British hotel fines customers £100 for bad review on TripAdvisor

http://mashable.com/2014/11/19/british-hotel-charge-bad-review-tripadvisor/

LONDON — A British couple have been fined £100 ($150) by a Blackpool hotel for leaving a negative review on TripAdvisor.

The couple wrote that the hotel was a "filthy, dirty, rotten, stinking hovel run by muppets."

Tony and Jan Jenkinson posted their thoughts on the Broadway Hotel after a one-night stay left them distinctly unimpressed, observing that the hot tap didn't work, drawers fell off, the wallpaper was peeling off the walls and the carpet was stained.

"The bed was something else, it must have come off the ark," they added, before giving the establishment one star. They then received a £100 ($150) fine in addition to the £36 ($55) they had paid for the double room.



Trading Standards in the UK are investigating the hotel's fine and some officials believe they may have breached unfair trading practise regulations.

The Broadway Hotel warns customers of their policy in their booking document. "Despite the fact that repeat customers and couples love our hotel, your friends and family may not," it says. "For every bad review left on any website, the group organiser will be charged a maximum £100 per review."

However, retired van driver Mr Jenkinson said his wife didn't have her glasses and didn't read the small print. "What happened to free speech?" he asked the BBC.

John Greenbank, north trading standard manager, thinks the hotel is in the wrong. "The hotel management clearly thinks they have come up with a novel way to prevent bad reviews, however we believe this could be deemed an unfair trading practice," he said.

Other recent hotel reviewers, however, have echoed the same thoughts as the couple:









Others were a bit more charitable:



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LOL @ that hotel...