Do you post camp site reviews? (1 Viewer)

Jenowen

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Aug 2, 2014
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What influences your decision to post a review of a camp site? Do you check out reviews when choosing sites to use? How much do you rely on reviews when choosing a site? Are there key words or phrases which would influence your decision?
I usually check out reviews on as many sites as possible when planning trips, however the actual circumstances, in my view, often leave me to wonder if other people expect a completely different standard to me.
 
Feb 24, 2013
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we read and leave, but saw an interesting article the other day, I think on FB ? @BreweryDave was it you, saying that some reviews are worthless if they are posted by someone liking the sea for an inland site, odd as that might sound some reviews rate down on that sort of basis

Some may like really quiet, other hate it, but both might give opposite rated reviews

content of review should really give some clues, both by the writer and the reader
 
Jul 31, 2014
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Yes, I review the sites that I stay on.
I try and give an unbiased opinion based on my experiences so that others can view and help them make an informed choice before booking.
I always check reviews before I book a site I've not been to.
Access to public transport, or walking fustian do to shops/supermarket is a consideration for us, as taking a sub 9m motorhome down to the town centre car park can sometimes be a bit tricky.

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D

deleted-member02

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I always try to leave reviews/submit photos when using Campercontact.
It's such a valuable resource, seems only fair to make a contribution.
 

JFD

Apr 9, 2015
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Yes, we do leave reviews of campsites. We tend to be generous to those we like, and honest to those we do not, but it's difficult if you have received a 'neutral' welcome. We tend to leave 'try it and see if you like it' reviews for those!!

Reviews are the way campsites build up their reputations, and change what customers do not like, so not leaving a review is a bit of a cop out, IMHO.
 
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Jenowen

Jenowen

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I agree with all these points. It is strange that rave reviews can be posted about the local beach (which was really great) whilst the conditions at the camp site left a lot to be desired, in my opinion.

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two

Aug 4, 2011
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In general, I don’t find reviews very helpful. Too many are ‘over-gushy’ and, unless I know the standards on which such praise is based, I am unable to draw much conclusion. Equally, those finding something short of the mark seem to swing to the opposite extreme. I do read reviews but my mind is usually decided at the time I happen see them.
 

Hymie

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Nov 29, 2013
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I do read read reviews but take them with a large pinch of salt, overall they are very much subjective to the point of view of the person writing them and, as said earlier, my mind is usually made up before reading them.
Like most people, I assume, we have travelled to sites reviewed as almost paradise that are, to us, somewhat run down, had to check coordinates to make sure we are at the right place, and vice versa.

Hymie
 

sedge

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Well a lot of the time it's more the location of a place that makes us look. eg Pete's bro lives in Skegness so it makes sense to make a couple of days of it when we want to visit - so we'll usually look for a CL or CS (we belong to both C clubs so we have 5 Cs on our er, CV(?) LOL) around Skeg but in the winter when all of those are usually closed, we usually opt for Skegness Sands - not a huge 'touring pitch' area - but the place has everything we want and need for those couple of days.

When it's an area we don't know - it's still location public transport and distances to things that matter. We do read reviews because though eg the caravan club say if there's bus stop within a mile that's not much help to me as I can't walk that far these days at all - so we read the reviews to see if anyone's said anything about that aspect* - and of course we also read to see whether it's noisy and filthy/clean and quiet or what - why wouldn't you? If all the reviews are lousy then we wouldn't deliberately go there at all - but say we accidentally landed up there for some unfathomable reason - if we discovered it really wasn't vile at all - or different in any way to whatever other reviewers have already said - then we'd definitely post a review and say so. However if there are recent enough reviews of a location that we simply agree with and don't have anything that would expand on what's already there - we don't bother.

Site owners sometimes are a trifle optimistic is estimates of how many minutes walk something is whereas reviewers aren't. Site says pub is 5 minutes walk. Reviewers - different ones at different times of year and different ages all say it's nearer 15 mins - then it's 15 minutes - which would take me nearer 40 !

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Dec 28, 2015
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We usually write reviews on ACSI sites as so few are English. Even so we try to be factual rather than our own take on it. Eg easy access, cafe closed when shoul be open, walking distance to town or bus stop
Basically facts that help us choose a site
 

jumartoo

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Only yesterday our friend Angela, a camp site part-owner of a site in a mountain village in Spain, told us of a review left by a Dutch man who spent two weeks at her site. He complained about the lack of toilets and no privacy??? Apparently he had only been using the outside cassette emptying point as a loo for the whole of this stay there. Obviously never had a shower or would have found the loos. Wouldnt you query this at reception instead of putting it on a review?
 
Dec 28, 2015
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Yes you would. We have a small hotel/guest accommodation and people go home and put a review cos a light bulb was out for example. Review sites have brought spite and pettiness and replaced simple questions such as "where's the toilet please"
Don't start me on trip advisor BT or Barclays or I will be here all day lol

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Welsh girl

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I usually post reviews on sites we have been to and read a lot of them too. We make a decision on them also, whether to go there or not but sometimes just say to hell with it and just go. Sometimes the reviews are way out and we couldn't see why they complained.
 
Dec 28, 2015
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perhaps this example sums up why you should be wary of reviews. Written about a walking tour in Belfast of the titanic museum and yards
" We thought there was an actual ship involved but there isn't. It is an indoor museum."

Titanic! Doh......
 

Badknee

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I wrote a review on a site that I thought was honest. I said the site was very nice, pitches level, toilets clean but I thought it was quite expensive as the base price was imo high, leccy was on a meter, hot water was coin operated as were the showers (50p)
It didn't get published which missed the point of sending it in. They may not have liked it but it was accurate.

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Mikey RV

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I like to read the reviews and have posted reviews also. But what really annoys me is when the reviews are actually written by the staff or friends and family just to hype up the site. You only have to read them and it is so obvious. I have stayed on a site before which had about ten staff and in all the reviews the same warden was mentioned, no mention of the other nine. Speaking to someone it turned out it was his friends and family bumping his name to make him look good. In actual fact he was the most lazy miserable guy there, The managers turned a blind eye because of the good reviews. If you own a site you are never going to get 100% good all the time because of the nature of peaple, you can't please all the peaple all the time.
 
Feb 16, 2013
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We only leave reviews if we find a site vastly different than the reviews that are already on, no point in just repeating stuff, or we put one on if there isn't already one on.
 

Forestboy

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Only leave reviews if sites are exceptionally good or bad otherwise don't bother.
Very rarely read reviews on sites like to make our own decisions, and as Jan says "doesn't matter if it's a 1 star site as we've got 5 star accommodation":)

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May 29, 2016
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I always read the reviews before booking a site (or a hotel) but I try to look at the overall trend rather than any specific issues/problems that people mention. I also tend to look at the overall rating in the context of how many reviews they have in total, so I'd normally prefer a site with 4/5 based on 150 reviews rather than one with 5/5 but only 20 reviews in total.
 

two

Aug 4, 2011
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So where does one need to go, to see these reviews?
If there are, say, 100 or so reviews do people read them all?
 
Sep 12, 2016
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I have a website which is going to change hugely soon but it does have site reviews on it and has had for over 15 years before all the commercial sites came in and hotels and campsites paid to be on the panel. The number of numpties who email me to book sites is silly even nowwI get a couple per month, as some sites still do not have their own web presence.

We do read reviews usually looking for obvious multiple reports and about the surroundings
but whilst I do write reviews I have noticed that some foreign sites get a really fantastic rave review (just the one) after they have had a really scathing set of reviews (as many as 7 bad ones I've read) which makes the positive review look really suspicious especially as it is usually in the same language that the campsite uses

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Lenny HB

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Oct 18, 2007
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I occasionally leave reviews on Camper Contact if the Aire is really good. If it is not that brilliant or mediocre I don't tend to leave negative comments as often when we are traveling we just want somewhere to stop for the night doesn't matter if it's basic don't want to put people off. Only exception is if it doesn't feel safe i.e. broken screen glass lying about and in a dodgy area.
 
Oct 5, 2012
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I reviewed almost every site I was on through Europe, but not the wild camping ones!
 

two

Aug 4, 2011
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If a site's not for me I'll move on. The fact that it may be busy would suggest that others may be happy with it but we don't share the same standards. We have all the facilities we need so don't need much in the way of services, just a dump point.

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