Businesses want him banned but can you actually ban someone because they write mostly bad reviews?
He uses certain words very often: “obnoxious”, “arrogant” and “feral”. See link for full article with screenshots of scathing reviews.
As with any site, whether commercial or not, we play there at the discretion of the site owners. They have the absolute discretion as to whether a contributor is banned or not.
Personally, I don’t think TA should ban someone like this. Firstly, any review is simply a matter of opinion. And, second, if he is writing negative reviews about somewhere universally regarded by other TA contributors as good, then his opinion is clear to everyone to be that of an arsewipe. Restaurants need to get over themselves and have confidence in what they’re doing.
All that said, you always need to ask yourself how much credence you give to TA. I post there as much as I post here about restaurants and I always read TA when I’m looking for hotels. On the other side of that coin, I give little credence to TA restaurant reviews - for examplke, if I look at their Top 20 for Manchester (the city at the centre of my metro area), I only recognise four or so. And wouldnt regard three of those four as part of my personal Top 20.
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“This is why TripAdvisor is becoming increasingly irrelevant.”
–Roger Cazaly
I agree with Mr. Cazaly
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It would never occur to me to look to TA for restaurant or any other food review.
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I agree. I only use them for hotel reviews.
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Exactly my thought also. It’s a result of customers wanting their opinion to be heard. Instead of dismissing negative reviews, fabricated or otherwise, and reacting defensively they could learn from people’s complaints. Responding to all reviews is one of the ways of learning and promoting one’s business.
I go out of my way to avoid eating at place with TA sticker(s) on the front door but sometimes there’s no way to escape it.
He writes about one place “Service a little difficult, obviously we were interrupting a nice chat.”
I’ve writen similar about a local place very well regarded by TA contributors other than me. And I dissed the food as well.
And I wrote this about a Michelin starred place in London, in 2013 - “we got the worst table in the restaurant. That’s the one next to the pass, so just about every waiter bangs into your chair every time they collect anything. And you’re very aware of the conversations going on between chefs and servers. That’s the same table that’s also next to the main servers’ station so, when they are not having conversations with the kitchen, you’re very aware of their chit-chat with each other about what they’re planning to do on their next day off, and the like. Of course, when staff are as far up their own arses as this crew, then you know that customers are a mere hindrance.”
