Does the internet have a 1 star review problem?

16 points

4 years ago

A few days ago, I was in the lobby of my hotel on a Greek island. A woman was at the front desk very upset about having not been upgraded. She was yelling at the staff and causing a real scene. She left with everyone visibly shaken. Chatting with them a little after, this sounds like an all too common scene.

This morning, as promised, a 1 star rating shows up on every review platform. She claims the hotel is ugly, the staff was rude and racist, and even that someone had pushed her.

Everything about this claim is a lie. My partner and have been here 4 days and everything has been fantastic. Every single person on the staff goes out of their way to be helpful and the property is beautiful.

Looking more at their reviews online, there are a handful of 1 star reviews with some crazy claims. One even looks to have photoshopped an image to make the pool appear dirty. Almost every 1 star review mentioned not being upgraded.

I've become especially sensitive to this after listing a property on Airbnb last year. Almost all guests and reviews are wonderful, thoughtful comments about my home and it's location. But then occasionally get a 3 star review with an explanation of something like "the dryer vent had lint in it". Come on...you're staying in a cabin in the woods, not the St Regis.

As a business owner and a technologist, I feel a ton of empathy for people that have it all on the line and can be so vulnerable. How can rating systems better account for/normalize against this kind of behavior?

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