montanarvparkowner wrote: "I would be opposed to any system that "changed on the fly". That would only enable those who want to falsely game the system. It sure would be easy for a hater to post a few "dirty, no longer has wifi, no longer has cable TV" posts to drive down a score. Conversely, a few glowing reviews by the owner and his family could drive the ratings of a dump up to the Ritz. There are already plenty of user driven review sites, I don't see the need for another. The Good Sam review is a different animal that does present some value when you understand how it works."
I understand how you feel. For more than 7 years I owned a Resort Boutique Hotel in SE Asia, Upscale family oriented. I fully understand the effect that the odd customer with a grudge or nasty competition can have on you when they post to sites like Trip Advisor gaming the system.
However I found that in talkinng to the vast majority of my customers they discounted most of the reviews that came across as too nasty or semed odd. And similarly they discounted the Gushing praise filled everything is perfect posts too. As bad as they are...and none are worse than Trip Advisor in my book. They are a reality of todays world and businesses need to find ways to deal with them and strategize how to make them work for you. (easier said than done admittedly)
When I use the Good Sam Book I find it difficult (or at least irritating) on several levels.
One is what we've been discussing..the reviews and their lack of real perspective and overall fairness..especially to the smaller parks.
But other things stick out to me that make that huge tome difficult.
One is the city name listings. They need a new font and scale to better stand out. I actually find myself skimming the reviews and paying closer attention to the ads. The tight paragraph of the reviews are so dense reading them is not fun.
There are many changes that could be made to make it much better and easier to use and more accessible. But I just dont think they have the will to undertake such a project.
It must be fair to the parks...but first and foremost it must serve it's customer base.