The Sophistication Of Malice: Online reviews

Once upon a time, in the days of Jack Warner and a clip round the earhole, it was probably the case that, if a British seaside hotel had an issue with a particular guest, then the local bobby would be despatched to calm matters down. "Have we had a few drinks, sir?" But in those days of yore, it was also probable that the badly behaved guest was thin on the ground. Having a few too many drinks was normally resolved by sleeping it off, possibly with the advice of the local bobby, while there were few other reasons for conflict with the hotel. Service? Quality? Neither of them existed in ways that they now do. Guest sophistication was low. Guest demands were low. A good bed, a decent bathroom, a reasonable beef lunch on a Sunday, and the guest was usually more than happy.

Maybe it can all be pinpointed to a time when pop and rock groups of the 1960s began trashing hotel rooms and attracted the publicity and notoriety that went with the television set in several pieces on the street below. But then, there are all sorts of behavioural examples that can be factored into the equation. Drinking went from being a social activity to being a national pastime to be indulged in as often and as intensely as possible. Going on holiday was no longer reserved for the family and, more often than not, one from specific socioeconomic groups. Society shifted its moral axes in all manner of ways. Guests ceased to be guests and became customers or clients, and it was this marketing realisation which heralded the new age, one that the internet was to compound, develop and to unleash. Sophistication, demand had arrived. And so also had customer power, be it well behaved or otherwise.

Going on holiday, rather like most of contemporary living, is a technological phenomenon. No one goes anywhere, moves, sits still without the aid of the world powers that are Google, Facebook and Trip Advisor, three businesses which have engrained themselves so deeply into the consciousness that they are no longer tools but things - ways of life. There are other search engines, other forms of social media, but this trinity is dominant, and from such power comes all sorts of risk.

The tyranny of Trip Advisor has been well enough chronicled, as have legal moves against it. It inveigles its way into the consciousness in a variety of ways, such as with the often crass "best ofs" which can appear to bear little relationship with reality. But these lists are the consequence of the rest of its existence. Fundamentally, it is an automated operation, driven by the user. Greater controls will never be applied. Yes, there is the right of reply, but the damage can already be done.

Trip Advisor isn't totally at fault. There are hotels, some of them Mallorcan, which fully deserve and justify the excoriation they receive. Likewise, there are bars or restaurants which only have themselves to blame. But amidst this criticism (and also the praise, it must be noted), there is the blackmail game. Everyone knows it exists, because it is so transparent. The compensation seeker, the payment avoider, the simply obnoxious, they all issue the threat of a bad review.

Hotels and tour operators, though they may not so say publicly, have blacklists, and hotels now also tools with which they can fight back. Guestscan started in the UK four years ago. As its website says it was created to safeguard hotels and other businesses from "nightmare" guests. Troublemakers can be identified for their misdemeanours, and these troublemakers can very often be the ones who engage in the blackmail game or who take to Trip Advisor and post a condemnatory review because the hotel has had the temerity to give them a rollicking or even booted them out because of their poor behaviour.

In Spain, there is a similar system. It's called EliteBook. It was created through a hotelier necessity to protect against - as the website says - theft, vandalism, excessive or destructive criticism through media on the internet, and blackmail. Subscribers to the service can see who the miscreants are. Information is shared and reputation is, hopefully therefore, maintained.

Reputation has become the theme of contemporary tourism, and it has been made so by the likes of Trip Advisor. There is an upside and a downside to the reviews' system, and the smart business responds effectively to criticism as well as to praise or uses an online reputation management service.

The technological realities of holidaying are a fact of life. They aren't going to go away. And nor are bad behaviour and the malicious reviewer. EliteBook and Guestscan offer ways of fighting back, but even they must know that a blacklisted "customer" can always reply with another malicious review. Sometimes you have to wonder if too much sophistication is a bad thing.