How Do You Handle A Slanderous Review Options

[dalsgal]

I now manage a campground and someone made a post about the campground that is nothing but slander. The people were told that because of their failure to follow campground rules they would have to leave when their rent was up for the month. Now they have posted totally libelous comments and that can be proven to be false. They claim their stay here was terrible but yet they even state they were here for 8 months. How can a situation like this be handled. Because their review is now in print we do have their claims in writing so we can sue them but I would prefer to handle this in some other way. Any suggestions?

[John Blue]

dalsgal,

Down at bottom of page you will see (contact us). Sent in your information to webmaster and see if he can help.

[Lindsay Richards]

Back when we were in the lodging business, it was estimated that about 75% of the Bed and Breakfast reviews on Trip Advisor were bogus. I myself heard many owners bragging about writing good reviews on themselves and bad reviews on the guys down the street. It is very hard for a webmaster to screen these out. Lots of time here has been spent to ty to do this. You can present your facts to the webmaster and hopefully they can remove it. These jerks who lie about places can do a lot of damage.

[FosterImposters]

... but I would prefer to handle this in some other way. Any suggestions?

Hello dalsgal and welcome aboard...sorry it was prompted by the mean-spiritedness of another. Just by posting on the forum portion of this site: you have begun the process of unraveling the ugliness of an unfair and/or slanderous review of any park.

Thanks for adding your voice to the mix.
How was the summer season for the park you manage?

[dalsgal]

[i][/i]

Hello dalsgal and welcome aboard...sorry it was prompted by the mean-spiritedness of another. Just by posting on the forum portion of this site: you have begun the process of unraveling the ugliness of an unfair and/or slanderous review of any park.

Thanks for adding your voice to the mix.
How was the summer season for the park you manage?

I appreciate the answers from you folks. I did find someone that had praised us and reminded her that she wanted to review us. I think she is going to give us a good review today. That will help.

We don't really have a summer season at this park. Until recently we were full of full timers from the construction business. We do have some snowbirds that pass through but most of our business is from the construction in our area. Until a few weeks ago we were full, excluding some sites we keep for over nighters, but now we have quite a few empty spots. We are small but a nice park. We have rules and I get to be the bad guy that makes sure the campers follow them. The hardest one seems to be the speed limit and the people with children are the worst. I enjoy this type of work and do many things that I am not required to do but I treat this park as though it was my own.

[John316]

Cat,

Why not post us a link to a map of your place? Who knows when we will be by, and where we will need to stop...

God bless,

John

[pogoil]

Dalsgal,

I own a park as well and my wife and I wonder when this will happen to us. We have had good reviews so far. But when you enforce rules some want to get even. We mostly get retired folks and have very little problems. But it still on our minds.
As a matter of fact we were just at a park that was rated very good but after the stay I checked their ratings and saw that a person had rated them as a terrible place. All other posts were good. That prompted me to write my first park review and 2 others so it is now posted. My post should help clear up the bad post. I can not see how the bad post could be true as I did not see any of the problems they mentioned.

[abbygolden]

Dalsgal,

I own a park as well and my wife and I wonder when this will happen to us. We have had good reviews so far. But when you enforce rules some want to get even. We mostly get retired folks and have very little problems. But it still on our minds.
As a matter of fact we were just at a park that was rated very good but after the stay I checked their ratings and saw that a person had rated them as a terrible place. All other posts were good. That prompted me to write my first park review and 2 others so it is now posted. My post should help clear up the bad post. I can not see how the bad post could be true as I did not see any of the problems they mentioned.

And therein lies the problem. What is bad to me is good to you and vice versa. I think we all tend to take the numerical rating with a grain of salt and pay more attention to the descriptions. We all seem to have differing value systems.

[Galli]

PLEASE NOTE, I AM NOT OWING A RESORT, I AM JUST A CAMPER LIKE YOU

I am very pleased to hear your concerns about what kind of review it is published on this forum, in my opinion people should not be allowed to write personal opinions, their comments should be only based on facts (i.e. Location, size of the lot, trees shade or not, facilities available and if proper, rates and if what's advertised in the writing promotion is there or not.).
My reason for limiting the campers' expression is not for their luck of honesty but because of perspective. It is almost 10 years that I am spending my Winters in Florida and I have been through pleasant and unpleasant places, in few of them I could have written negative reports because their sides were extremely small, because the staff was not gracious or the washrooms were not up to my standard. I have a sizable 5th W. and we are a retired couple and we prefer a place with not too much noise, however, if someone with 30 or 40 years less than mine, with smaller RV may fit nicely in that place.
Having said the above, my expectancy are different than...yours ? However and notwithstanding that it would not be rational for me to provide a positive comments of that place but for other campers it would be OK.
A power of writing reports is a very powerful weapon that if it is used properly is a good tools for the others if not, it is a slander that denigrates some good business.
The other side of the medal is that, there are resorts that are really a pit and don’t deserve to be in business and in this case a camper that was burned once by staying in those places is poisoned versus every places that not meets its expectancy.
Having stated the above and in order to be fair towards campers and/or resorts, how do you establish a guideline in providing information ?
In light of the above, I Recommend to this forum to eliminate the personal comments’ field in the report’s form and publish only what’s available as structure.
One thing in favor for the campers, on these days it is very common to promote the internet facility when actually the hardware is there but not operational or barely functional.
I say that it would be honest for the facility to advertise the real status of this service and if not available or barely available to be honest with the campers and/or in their pamphlets used to advertise the pace. .
IN closing and in order to avoid hardship to anyone, when you are planning to visit a new campsite, send a message on this forum regarding the place and what are your basic requirements, in general I do receive 3 or 4 answers and according to that I make my own decision.
PS = I am now ready to be skinned alive he, he, he

[dmwtex]

Recently, a gentleman added a comment on this forum stating that he was in need of a "jump" due to a dead battery in his toad. He stated that he contacted a park staff member who told him that we could not jump his battery due to "insurance concerns." He also stated that he was ignored while staff zipped up and down the park in their carts while they were sitting in front of the laundry which was about 30 yards from his site. So that there is no misunderstanding, I was working at that campground during his stay there, and I was the staff member he contacted regarding a jump for his toad. As I explained to him, we did not provide that service due to the potential for damage to his vehicle, and or the parks. I told him that he was welcome to seek assistance from any other of the RVers in the park, which he replied that he might do. To imply that my (our) failure to come to his rescue forced him to call a battery service for a jump before he could drive to Auto Zone for a new battery is unfair. He had a variety of options at his disposal. His choice to call a battery service for a jump start was his and his alone. Likewise, his choice to frequent "mom and pop" RV parks is his as well. However, it must be said, that his misfortune was not the fault of me, other staff members or the RV park. He made his choices based on the information he had at the time. Hopefully, in the future, he will be better prepared for such situations. And, I hope, not attempt to place blame on hard working workampers, or RV parks that choose not to place themselves in jeopardy in today's lawsuit happy society.

[Texasrvers]

I Recommend to this forum to eliminate the personal comments’ field in the report’s form and publish only what’s available as structure.

I disagree. It is the comments that usually give the most useful information (if stated factually without any ranting; some do go overboard). Checking off that a place has a pool does not say that it was green and the size of a bathtub. A park may be pet friendly but that does not tell us that they have a wonderful off leash exercise area with equipment. Likewise you have stated that you not like too much noise. I do not think the form has a check for that so how will you know about the noise level unless someone says that it is either very quiet or 10 feet from a train track.

I hope people are honest when they describe a park, but at the same time we must remember that whatever they write is their opinion. The next reviewer may not agree, and that is why we have 1's and 10's for the same park. If we look at the check off boxes we will only know what amenities and services are available. If we read the comments we will get a better understanding of the quality of those things.

[DocHolliday]

Having been in business myself, I know that many individuals are more likely to complain than to compliment. Which is why some forums become areas inundated by complaint, with few compliments. That renders the purpose of the forum (especially this forum) less effective for those of us who want candid, unbiased reviews.

So, when reading a negative comment, I take into consideration the reviewer's motive. Most of the time I am able to sort out who is blowing off steam, verses who had a valid complaint.

I must say, however, that having the owner/managers of the park responding to the negative comments speaks loudly. Kudos to the park's management for taking that step.

The truth is the standard upon which a slanderous (spoken) review or libelous (written; published) review is defended or prosecuted. This is truly where the truth wins the case.

My thought is that you handled the negative reviewer as you should, by responding to the negative post. Plus, I agree with the previous comments, query the webmaster to remove the negative post based on the facts that you present to him/her.

An attorney can advise you if you decide to pursue legal action.

[Galli]

I disagree. It is the comments that usually give the most useful information (if stated factually without any ranting; some do go overboard). Checking off that a place has a pool does not say that it was green and the size of a bathtub. A park may be pet friendly but that does not tell us that they have a wonderful off leash exercise area with equipment. Likewise you have stated that you not like too much noise. I do not think the form has a check for that so how will you know about the noise level unless someone says that it is either very quiet or 10 feet from a train track.

I hope people are honest when they describe a park, but at the same time we must remember that whatever they write is their opinion. The next reviewer may not agree, and that is why we have 1's and 10's for the same park. If we look at the check off boxes we will only know what amenities and services are available. If we read the comments we will get a better understanding of the quality of those things.

.
Hi Texastvers, I agree 100% with you but where do you draw the line in order to take for granted what we read in the report ? I know that, before publishing the comments, the review officer must analyze the content on the letter but he/she does not have the tools to verify what's promoted. As I said in my previous message, I have been in resorts that I didn't like weather the facilities were barely clean, certain showers where loosing the cold or hot water handle, the recreation room was more like a grotto than a place to receive people but, this is my personal opinion; I could have made a report stating that the place is disgusting, not clean etc.. etc. etc.. which, according to my standard was true but for other people it could be acceptable. If the report form would only quote what’s available there, it would give an idea of what to expect and then asking comments on the forum you would receive the personal feeling by who was there and in this case you would have several opinions to evaluate not only one from a guy who may was pissed off for personal reason.
I am quoting part of the message just published before yours, namely, a guy stuck with a dead battery and notwithstanding that there was people closed by with capacity to help but they did not assist being afraid of liabilities. I tell you honestly that I would be very upset and if I had to write a report it would be blooming but, in final analysis I see their point.
I reiterate that writing is a very powerful tool, in which, unless you are trained in quoting facts, your words may be distorted by your actual feeling and provide a positive/negative idea to those whose reading your message.

[Texasrvers]

Galli,

You are correct when you say "the review officer . . . does not have the tools to verify what's promoted." They must rely on a person's honesty that they are telling the truth, and sometimes that doesn't happen. I remember quite a while back a park owner wrote in to say that his park had received a bad review because, according to the reviewer, his pool was nothing but green moss. He said he was pretty sure that was not true because his park did not have a pool. Now the reviewer may not have done this on purpose; they may have gotten their parks mixed up and made an honest mistake, but since there was no way for the checker to know that this was inaccurate information, it was posted.

As I said in my previous message, I have been in resorts that I didn't like weather the facilities were barely clean, certain showers where loosing the cold or hot water handle, the recreation room was more like a grotto than a place to receive people but, this is my personal opinion; I could have made a report stating that the place is disgusting, not clean etc.. etc. etc.. which, according to my standard was true but for other people it could be acceptable. If the report form would only quote what’s available there, it would give an idea of what to expect and then asking comments on the forum you would receive the personal feeling by who was there and in this case you would have several opinions to evaluate not only one from a guy who may was pissed off for personal reason.

First, simply stating what is available does not give the big picture. Saying that a park has showers and a rec room does not tell about the condition of them. Saying that handles were falling off and describing the rec room as a grotto gives a far better idea what to expect. Yes, this was your opinion, and the next person may not agree (or the problems may have been fixed), but you have told the truth as you see it, and so has the other reviewer. Now I have to decide whose report is more accurate. If I had to judge from only these two opposite reviews I would have a hard time deciding. However, there are usually several other reviews that will generally be like one of these two. If the other reviews also mention these same bad things, then I can assume with a good bit of certainty that the park is disgusting. If the other reviews are mostly good, then I might suspect that the bad review was written because the reviewer was mad due to a personal reason, and I will disregard it. Either way the comments have been the most valuable part of the review.

Second, you say "asking comments on the forum you would receive the personal feeling by who was there and in this case you would have several opinions to evaluate not only one from a guy who may was pissed off for personal reason." This is exactly what the comments do in the first place. People who have been to the park are giving their personal feelings and by this method I will have several opinions. Besides asking questions on the forum will not stop someone from trashing the park if they were mad about something when they stayed there.

The bottom line is I still think the comments are good and are the best way to convey the true condition of a park.

[rvp1997]

My favorite review sites give the owners a chance to tell their side. I think that park owners should always get a chance to post a short rebuttal. That way no one has to read between the lines. Many campgrounds are small privately owned Mom and Pop places. I find it very sad that people get online and post lies or half truths. These reviews can be so damaging to small businesses. Let's face it, one bad review of Walmart isn't going to put them out of business. However, one bad review of a small privately owned campground could do a lot of damage. Food for thought!!