After perusing a few RV park reviews recently to get an idea whether we wanted to give them a possible overnight stay on one of our future trips I was amused and yet scratching me olde noggin after reading thru a bunch of reviews of one particular park. Most all of them gave ratings of 1-2 due to having filthy grounds and sites along with overflowing toilets, moldy showers, non extent Wifi, non working hookups and a cranky, cantankerous manager and so on/so forth. And then smack in the middle comes a review giving the park a solid 9. Made the place appear to be RV heaven including of all things great Wifi reception throughout the entire park and a very friendly and helpful manager. Makes one wonder who is correct? All those who gave it really low ratings or that one who might possibly be a "shill"...??? We've all read reviews of parks that differ due to likes and dislikes along with what is important and what isn't, etc. but this park surely had to have been trying to salvage what was looking to be a big slide down into the dumper, don't ya thunk. Just sayin'........... Summer's almost here, the open road is calling.........loudly......... Regards to all, BankShot................(aka Terry)
I've occasionally come across reviews that stand out because they're widely at odds with the other reviews for the park. Sometimes in reading through them I find details that suggest the reviewer may have posted the review under the wrong park listing. If they mention features that I know are non-existent at that park for instance, or complain about the lack of features that I know exist, then I suspect an error has been made and I disregard the review when evaluating the park for my needs. If I can identify the park I think the review really belongs under, then I notify the site admins, but that's not always possible.
Yeah this will probably never be completly prevented with either the ax to grind or the shill's, comes down to basics, following where the patterens go and back it up by checking the reviewer profiles. Mike
Sometimes the reviewer who gives a great rating for what everyone else considers a dump is someone associated with the park, but there isn't enough proof to challenge it, so the review gets posted. Of course, it might be the other way around where all the low ratings are the fake news. Odds are that isn't the case.
Yeah, my first thought when seeing something like that is "wrong review on the wrong park". 2nd thought is maybe this is a "new to RVing person", who doesn't really know much different, yet. 3rd thought is that this person has been going to this park for a long time, and doesn't notice the rund down nature of the park. Instead, they just remember the good times. Just some thoughts. Could easily be a shill too.
As an engineer/experimental physicist I can say that an "accepted" rule of thumb when dealing with experimental data is to discard the highest and the lowest and average the rest. Works quite well for dealing with aberrant RVPR reviews, also.
"As an engineer/experimental physicist I can say that an "accepted" rule of thumb when dealing with experimental data is to discard the highest and the lowest and average the rest. Works quite well for dealing with aberrant RVPR reviews, also." I didn't know that. Thanks for the tip!
I look at the weighted score for the reviewer. First review and its Terrible or just over the top Great - Ya that's most likely a troll [I've noticed that many campers review about things the campground has no control of .... not legit in my opinion] ie" the weather rain / cold etc, or there's dirt on the ground at a campground YIKS, or the power went out / or water / or whatever that's NOT in there control. 10th review and the average is "average" ie: middle of the pack - yup a terrible review is most likely valid. 30th review NOW where getting a real feel for this reviewer.
I agree most but not all first reviews are sometimes suspect. That said I came across this review sometime ago that was not, thought the guy put in a sincere effort in writing the review "********** is a campsite located on a coastal plain so there is little shade. Sites are standard with water and electric, but no sewage. Many campers use "blue tanks" to empty their camper tanks. Each site has a level concrete pad, but you need to bring an additional 30 amp cord to reach the electrical service. At least 50 ft of hose is necessary. The water has a fairly high salt content so you may like to bring supplemental water for drinking, coffee, etc. It was very windy so everything needs to be tied down. The river and ocean are beautiful, but the water was very cold in July. The State Police does not tolerate any rule breaking as a camper was escorted off the property for using fireworks within the hour. It is a super deal considering motels and beach houses go for considerably more money. We camped at **************in a Travel Trailer." Mike
