Do you write reviews?

Kim and Lucca I'll pm you. I don't want to get into trouble for advertising.

I have just written a review of a pub DH and I had lunch in.
The food and service were fine but we did have one thing to complain about, the pricing!
The menu stated £3 for starters, £10 for main courses and £3 for desserts. At the top it stated Monday - Friday.
When DH went to pay he was charged more than we expected. Apparently the prices go up on a weekend.
So, why don't they have a separate weekend menu. We were a little annoyed, but it's not worth complaining to the staff as it is a pub chain, so I daresay that they have no control over what they charge.

I once had a lovely part time job reviewing a restaurant/hotel chain for the owners. It involved a one night dinner bed and breakfast in lots of lovely locations. When reviewing restaurants only I had a checklist and if all the boxes were ticked I had to ask to see the chef and give them a voucher for up to £50.
I loved that job. Unfortunately the chain was sold and the new owners didn't need my services.

Aveline are you in London?
Dishy food and dishy chef, well done for congratulating him.
A little praise for something well done is a good thing.
I always tell a waitress to thank the chef when I have enjoyed a meal and hope that they do.
Trip Advisor does help to avoid the really bad places.

Esspee that sounds like the perfect job.

I do write reviews, both praise and moan, but not every time, just if I have something specific to say.
I do try to remember the name of any member of staff who goes 'above and beyond' and they get a special mention.

Prentice

Esspee that sounds like the perfect job.

My OH loved it as we had to go as a twosome because the staff expected a single inspector so would be off guard with a couple. I do miss the job.?

Ah, even better as a couple.

Sometimes I write reviews, but I'm well aware that most people don't give them much thought.
So many are:
1 star because I wasn't in when it was delivered.
1 star because the box was hard to open.
1 star because the product was wonderful (from someone who doesn't know how the star system works).
I'm also aware that rival firms may post bad reviews. The whole review system is corrupt in many ways.

I do tend to read reviews before buying items or eating out for example, but I take them with a pinch of salt.
I ate at a restaurant at the weekend which had glowing reviews on trip advisor but the meal was the worst I’ve had for a long time. I didn’t write a review because I think small businesses may be struggling just now, and it could have been a one off…..but I would never go there again. The staff were aware I wasn’t happy.

Boots unfortunately asked me to write a review about my latest purchase from them which didn’t go well. I said that they were very unhelpful and that I could have purchased it cheaper elsewhere. They’ve just messaged me to say they have moderated my comment and have decided not to print it!

I found reviews on Trustpilot very helpful when I was having problems with my passport.

Before buying a big ticket item or booking a holiday somewhere new, I usually read reviews on TripAdvisor, hotel websites etc. I leave reviews if the service has been especially good, or especially poor. I did leave a 1 star review on a hotel's website, after dreadful service, awful food and on the filth under the bed that I only discovered just before checking out. The hotel owner replied denying that I'd ever stayed there!

Aveline I am due to be in Edinburgh this summer and would also love to know the restaurant's name - if you have time to PM me I would really appreciate it

I got fed up with reviews for the self same item ranging from high praise to damningly scathing that I gave up reading them. There didn't seem to be any point . So I stopped writing them as well.

I write reviews on Trip Advisor for both bad and good restaurants and other venues. I have written for overseas places too when OH worked abroad.

I have heard tales of opposing businesses giving each other bad reviews. Very hard if you are a small venture and it is unjustified. I keep an open mind when I read the reviews and if they are mostly good, I go with that. We can all have off days.

I recently saw some shoes advertised on Facebook and was tempted. However, before committing myself I came out of Facebook and googled the company advertising them and was glad I did. The reviews were very helpful and almost universally tales of people being charged immediately and waiting months before anything arrived. Eventual items not as advertised etc. No response to email enquiries etc etc. I didn't go ahead with a purchase!

Only occasionally if an experience or item is particularly good or indeed bad. I do read reviews before planning a stay of more than a night or a large purchase looking for consistency amongst the always wide range of responses. It is interesting how one persons wonderful stay can be another persons worst experience.

I check the reviewers on TripAdvisor. Sometimes there's a single one and it's five star, bit suspicious, could be by hotel staff. However, sometimes there are really prolific reviewers who have obviously been to loads of places and have a lot of experience of places good and bad. Their opinions are very useful.

One review I did write was for a salad spinner. It cost a lot but I was fed up with cheap ones which broke easily. It didn't dry the salads as well, so I gave it a low rating and a bad review. I even suggested that it may be because the slits were horizontal rather than vertical.

Some time later I got an e mail from the company asking me to retract the review, offering to refund me the cost of the purchase.

I felt like writing back that they should spend their money on a better r&d department than on marketing staff who bribed their customers. But in the end I didn't react at all. I hope I managed to prevent anyone buying that gadget by mistake, but, as I have said, I have given up on reviews, so others may have, too.

I was given paperwork and asked by my surgeon to review him, before he even did my operation. He spent more time explaining why it was important ( to him) than talking about my upcoming surgery.
I was astonished.

Would add the paperwork was fir TWO different review sites.

I do if they are not too complicated by taking you to another site which involves logging in to that. I read reviews before buying but don't always take them as true. Sometimes M&S ones are useful if ordering online for sizes as often have whether garment is true to size so I can judge the best size to order.

I don't write reviews if I'm asked to by a company that's sold me something. I just write one if I have been particularly happy or unhappy.