Hotels "fining" guests for poor Trip Advisor reviews

[Blue in Munich]

Just seen a piece from BBC Breakfast. Couple stayed in a Blackpool hotel, felt it was that bad that they did their first ever Trip Advisor review & the hotel helped themselves to an extra £100 off their credit card as a fine for the bad review. Apparently it was buried in the terms & conditions, and apparently this isn't the only hotel doing it. Following a complaint to trading standards it would appear they will now be refunded.

Whilst I don't agree with the hotel's actions, I have to wonder what the couple were expecting for £36 for the room including breakfast…….

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-30111525

 

[c1973]

For £36 for 2 people I'd be expecting clean sheets, hot shower and if the full English was up to scratch I'd be happy with that.

However, if I got tinned mushrooms, tinned tomatoes, unsmoked bacon, tea that was not Tetleys and a fried egg that did not have a runny yolk I would be most displeased.

 

[ManinBlack]

Have you read the reviews on Trip Advisor? If they fined everyone who left a bad review they'd have enough to retire on now.

 

[delc]

Sounds as though the hotel is being run by Basil Fawlty! I now know one hotel in Blackpool where I'll never stay! They thoroughly deserve all the bad publicity they are rightly getting! :mmm:

 

[Val]

You don't get much in a hotel for £36, all you can hope for is clean.

 

[Doon frae Troon]

First Class Idiots.

They put in process an action to stop the public being negative about their business and end up telling the whole of the country how poor their hotel is.

I have a friend who owns a pretty decent golf hotel.
He once got a scathing criticism on trip adviser.When he checked it out he discovered that there was no way the guests in question could have stayed at his hotel when stated. They were fully booked with a wedding.
Even with full proof of a false posting Trip Adviser refused to remove it.

 

[palindromicbob]

First Class Idiots.

They put in process an action to stop the public being negative about their business and end up telling the whole of the country how poor their hotel is.

I have a friend who owns a pretty decent golf hotel.
He once got a scathing criticism on trip adviser.When he checked it out he discovered that there was no way the guests in question could have stayed at his hotel when stated. They were fully booked with a wedding.
Even with full proof of a false posting Trip Adviser refused to remove it.

This is part of the problem. I know of a place where food poisoning was blamed for sickness rather than the copious amounts of alcohol taken the previous night. Several people had the same breakfast but only the group that had been hitting the booze were sick. Strange one that.

 

[brendy]

Ive stayed in some real dumps. The worst was in Blackpool I believe. A b&b on Paletine Rd. The room had been made from the landing and toilet knocked into one I guess up on the 2nd floor, the suitcase the missus had with her wouldnt fit through the letterbox sized door. The sheets were stained, pillows must have been beermats in a previous existance. Kettle was coin operared, tea and coffee were coin release also. The owners were stereotypical b&b owners, he thought he was a comedian and she was just an old soak. Breakfast was half a boiled egg each, a plastic pill glass of "fresh" orange (just squeezed from the bedsheets I suspected) and 2 (count em) quarters of a slice of toast. Luckily we couldnt sleep such was the state of the place as this luxurious spread was only served from 8.30 to 9am.
Its a pity they weren't on trip adviser as we could have given them similar exposure. I still enjoy Blackpool but wouldnt stay there for all the boiled eggs in Lancashire.

 

[Rooter]

Tripadvisor is a nightmare, our restaurant gets typically honest decent reviews, however every now and again you get a really viscous uncalled for review, typically we go back and place them and realize they were knobs when they visited too. While it is great for the consumer, my advice is take off the top few reviews and the bottom few reviews and read the rest.

We have actually never tried to get one removed, i do respond very politely to the bad ones though. some of our competitors do too though and they are less than professional or nice!! wow some people (like here) should not be allowed near a keyboard where alcohol is available!!

 

[CMAC]

Tripadvisor is a nightmare, our restaurant gets typically honest decent reviews, however every now and again you get a really viscous uncalled for review, typically we go back and place them and realize they were knobs when they visited too. While it is great for the consumer, my advice is take off the top few reviews and the bottom few reviews and read the rest.

We have actually never tried to get one removed, i do respond very politely to the bad ones though. some of our competitors do too though and they are less than professional or nice!! wow some people (like here) should not be allowed near a keyboard where alcohol is available!!

you kept that quiet, whats the name of your restaurant?

 

[Tongo]

Just seen a piece from BBC Breakfast. Couple stayed in a Blackpool hotel, felt it was that bad that they did their first ever Trip Advisor review & the hotel helped themselves to an extra £100 off their credit card as a fine for the bad review. Apparently it was buried in the terms & conditions, and apparently this isn't the only hotel doing it. Following a complaint to trading standards it would appear they will now be refunded.

Whilst I don't agree with the hotel's actions, I have to wonder what the couple were expecting for £36 for the room including breakfast…….

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-30111525

Yes. Its the one downside to TA. I contribute regularly to the site and i often find it amazing how people expect something for nothing.

 

[ScienceBoy]

I am one to thoroughly research each place I visit.

I see often bad reviews on Trip Advisor are down to the people rather than the establishment.

A good example is one of my favourite local places to eat, the Wok 'n' Grill in Trumpington. Plenty of the negative reviews are down to the customer expecting something that is not offered and clearly not going to be offered due to the type of restaurant it is.

People do expect something for nothing or expect to be treated as the exception when they are probably one of a hundred or more patrons that day!

In truth it is a fantastic place to eat and sits way above many of the top 20 best places to eat in Cambridge. Fresh food cooked right in front of you with your favourite ingredients and sauce? What is there to complain about!

Well people seem to think their small child stuffing their face from adults plates should not have to pay and that a self service place should provide a table like service...

I always discard the extreme reviews and those ones which are clearly the fault of the person, I then gauge my opinion on the remainder.

 

[SocketRocket]

I once stayed in a four star hotel in Hull. I could see three of the stars through the hole in the roof.

 

[Imurg]

Once stayed in a wonderful hotel in Ardrossan...
Roof blew off in the night during a light breeze and the TV was remote control - I could flick the switch from my bed...

 

[bigslice]

Once stayed in a wonderful hotel in Ardrossan...
Roof blew off in the night during a light breeze and the TV was remote control - I could flick the switch from my bed...

was it called 'the high tide' ?

 

[Rooter]

you kept that quiet, whats the name of your restaurant?

http://www.theharerestaurant.co.uk/

My father in law does the day to day operations, i don't actually do anything but back end stuff..

 

[Fyldewhite]

TripAdvisor is similar to the feedback on eBay. Sooner or later something will go wrong and someone will be unhappy about it. But over time the real picture emerges. Customer service is all about how complaints are handled.....things will always go wrong at some point and it's about handling that situation. Although TripAdvisor tend not to remove reviews the proprietors do have a right of reply which often puts the complaint in perspective. I use it a lot and usually the research is worth the time spent.

 

[Smiffy]

I see often bad reviews on Trip Advisor are down to the people rather than the establishment.
People do expect something for nothing or expect to be treated as the exception when they are probably one of a hundred or more patrons that day!

So how would you react if you were told the reason that they had forgotten you ordered a side salad with your steak instead of mushrooms, tomatoes and peas, or had forgotten to bring a side of onion rings was because they were very busy and had two tables of 16 to look after?????

 

[CheltenhamHacker]

So how would you react if you were told the reason that they had forgotten you ordered a side salad with your steak instead of mushrooms, tomatoes and peas, or had forgotten to bring a side of onion rings was because they were very busy and had two tables of 16 to look after?????

How I would react would be completely dependent on their reaction.

People make mistakes, especially when busy. If it's a genuine mistake, and as soon as they realise/I tell them, it gets dealt with quickly, efficiently and they make apologies (not bothered about compensation), then i'm happy.

If when informed they don't seem to care/fix the issue, that's when I get annoyed.

 

[ScienceBoy]

So how would you react if you were told the reason that they had forgotten you ordered a side salad with your steak instead of mushrooms, tomatoes and peas, or had forgotten to bring a side of onion rings was because they were very busy and had two tables of 16 to look after?????

Well that is clearly an establishment mistake, like CH's reply it depends on how it was handled. I was once brought a Chicken Burrito instead of a duck on in Chiqutos, the chicken was actually supposed to be for someone else. In the end I got to keep my chicken one and a duck on. I have no idea what the guy did with his duck one but I guess he got to keep both too.

Man I was stuffed that day!