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Fake ratings and hostelworld!

Hostel Reviews, Booking Engines, and Directories
euro's picture
euro started this discussion 14 years 12 months ago

44

Look what I am talking about:
Hostelworld did not removed but changed the rating what was made by an avid traveller, the other
ratings from novice. The old rating is already on the google stored, but the new is different,
ONLY hostelworld can change it!
On building of GRANDIO one month ago was a table, That AUTOKER holding a big company
gave to the HOMELESS people (giving value to the hungarian society)
May 31
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=3&ved=0CDEQFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hostelworld.com%2FHostels%2FBudapest%2FHungary%2FReviews%2F&ei=EHoFTL6cKOiHONLu7IUF&usg=AFQjCNHzXMNd2R9RfhuSC97sxfxM3FhdZw&sig2=ho47fJIG76pRm9VIZWPKJw
Best Hostels in Budapest | Hostelworld.com Budapest Hostel Reviews - May 31
Latest Reviews. kareldegend6598 (Avid Traveller from Belgium), May 2010: Way OVERRATED (Fake?). In my experience with over 60 hostels in 1 year I can only ..

http://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldetails.php/Grandio-Party-Hostel/Budapest/42307/reviews/
In my experience with over 60 hostels in 1 year I can only say this place is way overrated. The shower had dirty floors of sand and dirt, no mirror in bathroom, the sink was very small and partly broken, the toilet didn\'t have a sink. The shower/toilet/sink facilities are not handy at all. The building doesn\'t have any character honestly, the rooms are very basic but ok. Staff are basicaly about drinking and pubs.

http://www.hostelworld.com/Hostels/Budapest/Hungary/Reviews/ This 10 sure faked, but I think the same is the other 40 at the beginning.

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Josh Hostels's picture

Josh Hostels

14 years

You are absolutly right.
I think what they could do immediately to stop ranking under this unreliable issue, they could rank under price, availability, and alfabetics.

Wishful thinking, but it will never happen because travelers want to sort by ratings.

Look through the ratings more detailed, however even they have limited possibilities only the IP number, and cookies and Credit card they can investigate. They dont investigate language or the rating unrealistic or frienship of hostel owner. They could have investigate the reviewer real person or not e.t.c. If seriouse case they hostel can be banned, but mostly would be enough to loose ratings until the system is so bad

If they care, I'm sure they are working on it. If they don't care, then they probably won't do anything until one of the other 4 items I listed above happens...

In the meantime here are some other ideas on things that could be done:

  • Identify specific fake reviews and let booking engines know -- but if you mistakenly identify reviews as fake that aren't fake, I think it's going to backfire on you.
  • improve your hostel reviews
  • find ways to market the hostel outside of booking engines

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euro's picture

euro

14 years

So let see again.
Identification is only difficult if the hostel is good enough. Hostelworld or Hostelbookers goes to check and see a good hostel. The IP-s of ratings are from far countries (Australia, Asia e.t.c.) Could he ask in email? If the friends gave the review they answer positiv. Cookies from different machines.
If a hostel have 98% how can it be?
If somebody run hostel, know that sometimes staying one day , practically 'no show' or not find the hostel and send a bad review. ( one time happened that on the public transport was punished the guest and gave a bad review without visiting the hostel where I was staff member, just we talked on the phone)
If one bad review happens you need dozens of 100% to compensate.
So if you receive a 20% and receive 25 times 100% the avarage is 96.9% in Budapest with this you are not in the top.
How can you receive 25 times 100%, nothing else? ...
Generator hostel London, Kabul Barcelona, Wombat Vienna the most famouse hostels in Europe cannot do it,

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Josh Hostels's picture

Josh Hostels

14 years

The IP-s of ratings are from far countries (Australia, Asia e.t.c.) Could he ask in email? If the friends gave the review they answer positiv. Cookies from different machines.

It seems hard to believe that so many hostels would be able to get scores of friends to write so many positive reviews. If that is the case, then it should be very simple for sites like Hostelworld and Hostelbookers to see patterns in the fake bookings. You don't need IP address and cookies to do it as much as an algorithm like this.

If a hostel have 98% how can it be?
If somebody run hostel, know that sometimes staying one day , practically 'no show' or not find the hostel and send a bad review. ( one time happened that on the public transport was punished the guest and gave a bad review without visiting the hostel where I was staff member, just we talked on the phone)

Cancel the booking or ask Hostelworld to remove the review if the guest didn't show up.

If one bad review happens you need dozens of 100% to compensate.
So if you receive a 20% and receive 25 times 100% the avarage is 96.9% in Budapest with this you are not in the top.
How can you receive 25 times 100%, nothing else? ...

Some possibilities:

  • preemptively take care of guest's problems before they can write a review
  • work really hard on making sure every single guest is happy
  • pay attention to every tiny detail

Generator hostel London, Kabul Barcelona, Wombat Vienna the most famouse hostels in Europe cannot do it,

Is much more difficult to get 90%+ average ratings with a large hostel because you can't pay attention to every guest. The only large hostels I know who have done it are Wombats and Circus.

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euro's picture

euro

14 years

I think cancelling only possibile on HW not on HB for example.
Some guest arrive at 3 am in the night for 1 day and next day go and leaving review. It is quite usual and if it is not shown it is unrealistic.
One more indicator:
After a little worse rating coming immediately a long raw of 100% to improve the 'fault'.
Sometimes for weeks no reviews and after a worse one in one day lot of 100% ...
That is little suspicious ...

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euro's picture

euro

14 years

It is a joke.
It is enough to take some photo (from these high % hostels) haha :)

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Josh Hostels's picture

Josh Hostels

13 years

Is much more difficult to get 90%+ average ratings with a large hostel because you can't pay attention to every guest. The only large hostels I know who have done it are Wombats and Circus.

UPDATE: And now Getaway Hostel in Chicago -- a large hostel with 90% rating:
http://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldetails.php/Chicago-Getaway-Hostel/Chicago/1804

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Good Morning Hostels's picture

Good Morning Hostels

13 years

As we all know many hostels do fakebookings, they have rate which is not the reality,
and it is not the true picture of the hostel. Here is couple of ideas how to try to get better perspective until somebody use
algoritms to determine what is fake booking.

1. if somebody want to rate some hostel in which he spent the time, he should as well upload the photo from that hostel, as a proof that he really was there

2. As some other websites have rating of the customers, as somebody is avid traveler, it does not mean that he is objective in rating hostel, so maybe hostels can rate guests too. In this way hostels will be informed about the guest (on their hostelworld profile) who make reservation for their property and they will know what to expect from that guests. In the case that some guest has bed reviews, hostel has right to do not accept the reservation.

Do you have any more ideas?

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