[954Stealth]

I read this today on yahoo news: https://in.news.yahoo.com/blogs/dail...173327314.html

I think this is messed up and should not be allowed; it takes away from the purpose of Trip Advisor. I would never stay in a place that I know would have such a policy as this in place.

**************************************

Tony and Jan Jenkinson were unimpressive with their £36 ($64 CAD) one-night stay at the Broadway Hotel in the seaside town of Blackpool in North West England.

So they did what any disgruntled customers would do: they gave the place a scathing review on Trip Advisor.

An excerpt from their review:

Couldn’t believe the state of the room. The hot tap didn’t work, when we reported it we were told they knew about it and it would be fixed in the morning (we were only there for one night.) The drawer fronts fell off when we opened the chest of drawers. Again, they knew about this and it was supposed to be dealt with in the morning. The kettle wouldn’t work, were told you had to switch on the socket it was plugged into, also switch on another socket to make it work. This was because the whole place was rewired wrongly according to the member of staff who dealt with us, and they couldn’t afford to have it put right. There were instructions on how to make a phone call, we would have had a job as there was no phone!! The wallpaper was peeling off the walls, the carpet was thin, dirty and stained. The bed was something else, it must have come out of the ark, the base was all scuffed and dirty and the springs in the mattress attacked you in the night. The curtains were tattered and filthy, there were polystyrene tiles on the ceiling which are a fire hazard.”

Not long after describing the hotel as a “filthy, dirty, rotten, stinking hovel run by Muppets” on the travel review site — read the entire review here — the Jenkinsons discovered an additional £100 ($177 CAD) had been charged to their credit card.

The hotel told them that it was its policy to charge for “bad” reviews.

According to the policy:

Despite the fact that repeat customers and couples love our hotel, your friends and family may not. For every bad review left on any website, the group organizer will be charged a maximum £100 per review.

[gtron]

so is that the hotel policy or the trip adviser policy? sorry, i didn't click it to read on.

either way, i would dispute that with the credit card company. if a company gets enough complains i believe they will no longer be able to process credit cards.

then again, i might be confusing that with a paypal policy.

[954Stealth]

@gtron This is the policy of the hotel

[Taskmaster]

Just tell your company and not pay it. F them.

[BRAISKI]

They should call the CC company this is considered an illegal charge!!! This charge is not authorized!

[squishy]

I'd sue those fuckers for credit card fraud.

[Sara]

I want to post a negative review for them now

[2011CrazE89]

Steal $100.00 worth of towels.

[Rotorocious]

Originally Posted by Sara504

I want to post a negative review for them now

There are a ton of them now lol.

I stayed there and the toothless clerk tried to come on to me in my room. I fought him off, but later found him sleeping next to me in my bed the next morning! Dude snuck in when I was sleeping! Definitely 1 star.

[M_Six]

$64/night. 'Nuff said.

[hongsc]

Raid the mini bar. Really this can't be legal.

[m3ray]

That charge would never hold up in America.

AMEX would shove that charge back to the merchant faster than you could spit.

But we do have the First Amendment here, so I wonder. Is it legal in the UK to do this?

[P1]

I took my wife to Blackpool once. She literally cried when we got there, it was *that* bad.

[PINeely]

Streisand Effect. They should have let it go.

[squishy]

Originally Posted by P1et

I took my wife to Blackpool once. She literally cried when we got there, it was *that* bad.

Lolol!!

[KingOfJericho]

Every time this happens (and it has happened in the US), the business gets annihilated and the policy gets changed. I don't know why they even bother.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/04/travel...fine-backlash/

[oldmancoyote]

Originally Posted by m3ray

That charge would never hold up in America.

AMEX would shove that charge back to the merchant faster than you could spit.

But we do have the First Amendment here, so I wonder. Is it legal in the UK to do this?

It would be perfectly legal in the US too, and it has nothing to do with freedom of speech (think of it in the context of the "right to bear arms"; that doesn't mean guns are free according to the Constitution). It's a clause in a contract, the Jenkinsons entered the contract of their free will, and I expect the charge will stick, unless the hotel relents and agrees to a charge back. Which sucks, don't get me wrong, but the law is rarely about fairness, justice or common sense. Or even what you or I would like to happen.

The question is whether the hotel is gaining more in notoriety or losing in reputation.

[NEFARIOUS]

Beats spreading a bunch of lies on TripAdvisor: My friend recommended I stayed here when I first had a mishap with my ex-girlfriend and got royally screwed by my job and had no money for a while.

I wrote a review complaining about how dirty it was and the rudeness of the staff (deleted since I wanted to rewrite it but never had the chance to, but I posted the same thing on another site), but then the manager Peter botched a review against me (known for his lousy spelling did this feat so I know it's him, it's the jonboy34 post):

I had this to say:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/FAQ_Answe..._burglary.html