nights on our lanai enjoying the view.  

We made nightly use of the hot tub by the pool.  We ate one night on the on-site restaurant. The food was surprisingly good, but (of course) expensive.   The pool was great and we had no issues getting seats together by the pool, even during prime vacation time.  

The ocean right off the resort has pretty good snorkeling.  It's north of Black Rock and "resort row" where the Marriott and Westin hotels are located.  I actually prefer this location over resort row, but do wish it had a paved oceanfront path.  But I do like that it's less crowded and more romantic than the more touristy area south.  And it's nice to have Lahaina so close by for water activies. 

The entire resort only had two tennis courts.  We ended up driving to the public courts across from the Sheraton because they were constantly crowded.

The shuttle to Lahaina was very, very convenient...and free!  It was great to be able to relax and enjoy some cocktails in the evening without worrying about designated drivers.  

We went on one Molokini snorkeling trip with the Pacific Whale Foundation.  It was okay, but I'll try to get a smaller boat next time.  There were literally hundreds of people in the water at a time.  Also did the Lanai trip with Trilogy.  We all loved that, esp the body surfing on Lanai.   We all went to the Old Lahaina Luau and it was a nice family activity that they'll always remember.

Here is their email to me:

Dear Reviewer,

Thank you for taking the time to submit a review to TripAdvisor. As our reviews are unbiased, we can no longer post reviews or photos submitted by timeshare or condo owners.

You are welcome to post your message on TripAdvisor Forums (http://www.tripadvisor.com/ForumHome). Forums is a discussion board in which members ask and answer as many travel-related questions as they like and get travel help from fellow members.

Thank you for understanding.

Best regards,

TripAdvisor Support Team


----------



## dioxide45 (Oct 4, 2009)

LisaRex, you should post your review to the review section of TUG.


----------



## pedro47 (Oct 4, 2009)

I wish more Tuggers  would post their resort reviews in TUG's Resort Data Base Section, especially from Canada, also; the North Eastern states of the United States from Maine to Delaware, and the South Eastern Region from North Carolina to Florida.

Plus, all the countries and Caribbean Islands South of state of Florida.


----------



## LisaRex (Oct 4, 2009)

pedro47 said:


> I wish more Tuggers  would post their resort reviews in TUG's Resort Data Base Section, especially from Canada, also; the North Eastern states of the United States from Maine to Delaware, and the South Eastern Region from North Carolina to Florida.
> 
> Plus, all the countries and Caribbean Islands South of state of Florida.



I did post a much more detailed review on Tug.  I thought I'd posted the WKORV review on TA as well, but when I checked out my account it wasn't there. (We traveled in Jul '08.) Not sure what happened there.  But I re-submitted an abbreviated version of my Tug review, along with pictures.


----------



## Talent312 (Oct 4, 2009)

LisaRex said:


> I did post a much more detailed review on Tug.  I thought I'd posted the WKORV review on TA as well, but when I checked out my account it wasn't there. (We traveled in Jul '08.) Not sure what happened there.  But I re-submitted an abbreviated version of my Tug review, along with pictures.



My review of your TA Review is that it came across as a puff-piece, which likely raised some eyebrows.
TA is far more used to posters whining about dust in the corners, wrinkled sheets and noisy neighbors.
They're likely hyper-sensitive to possible shills.


----------



## javabean (Oct 4, 2009)

I don't get it. There are 557 reviews of Marriott Grande Vista, 145 reviews of Manor Club, and 100 reviews of Custom House. Two of the reviews are mine. I just checked that brief sampling of TS's I'm familiar with. How can they say they don't accept reviews of timeshares? I enjoy Trip Advisor but this just seems very biased and unfair to me. It makes me rethink how often I want to visit the site.


----------



## LisaRex (Oct 5, 2009)

javabean said:


> I don't get it. There are 557 reviews of Marriott Grande Vista, 145 reviews of Manor Club, and 100 reviews of Custom House. Two of the reviews are mine. I just checked that brief sampling of TS's I'm familiar with. How can they say they don't accept reviews of timeshares? I enjoy Trip Advisor but this just seems very biased and unfair to me. It makes me rethink how often I want to visit the site.



They accept reviews of TSs; they just don't want reviews by OWNERS.


----------



## John Cummings (Oct 5, 2009)

Talent312 said:


> My review of your TA Review is that it came across as a puff-piece, which likely raised some eyebrows.
> TA is far more used to posters whining about dust in the corners, wrinkled sheets and noisy neighbors.
> They're likely hyper-sensitive to possible shills.



That is not true. I have been a member of Trip Advisor for a long time and regularly post reviews of hotels. I recently posted a review of a hotel in Rancho Mirage, CA  that was nothing but very positive. Trip Advisor is the first place I go when planning a trip.

Trip Advisor is not a timeshare web site so I can see that they may not want timeshare reviews. However there are often timeshare discussions on their forums. I have been involved in many timeshare discussions on TA. I don't care whether they accept timeshare reviews or not. That is not the reason I am a member of Trip Advisor and use them frequently. We stay in hotels 50 or so nights a year so I find  their hotel reviews to be very valuable.


----------



## cvmar (Oct 5, 2009)

If TA is so unbiased then why do they allow hotels to provide a TA link on their websites with control over which reviews prospective customers will see?


----------



## John Cummings (Oct 5, 2009)

cvmar said:


> If TA is so unbiased then why do they allow hotels to provide a TA link on their websites with control over which reviews prospective customers will see?



If TA is biased then the reviews would reflect that. The hotel reviews are all over the place from very negative to very positive. I have done several hotel reviews that have ranged from very good to very poor and TA has accepted then all.


----------



## cvmar (Oct 5, 2009)

John Cummings said:


> If TA is biased then the reviews would reflect that. The hotel reviews are all over the place from very negative to very positive. I have done several hotel reviews that have ranged from very good to very poor and TA has accepted then all.



I agree that TA has a full range of reviews from good to bad. I too have posted reviews on their site. My concern is about *TA allowing a 3rd party widget that allows hotels to stream TA reviews directly to their website, while filtering them to give the reader whatever perception the hotel desires.* I recently read this on beatofhawaii.com.  I am comfortable reading reviews directly from the TA website however I would not be comfortable reading them from a hotels website link knowing this is being done. Slippery slope IMHO.


----------



## Timeshare Von (Oct 5, 2009)

I'm guessing the TA is generating revenue to pay for the site that is free to travelers/end-users.  Most of the travel web sites are doing that.  For that matter, take a look at the stuff all over Facebook! They have it down to pulling key words off your pages and from you IP address to figure out what to market to you.  I was surprised while traveling to see the local stuff for that city all over my FB pages.  Most recently, it was Hawaii on my page.  Right now, they have keyed in on my photography interests and are marketing cameras and other photography services directly to me.


----------



## T_R_Oglodyte (Oct 5, 2009)

Timeshare Von said:


> I'm guessing the TA is generating revenue to pay for the site that is free to travelers/end-users.  Most of the travel web sites are doing that.  For that matter, take a look at the stuff all over Facebook! They have it down to pulling key words off your pages and from you IP address to figure out what to market to you.  I was surprised while traveling to see the local stuff for that city all over my FB pages.  Most recently, it was Hawaii on my page.  Right now, they have keyed in on my photography interests and are marketing cameras and other photography services directly to me.


Yeah - my son added me as his Dad.  Now that he's done that whenever I go to Facebook the webpages are filled with ads that have a "Dad" keyword in them - including many that have nothing to do with fatherhood.


----------



## John Cummings (Oct 5, 2009)

cvmar said:


> I agree that TA has a full range of reviews from good to bad. I too have posted reviews on their site. My concern is about *TA allowing a 3rd party widget that allows hotels to stream TA reviews directly to their website, while filtering them to give the reader whatever perception the hotel desires.* I recently read this on beatofhawaii.com.  I am comfortable reading reviews directly from the TA website however I would not be comfortable reading them from a hotels website link knowing this is being done. Slippery slope IMHO.



I agree completely. I don't read any reviews that are accessed from the web site of the product being reviewed.


----------



## tschwa2 (Oct 5, 2009)

I think they didn't like that you called it a timeshare.  They market the site (and advertise properties) as hotel reviews.  Most of the reviews at WKORV refer to "studios" and "hotel" rooms/suites.  If you left out the TS word I wonder if they would have rejected it.


----------



## John Cummings (Oct 8, 2009)

cvmar said:


> If TA is so unbiased then why do they allow hotels to provide a TA link on their websites with control over which reviews prospective customers will see?



This morning I tested out the links to the reviews from the Harrah's hotels in Las Vegas. I was already on the Harrah's web site and noticed that each of the hotels does have a link to the Trip Advisor reviews. I checked the links to the Trip Advisor's reviews for the Paris, Harrah's, Flamingo, Imperial Palace, and Caesar's Palace. I discovered that the reviews from the hotel's links were definitely not cherry picked. The reviews were mixed from good to terrible. Based on this, I would have to say that it doesn't appear that TA is biased at all.

As a side note, I am often amused by what some of the people complain about, especially for the Casino/hotels.


----------



## nazclk (Oct 8, 2009)

*Trip review*

I don't know why you can't post yours, I post all the time.


----------



## cvmar (Oct 9, 2009)

John Cummings said:


> This morning I tested out the links to the reviews from the Harrah's hotels in Las Vegas. I was already on the Harrah's web site and noticed that each of the hotels does have a link to the Trip Advisor reviews. I checked the links to the Trip Advisor's reviews for the Paris, Harrah's Flamingo, Imperial Palace, and Caesar's Palace. I discovered that the reviews from the hotel's links were definitely not cherry picked. The reviews were mixed from good to terrible. Based on this, I would have to say that it doesn't appear that TA is biased at all.
> 
> As a side note, I am often amused by what some of the people complain about, especially for the Casino/hotels.



I went to the Beatofhawaii.com website to see if they had any additional information regarding this as this is where I got the original information and found the following:

*When I wrote recently about Filterstream, it was to tell you about how it allowed hotels to show you only those TripAdvisor reviews that made them look good.  The problem is, that entirely subverted TripAdvisor’s integrity.

At the time, I checked with our contact at TripAdvisor, who said:  ”We have no comment for now on the Filter Stream widget.”

On checking now, however, I find:

The widget is unavailable
All reference to TripAdvisor has been removed from the Filterstream site
Filterstream’s YouTube video has been taken down
Therefore, I assume that the product was not in accordance with TripAdvisor’s wishes.  I’ll let you know if I learn anything more.
*
So it appears as if TA has address this issue which is great.


----------



## javabean (Oct 9, 2009)

Thanks for following through on this.


----------



## carl2591 (Oct 9, 2009)

i can tell you in look at and reading the reviews on Trip Advisor and TUG i prefer the tugs ones as they are not the dust in corners and other nitpicker stuff..

after hearing this report on TA I will most likely stop using that site at all.. 

this and obama getting a noble prize.. whats next rush limbaugh judging a beauty contest.. ??


----------



## John Cummings (Oct 10, 2009)

carl2591 said:


> i can tell you in look at and reading the reviews on Trip Advisor and TUG i prefer the tugs ones as they are not the dust in corners and other nitpicker stuff..
> 
> after hearing this report on TA I will most likely stop using that site at all..
> 
> this and obama getting a noble prize.. whats next rush limbaugh judging a beauty contest.. ??



TUG only reviews timeshares whereas Trip Advisor does hotels so there is no conflict. The only timeshare reviews I have seen on TA are resorts that also rent out nights to the general public.

What report on TA are you referring to? The report about links from hotel sites to biased TA reviews is not true as we discussed above.

I rely heavily on TA hotel reviews as we stay approximately 50 nights a year in hotels. One has to know how to evaluate the reviews both good and bad reviews. Some people aren't very realistic when making either good or bad reviews.


----------

