Looking For Trouble : Introductory research

Looking For Trouble:

I developed the initial concept of this brief over the summer whilst on holiday in Northumberland and reading some of the comments that previous visitors had written about the cottage in the guest book. These comments were both ridiculous and hilarious at the same time and the more ridiculous and petty they got the funnier they were. This idea of giving a human the freedom to write feedback behind the protective wall the guest book seemed to spark some characters to pick and look for trouble which is both useless for future guests reading the review and pointless for the owner of the establishment as it is not a genuine complaint just a 'comment' on something not worth commenting about. 

Above is an example from the guest book from the cottage. This entry particularly made me question why humans are so strange at times and why they felt the need to 1, Rifle and look through the bins (which were wheely bins outside) and 2, write it in the guest book especially as it is something that they have edited in afterwards as it must have been of the most upmost importance that they couldnt leave it out. It reads:

'On arrival the bins contained empty dog-food cartons! Since the cottage is described as 'no dogs' one can only assume that the previous occupants had a prechant for Pedigree Chum?'

Comments like this make you want to slam your head into your hands in dismay, but at the same time are humorous. Which lead me onto the idea of  airing and using these petty complaints that happen as a humorous piece of work that takes the nasty spin of people who look for trouble.

Trip advisor:

The internet puts up an even bigger protective wall than the guest book, as it introduces that 'internet troll' mentality that has been reared through the use of internet comments. Tripadvisor houses many of these trolls which end up clogging the feeds and reviews (which are usually very useful for both costumer and establishment) with silly comments that mean nothing to anyone.

Some complaints that are found on trip advisor are genuine and concerning that are fair enough, such as having the taste of bleach in your drink and then receiving a bad attitude which is not called for. These genuine complaints where something has gone very wrong are ones that I will be avoiding, although I do think complaints like this should be sent directly to management and not aired like dirty laundry.

There are other sorts of complaints such as the above, where by the costumer has not been served in the correct fashion and received a bad attitude from staff, which is not correct, the staff are being paid to do a job and they should do it in a professional manner. So I do believe there is reason for the above to be annoyed, but it is the fashion in which they have delivered the complaint that is wrong it is very personal and OTT which takes the seniority of the complaint away and just makes it seem like the person has their knickers in a twist and is being a bit of an internet troll. Complaints like this become amusing as the person is so pent up and becomes petty in the way they are writing their complaint, so although it is a real issue I will include complaints like this as the person makes them petty.

The above is an example of how feedback should be given on trip advisor. It is very positive but truthful, it mention one complaint, but not as a complaint, more as feedback on how things can be improved and includes their opinion on how to make their complaint better, which means the hotel can read the comment and amend how they do things and take the feed back on as constructive criticism which is always a good thing as it gives them ways of improving things for future guests. Feed back like this will not be included in what I am doing as this is obviously not someone looking for trouble.

Now that I have initially looked into trip advisor comments I feel I now know more about the range and scale of complaints and how to spot the petty ones who are looking for trouble. From looking through trip advisor at both hotel and restaurant complaints I have decided to concentrate on Hotel complaints as I feel these focus most on the establishment and less about other costumers.