Asking members to submit Reviews : what do you think?

[Marina_K]

When I read the BBS, I come across quite a few messages where the member mentions having gone to this or that resort, a few days/weeks/months ago.

With a little research, I can tell whether or not that member has submitted a review.

If you were that member, would you be offended if I PMd or emailed you, asking/begging you to write a review?

Or, how would you handle it?

Thanks.

 

[Keitht]

I fully support the idea of asking members to submit reviews. Although I have only been handling the European Reviews area for a couple of months I have been very surprised at how few reviews I have received in August. Just 3 so far compared to about 30 in July. I would have expected the numbers to increase through August, not decrease.

I do recall a comment by one member to the effect that they don't submit reviews because what they want of a resort may not be the same as somebody else.

A review is the member's opinion of a resort and it doesn't matter whether or not others agree or have shares similar experiences. I feel it is only by getting a good number of reviews that a fair picture can be built up.

During the transfer of reviews between the old and new databases I have seen instances of very different opinions of a resort from people who must have been there at roughly the same time. Neither reviewer is wrong in what they say as each person has their own expectations and experiences. So PLEASE submit reviews.

 

[akbmusic]

I think it would be great!

I love the reviews! There are so many resorts that haven't been reviewed in 3 or 4 years (or ever). A lot can change in just one year with that many people in and out, management changes, refurbishments...
I was just looking through reviews yesterday before placing our request w/II and wished there was more about some resorts.
I'm all for it. Go get 'em!

 

[Canuck]

sounds great

I think it sounds great as well. Now, forgive me as I am new to TUG, is there already a place to post reviews? If so how do I find it on this website? I'm all in support of giving and reading reviews.....FANTASTIC idea!

Cheers/Lisa

 

[Marina_K]

Hi Lisa,

Welcome to TUG.

The reviews are one of the benefits of membership. You can find the reviews here. We're in the process of tranferring the reviews to a new site and so it is a bit "messy".

If you're not a member, you can find a few sample reviews listed here.

 

[Bill4728]

I found the new way to post reviews of resort a mixed bag. I had to go thru four separate sign-ins to get to the review form. Although, I like the new form, but I miss the free form method of the old reviews.

 

[LynnW]

I certainly wouldn't be offended, I think its a great idea. I have usually submitted reviews for all the resorts we have visited except for a couple last fall which had been reviewed recently and I had nothing to add. In fact just a couple of days ago I checked the reviews for the Oasis Villas in Palm Springs which I believe is now a Sunterra resort and there hasn't been any new reviews for a couple of years. I have noticed there seem to be fewer reviews being submitted since we switched to the new website. Is it really that more difficult now?

Lynn

 

[Keitht]

I found the new way to post reviews of resort a mixed bag. I had to go thru four separate sign-ins to get to the review form. Although, I like the new form, but I miss the free form method of the old reviews.

I don't know the actual reasoning behind the new format but would guess that there is a desire for conformity across the board as the database develops.
I suppose, like any change, there is always a risk that what some people consider to be good features will be lost when introducing new.

 

[gary01]

I like the reviews too and wouldn't be offended if I were asked to submit one. However, that said, I have submitted several reviews but at least 3 never seem to have made it and were apparently lost in cyberland. I resubmitted each of them and they too got lost. It gets a little frustrating to have to resubmit them several times, so I've given up posting new ones.

 

[jerseygirl]

ditto what Gary said

 

[LynnW]

Mine have always been posted but most of them have been for Mexico and Western States. Thanks to Marina, Jeff and I believe it is Chris who has taken over from him for doing a great job! I also submitted a couple from Hawaii which were posted.

I also want to say welcome Lisa. Another Tugger from Calgary! There are only a few of us.

Lynn

 

[flowergurl]

Great idea

When I read the BBS, I come across quite a few messages where the member mentions having gone to this or that resort, a few days/weeks/months ago.

With a little research, I can tell whether or not that member has submitted a review.

If you were that member, would you be offended if I PMd or emailed you, asking/begging you to write a review?

Or, how would you handle it?

Thanks.

I think it's a great idea to seek out and ask if someone can write a review. I am relatively new to being more active in reading these boards although I have belonged to TUG for awhile. We are visiting a couple resorts at Christmas and another couple over mid-winter and Easter break next year. I know that I have already thought about submitting a review because at least one of the resorts had only older reviews available.

I do have a quick question, though. What if the resort is not listed or appears to be mixed in with another one? I am specifically referring to Island Club IV. It doesn't really have it's own spot. Here on the TUG review area, I believe it's under Island Club-Seawatch, which kind of groups the two different resorts together. (These are both on Hilton Head Island). I do know that they are both on the same grounds, however, Seawatch is the one closer up front by the ocean and Island Club is in back by the lagoon. In RCI, these appear as separate resorts you can book into. Would it be clearer to people if there was a way to separate these and have two areas for reviews here on TUG?
Not trying to cause any trouble, just making a friendly suggestion.

Thanks,
Diane

 

[KenK]

Some of the Shawnee Resorts are also listed in one group. What many reviewers do is to write the first line of the review with the exact name of the resort (section) and sometimes even the room or bldg.

"... We stayed at the Shawnee Village section called The Summit, a 5 star II section in the Shawnee developments..."

"...We stayed in the Shawnee Village section called Depew..."

"...Orange Lakes CC section called the__________..."

 

[flowergurl]

Gotcha! and so the light goes on!

Some of the Shawnee Resorts are also listed in one group. What many reviewers do is to write the first line of the review with the exact name of the resort (section) and sometimes even the room or bldg.

"... We stayed at the Shawnee Village section called The Summit, a 5 star II section in the Shawnee developments..."

"...We stayed in the Shawnee Village section called Depew..."

"...Orange Lakes CC section called the__________..."

Ken,

Well, why didn't I think of that. Guess it really does show that I am new! Now I will understand the whole system a little better when I go in to read the reviews also. Sometimes I just have trouble thinking "outside the box" I guess!

Thanks,
Diane

 

[Marina_K]

I do have a quick question, though. What if the resort is not listed or appears to be mixed in with another one? I am specifically referring to Island Club IV. It doesn't really have it's own spot. Here on the TUG review area, I believe it's under Island Club-Seawatch, which kind of groups the two different resorts together. (These are both on Hilton Head Island). I do know that they are both on the same grounds, however, Seawatch is the one closer up front by the ocean and Island Club is in back by the lagoon. In RCI, these appear as separate resorts you can book into. Would it be clearer to people if there was a way to separate these and have two areas for reviews here on TUG?

Good question, Diane, but unfortunately, the answer is a bit complicated. I'm not going to comment on how the other volunteers do their section. I'll just use my own as an example.

I "inherited" the Mexico Reviews ~6 years ago. La Paloma has 3 names but only 2 groups (Worldmark & WIVC) involved in it, but it has always been dealt as one resort.

When the "programmer" set up the new site, he made entries for ALL RCI & II resorts. So I've decided, as long as there truely is a difference ( management, RCI #, etc.), I'll keep La Paloma as two separate resorts.

Others might not do it that way.

 

[Marina_K]

Gary & Betsy,

I understand how you feel. (A few of my reviews never made it online.) I just hope it wasn't me If it was, I'm truly sorry.

Hopefully, you'll reconsider and give the new system a try.

Lynn,

Thanks

It's always a good idea to do it in a document. I accept reviews whichever method the member chooses.

 

[Keitht]

From what I understand of the old review system it required much more manual intervention by the Review Rep than does the new one. Maybe that had something to do with the number of reviews 'going missing'.

 

[tashamen]

From what I understand of the old review system it required much more manual intervention by the Review Rep than does the new one. Maybe that had something to do with the number of reviews 'going missing'.

I hope so - I'm another one who had 3 reviews disappear and never get posted, which did make me think about submitting more (though I have done so since then).

 

[Keitht]

As one of the Review Reps I may live to regret this but if a review hasn't been posted within about 4 weeks of submission I would suggest sending either an e-mail or PM to the relevant rep. Also, keep a copy of the review text as a Word document or similar until it does appear.
I am aware that at least one rep is in a situation where their only access over the past few months has been via an unreliable and slow dial up link.

 

[Marina_K]

Missing reviews ...

Betsy, Gary & Tashamen,

Was this the old or new system?

Thanks.

------------
Marina
Mexico Resort Reviews

 

[Liz from N.J.]

I wish there were more reviews on the TUG board. Most of them are years old.

I'm going to do my La Cabana, Aruba review now.

 

[sammy]

I would not be offended if I were asked to submit a review. I think it is a great idea.

TUG is most useful when information is current and input by different members. Not only are there resort listings with out of date reviews, but others which seem to focus on only one aspect of timesharing (eg only checkin and staff courtesy, or unit layout and kitchen supplies, or local area, or just an overall thumbs up or down and that's it) so it is always good to have multiple reviews. We all see things from our own perspective and seeing only one view is misleading. (I always question that '10' resort that has only 1 review.) The more who contribute the better and more accurate the data.

I'd guess many will happily satisfy the request, some with politely decline, some will totally ignore. I can't imagine anyone getting upset over a simple, polite request.

 

[tashamen]

Betsy, Gary & Tashamen,

Was this the old or new system?

For me, they were all under the old system. Two were in Florida, but different parts of Florida so I think had different review managers, and one in the Caribbean. Unfortunately it isn't always possible for me to keep a copy of the review and in two of these cases (the two in Florida) I never recreated the reviews.

 

[pwrshift]

I'm afraid I'm finding the 'new' system more complicated and I never know if there are any 'new' reviews if all the pages are yellow ... the new reviews seem to show up on white background, but each time I switched to one area I needed to sign in again to get to another ... and I couldn't find any 'new' reviews for Marriott Ocean Pointe, Beachplace Towers, Doral and others. Surely I'm missing something as it's hard to believe there haven't been any new reviews for those resorts since TUG changed.

Brian

 

[Marina_K]

I replied on the other thread on how to find reviews for Florida East Coast and Keys.

We are aware of the "having to log in multiple times" problem. That will be partly solved when all the reviews are on one site. The "programmer" is also working on this.

Thanks for your patience & understanding while this "move" is being made.

--------------
Marina
temporary Mexico Resort Reviews list