Dive.Is is #1 on the Iceland scuba tours. As of today there are over 950 reviews. In the office they give rewards to employees that are mentioned in a five star review. As a dive master student, I don’t receive any incentives or rewards for tripadvisor. However- it would be nice to have someone appreciate my hard work. Some employees tell customers about the rewards and ask for a review. Other employees never ask customers. I’ve been on vacations where companies have asked for a review and ones who have not. I usually write reviews on tours that I really enjoyed. I don’t like to be a negative reviewer. (Ok one time I did write a bad review for a hotel that lost my Sonicare toothbrush… but then after I wrote the review, they gave me credit for a new one. So it was good that I wrote the review after all.
Now, being on the receiver end of reviews, it panics me. I don’t want ruin someone’s vacation. I don’t want to be that person that “lost” a toothbrush. The management at Dive.Is really has a keen business sense on this tripadvisor stuff. It really pushes me to make sure everyone has the time of their life on these tours.
So far I have received two positive reviews. One of the reviews was from a dry suit course where I assisted Patrik and Tom. We never mentioned tripadvisor … Yet they were kind of enough to mention our names and thank us. It truly was a great feeling knowing that someone recognized my hard work.
The other review was from a guided tour where the lead asked the customers to write us a review and mention our names so that our boss could give us some “thanks.” It also felt good that the customers had a good time and took the time to write a review, but I have to wonder if they would have written one if the guide didn’t mention it.
Is the praise less of a praise? Or are they equal in strength? Does it even matter? If I was an official guide would I ask someone to leave me a review? So far, I’ve never had the guts to ask anyone. It’s strange to me.
Lessons Learned:
Customers: Before writing a review, think about who reads them and what impact its going to have on the company and future customers. Think about how happy you make an employee when you drop their name in the review.
Divemasters/ Employees: Regardless of tripadvisor, we should go out of our way to make sure each person has a fun day. They are on vacation. They want to have a good time. Be wary of the silent but deadly negative reviewer. It could be that nice grandma that was quiet all day. She didn’t complain, but did she have a good time? Make sure to treat everyone the same and with the expectation that this is going to be the best part of their vacation.
