Roberto's Ad in the Guad Reporter Re: Mean People

I just purchased a copy of the Guadalajara Reporter and read the ad by Roberto about the anguish caused by a vicious review of his beach house in Colima. I looked up the review on Trip Advisor and it was devastating - a review that could ruin a small business.

If I were to advise Roberto, I would tell him to answer the accusations on Trip Advisor, since every other customer has been satisfied. Besides, this reviewer only has a few reviews to her credit and would not be credible to me anyway - I always disregard the ones that differ that much from the consensus, and I also throw out the ones from petty, parochial, post menopausal women, as a matter of course.  

What struck me was a comment that Roberto made, of a newer faction of unhappy, mean spirited people in the area. I have witnessed a number of these people - treating the local service workers like dirt, superior, rude, nasty complaining expats. It makes me ashamed to be associated with them. I haven't even been here for that long and I want them to go home.

I think I will go to breakfast at Roberto's tomorrow.

Yes, Trip Advisor and Flip Key reviews can be contested and removed if the author can't prove their claims. They can also be rebutted with an owners comment.

Please, give us a link to the review.

Was the writer from the center of the universe?

Rolly wrote:Please, give us a link to the review.

Gladly.
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g3160461-d3706566-Reviews-Quinta_Cuyutlan-Cuyutlan_Pacific_Coast.html

Intercasa wrote:Was the writer from the center of the universe?

Let's just say that she is from the center of "her" universe - a common malady these days.

I cannot imagine why some people feel entitled to rip small business people to shreds just because they can.

As I noted earlier, I felt some empathy for Roberto and his anguished cry - what has happened to us? What has happened indeed? Why have we decided that we don't have to be civil to one another?

Why does someone like Connie H feel that, for the price of a couple of nights stay, she can destroy the proprietors? She must know this is not a chain run by a giant corporation, but a privately owned and managed beach house whose owners are her neighbors in Ajijic.

Her credibility took a nose dive when it was discovered she can't tell the difference between dog poop and bird poop!!

Unfortunately, these kinds of people have been coming here for a few years now. You see them and hear them (usually you hear them first)
all over this time of year and they are a true embarrassment. sigh

is this piece of mierda from here?

Pedro wrote:is this piece of mierda from here?

Well, I had to look up that word because it wasn't in my Spanish 1 or 2 lessons, but I was pretty sure what you meant before I put it in Spanishdict.com  

Her profile indicates that she is from Ajijic, obviously an expat and closely resembling my previous description.

I sympathize with the victims of vicious, on line reviewers who can savage your business with impunity. We used to own a small business near Ft Myers, Florida and know you can have 95% customer satisfaction, but there are always the customers who want something for nothing, who think that you owe them something more than the service they contracted for.  

That is why Roberto needs to answer this online. I notice that some business owners in Ajijic are quick to respond to reviews on Trip Advisor. I understand why Roberto said he is finished renting out the beach house - but he shouldn't do this - instead, he should answer the complaints in a way that discredits the reviewer - I saw an answer to a complaint from a reviewer of La Una that I thought was brilliant. The reviewer complained of small portions and the owner answered that he was sorry that the portions were not what the reviewer was accustomed to in the USA, but for normal appetites the portions were sufficient.

Apparently, she is from here.  Gawdhelpus.

I agree that it's terminally nasty to tear down the rep of a very small business, just because you can.  I hope Roberto does counter this on Trip Advisor.  All the other reviews were favorable.

I don't know about taffeta sheets, but he was probably going for a little glitz there. Now, satin...............
Typical Bobby.  Love it. 

The way it was written, she used a translator program so she is a foreigner.

roberto doesn't "need" to answer since he probly doesn't "need" to run a business that may aggravate. he has his restaurant here and now he can enjoy his getaway place in peace-no?

and here is a connie h from Colima - probably the same one! https://foursquare.com/user/23910638

so yeah - probably english not first language

You can go to the link and under her review click on the flag - bottom right and contest her review. I did it. Said it is not true.

Possibly a competitor since she lives in Colima?

Mad_Max wrote:and here is a connie h from Colima - probably the same one!  https://foursquare.com/user/23910638

so yeah - probably english not first language

hmm, well, I was wrong then, if this is the same person, which is why I could never be a TSA profiler.  

Her profile on Trip Advisor indicates she is from Ajijic. Of course, online you can never be sure what is the truth and what is not.

Pedro, the point is not whether or not Roberto needs the rental business, but rather that he had a business and that someone tried to damage it with a vicious review. Obviously he felt strongly enough about the bad review to take out an ad in the Guadalajara Reporter.

his ad basically said that he didn't need the aggravation. that's all. having told uncultured, uncouth dolts who came into my booth at antique shows to take off, i can relate. that's the point he made. no mas pinche pendejos por roberto.

As a fairly dedicated member of TripAdvisor with 186 reviews and 117 helpful votes - Connie H from Ajijic is way out of line! Out of 7 total reviews, she has handed out 4 poor ratings, 1 average, 1 very good and 1 excellent. Whether or not English is her first language, I would be willing to bet that she is either from or spent a good deal of time in a particular US State. One State generates far more critical and nasty reviewers than most of the other States combined. They are some of the worst examples of the Ugly American that we have run into all over Mexico and on a number of occasions we have taken it upon ourselves to verbally knock them off their high horses and humiliate them in public.

Well being in the hospitality business there is always going to be a negative review once in a while. Some people are hard or impossible to please. I didn't think the review was that bad. I have seen worse. I had a guest from Florida in one of my casita's during those torrential rains last September. I swear she was blaming me for the cold, crappy weather and the fact I didn't warn her to bring winter climate clothes. Like I knew it was going to rain for a straight week........jaja.

She refers to herself as an " adventurous traveller" but whines about restaurants with tables in the sand? Sheesh...who could take her seriously? Not me.

True, CanuckBob. We had a customer who asked my husband to tell him how much profit he made off of each sale. He said, "Doesn't the government regulate the amount of profit you can make?"

I thought mi esposo was going to explode and I knew it was time for us to sell the business and do something else with our lives that did not involve constant contact with the public.

I guess I detected that same frustration in Roberto's ad.

Whooah - do you think she lied? Did not stay there? Does not hold the opinions she holds?

Hey, I like Roberto, too. But if THAT is her honest review then let it stand. She thinks what she thinks, sees what she sees and says what she says.

Deal with it.

The trouble with TripAdvisor is that they have a 5 tiered rating system when as some people believe there should only be favorable comments.  Take TA to task for allowing negative comments, not the people that fall into the cracks in the sidewalk they created.
For the most part we have found TA to be pretty worthless in the EU for reccomendations as opinions and critiques by lay food experts are all over the place.  TA would sure never keep me from trying someplace, or conversely, rushing to it.

Pedro wrote:having  told uncultured, uncouth dolts who came into my booth at antique shows to take off, i can relate.

Hmmm...

CheenaGringo wrote: I would be willing to bet that she is either from or spent a good deal of time in a particular US State.  One State generates far more critical and nasty reviewers than most of the other States combined.  They are some of the worst examples of the Ugly American that we have run into all over Mexico  

Which state is that?