Last Summer's Reviews Read in the Middle of Winter

Reviews that kept working all winter

A kayak rental closes in September. The boats go into storage, the owner takes a winter job, and the reviews from August stay exactly where they were.

In January and February, families planning summer holidays read them. A glowing review of an evening paddle sits above a two-star complaint about a long wait and a curt answer on the phone, with no reply beneath it.

For a business that is closed, those reviews are the latest news. Nobody planning a trip can tell that the wait was one bad Saturday, or that the person on the phone has since moved on.

Planners rarely phone to check. They book with whichever business looks cared for, and move past the rest.

Why winter readers weigh them differently

A summer visitor reading reviews can also see the place open, the website updated and the phone answered. A winter reader sees only what was written months ago.

Winter planning is also unhurried. Someone booking a week in July reads further down the page, compares a few businesses, and notices which owners answer their reviews and which do not.

A reply also shows the reader how the owner handles a problem, which is what a family trusting a business with part of its holiday wants to know.

What a planner checks in February

A planner reading reviews in winter is looking for a handful of signs:

• The most recent reviews, however old they are.
• Whether the owner answered, and in what tone.
• Whether complaints led to changes or only to excuses.
• When the season opens, on the website and the map listing.
• Whether bookings are open, and how to make one now.
• Whether anyone answers the phone or email in winter.

The last two decide whether an interested reader books with you in February or moves on to a business that looks awake.

Answer every review now

The off-season is when an owner finally has time to reply properly. Go through every site where you are reviewed and answer each review from last season, the good and the bad.

A reply carries its own date. A February reply under an August complaint tells a winter reader that the owner is there, has read it and cares enough to respond.

Make each reply short and specific, thanking people for what they actually mentioned. For a complaint, acknowledge it without arguing and say what you have done about it.

Reply as the owner, by name. A signed reply reads as a person taking responsibility, not a business protecting itself.

Show what changed

The strongest reply to an old complaint is a change. A second person on the dock at weekends, a clearer cancellation rule, a booking form that confirms by email: say so in one sentence.

Put the same changes on the website, in a short section about this season. A reader who saw a complaint about waiting then finds the answer before deciding.

Never invent a change to answer a review. If a complaint was fair and nothing has changed yet, say what you will do before opening, and then do it.

A worked example

A kiteboarding school on a windy stretch of the coast teaches lessons from late spring to early fall, working from a trailer and a rescue boat with three instructors in the busiest months.

It closed in September. By January its most recent reviews included a complaint that a lesson was cancelled for lack of wind with no refund offered, and another about a long wait for equipment.

Neither had a reply. The website still showed last season's prices, and the map listing gave summer hours, so winter callers heard the phone ring out during hours the listing said were open.

In February the owner answered every review on Google, Yelp, Facebook and the travel sites. The wind complaint got a reply explaining the new rule: a lesson without enough wind is moved, or refunded if no date suits.

The home page now gives the opening date, this season's prices, the cancellation rule and a booking form that works in winter. The voicemail says when messages are returned.

A planner reading the August complaint now finds the February reply directly beneath it, and the rule it describes is on the booking page.

Opening dates on the site and listings

A seasonal business that shows no dates looks either open now or closed for good, and neither helps in February.

Put the opening date, or the expected opening week, first on the home page, next to a line about booking now. Repeat it on the booking page and in the description on your Facebook page.

Map listings handle weekly hours well and seasons badly. Use the listing's description and photographs to say plainly when you open, and keep a phone number that someone checks.

Someone answering in winter

Someone should answer email and phone messages through the off-season, even if only twice a week. Say on the website and the voicemail how often that is.

A planner who writes in February is ready to book. If the reply comes in May, that planner has usually booked somewhere else.

An automatic reply to booking emails, giving the opening date and when someone will answer, covers the weeks when nobody is at the desk.

The counter-case

An operator with only a few reviews, all of them good, may feel there is nothing to answer. Some owners also worry that a reply months later draws attention to an old complaint.

The review is being read either way, so a late reply still helps. Keep it short, skip long apologies for the delay, and put the weight on what has changed.

Where every review is good, a brief thank you under each costs little, and the winter work shifts to the website and listings: the opening date, the prices and a way to book.

What to do while closed

1. List every site where people review you.
2. Answer each review from last season.
3. Name a change in every reply to a fair complaint.
4. Put the opening date at the top of the home page.
5. Update prices and the booking form for this season.
6. Fix the hours and description on map listings.
7. Say how often winter messages are answered.

Step three turns a reply into evidence. A planner can discount an apology, but a named change, such as a new refund rule, shows that the problem they read about has been dealt with.

What a good reply says, and what it leaves out, is set out for a different kind of rush in reviews from set menu diners at a restaurant festival.

Frequently asked questions

West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.