TripAdvisor - Reviews and experiences

We are a small independent hotel, and we decided to try out Sponsored Placements and Business Advantage on a review platform. Unfortunately, after just a month of signing up, we noticed a lot of changes in their software. Our account manager left, so we couldn't get any support. Plus, the integrations with our property management system that they promised never happened. To top it off, we got hit with three bad fake reviews from one customer, which ended up costing us money. The service was pricy and didn't really help our hotel at all. It's a real letdown to see this platform go downhill from being a top player in the industry. We've had better luck with Google and other review sites.

I recently bought an upgrade on TripAdvisor for my small business to see Google reviews. But after paying for it, I was let down to see that nothing changed. When I contacted TripAdvisor, they told me that the Google option I paid for was part of a product that was only available until a specific future date. I felt frustrated and like I had been tricked. Even though I asked for a refund, TripAdvisor said no, saying there was no reason for it. To make things more confusing, they mentioned in an email to some customers that the "reviews hub" - their internal name for it - would be available later on. The conflicting info from TripAdvisor just made me even more annoyed.

I've been using this platform for a long time to check out hotels, restaurants, and attractions based on what other customers say. I've also left some reviews myself to give back to the community. But I got an email recently saying that a hotel I reviewed had a big renovation and all previous reviews, including mine, were removed. This doesn't sit right with me because the whole point of the site is to give reliable info to help people make decisions. I get that they want to show off the improvements, but it shouldn't erase the experiences others have shared.