British Hotel Fines Guest $160 For Posting Negative Review On TripAdvisor, Redefines Hospitality!
A hotel in the United Kingdom, which received a terrible rating from a couple who stayed there had the audacity to fine them £100 ($160) for posting the unfavorable review on TripAdvisor. The hotel which is now gaining worldwide attention after the story went viral is the Broadway Hotel located in Blackpool, England.
According to BBC News, Tony and Jan Jenkinson, who stayed at the Broadway hotel for a night left a scathing review on TripAdvisor. What usually happens after a bad review by a consumer is that a staff from the hotel apologizes to them and assures them that their feedback has been noticed. Not Hotel Broadway however. Instead of being apologetic, the hotel went ahead and charged their credit card of the couple for $160, without their consent. The hotel’s explanation? Its policy is to charge customers who leave bad reviews on travel websites!
The BBC report adds that the policy of imposing fines on guests who post negative reviews about the hotel is mentioned in the booking documents that each guests receive. It clearly says.
“For every bad review left on any website, the group organizer will be charged a maximum £100 per review.”
Tony Jenkinson, 63, stayed at the hotel when they were on their way to meet family in Oxford, according to the Irish Times.
As the appalling behavior from the hotel gained notoriety, the UK Trading Standards have taken note of the issue and are investigating the same. Consumer activists in the UK believe that the hotel has clearly breached unfair trading practice regulations that are binding on all businesses in the country.
One glance at the reviews page for the Broadway Hotel reveals that the hotel seems to be getting plenty of bad reviews. In fact, the review by Tony was made back in August and since then, several other people have voiced similar concerns about the kind of service (or the lack thereof) that the hotel offers.
Tony Jenkinson says that he has decided to fight the charge and has asked the credit card company to reverse the transaction and refund the amount to their account
“Annoyed isn’t strong enough for how I feel about this, what happened to freedom of speech? Everybody we have spoken to says they (the hotel) are not allowed to do this,” he adds.
In the past, the Inquisitr has reported about several other cases of high handedness by business owners who seem to have forgotten the old adage, “the customer is always right”
Would you ever consider a stay at the Broadway hotel, just to check out how bad it really is?
[Image Via BBC News]
