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Hotel fines $500 for every bad review posted online

pagesix.com

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Re: Hotel fines $500 for every bad review posted online

#91

Post by dm2 »

eli wrote: post #79
zorrb wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Please know that despite the fact that wedding couples love Hudson and our Inn, your friends and families may not. This is due to the fact that your guests may not understand what we offer - therefore we expect you to explain that to them. USGH & Hudson are historic. The buildings here are old (but restored). Our bathrooms and kitchens are designed to look old in an artistic "vintage" way. Our furniture is mostly hi…

I actually kinda see where they're coming from. I'm sure they do get complaints from people who never stay anywhere besides upscale chain hotels. But obviously this is not the way to address the issue. It's mean and ultimately self-defeating.

A piece of paper asking guests to keep this in mind when giving reviews would suffice.

A company that threatens to fine me for giving them a negative review is much more likely to actually receive a negative review from me.

Re: Hotel fines $500 for every bad review posted online

#92

Post by baddox »

JadeNB wrote: post #88
cookiecaper wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On what grounds would it be dismissed from a civil court? Similar clauses are in many contracts. I'm just curious if there's a reason to believe this is illegal other than simple unpopularity.

> Similar clauses are in many contracts. I'm not sure that I believe this. I can believe that there are some places out there that think that they can get away with enjoining you against posting negative reviews (until the law eventually settles down against that, as I'm sure that it will), but I find it hard to believe that there are many places that think that they can fine you for the actions of other people. Can…

> but I find it hard to believe that there are many places that think that they can fine you for the actions of other people.

There are plenty of examples of that, even in the context of hotel booking. The person who pays for a hotel will be fined if non-paying guest damage hotel furniture, for example.

Re: Hotel fines $500 for every bad review posted online

#93

Post by dhimes »

eli wrote: post #79
zorrb wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Please know that despite the fact that wedding couples love Hudson and our Inn, your friends and families may not. This is due to the fact that your guests may not understand what we offer - therefore we expect you to explain that to them. USGH & Hudson are historic. The buildings here are old (but restored). Our bathrooms and kitchens are designed to look old in an artistic "vintage" way. Our furniture is mostly hi…

I actually kinda see where they're coming from. I'm sure they do get complaints from people who never stay anywhere besides upscale chain hotels. But obviously this is not the way to address the issue. It's mean and ultimately self-defeating.

I agree. If they are offering something unique and unusual, it is their problem to ensure that the guests are educated. And, guess what? If guests don't like it, they need to change their strategy and modernize.

Re: Hotel fines $500 for every bad review posted online

#94

Post by Igglyboo »

imgabe wrote: post #87

I'm not sure I understand how this is supposed to work. They say they'll take it out of your deposit. But a review would happen after the wedding has taken place, yes? So by then wouldn't you have paid in full and settled everything? In that case, they shouldn't have any money you would be expecting to get back from them. So what are they taking it out of? Are they just going to send you a bill for $500 per bad revie…

I have no idea either, they say if you take the review down you get your money back. I'd just take it down and wait to receive my deposit then post the bad review afterwards. If they still charge me somehow(holding my cc), then they're probably in way bigger trouble as that seems like credit card fraud or something along those lines.

Re: Hotel fines $500 for every bad review posted online

#96

Post by hyperpape »

chasing wrote: post #84

Yes. And because of this you should definitely go to Yelp and give them a one-star review. And destroy their Facebook page. And maybe go take a shit on their doorstep. That's definitely the answer when a small business makes an error like this. They're frustrated by something they don't feel is fair and made a ham-fisted attempt to fix the problem. Ruin them. (The ice machine thing, though -- that actually seems like…

I'd call insulting people in response on the yelp page "ham-fisted", but that really seems a bit of an understatement when they're trying to charge people hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars for bad reviews.

Re: Hotel fines $500 for every bad review posted online

#97

Post by JadeNB »

baddox wrote: post #92
JadeNB wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Similar clauses are in many contracts. I'm not sure that I believe this. I can believe that there are some places out there that think that they can get away with enjoining you against posting negative reviews (until the law eventually settles down against that, as I'm sure that it will), but I find it hard to believe that there are many places that think that they can fine you for the actions of other people. Can…

> but I find it hard to believe that there are many places that think that they can fine you for the actions of other people. There are plenty of examples of that, even in the context of hotel booking. The person who pays for a hotel will be fined if non-paying guest damage hotel furniture, for example.

Agreed—I meant to be more precise about the kinds of behaviour that you (the contract-signer) can be expected to monitor. I have updated my post accordingly.

Re: Hotel fines $500 for every bad review posted online

#98

Post by wubbfindel »

Imagine if this ridiculous policy on their website is actually the result of a malicious hacking.

Then the hacker sends pagesix.com an anonymous tip about the policy.

Then the hacker posts the pagesix.com article on HN.

Now, that would actually make a good story...

[EDIT: Typo & Grammar]

Re: Hotel fines $500 for every bad review posted online

#99

Post by chatmasta »

Maskawanian wrote: post #20
chatmasta wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

According to the article, charges come out of your deposit. So that means it's on you to bring it to civil court after they take your money.

Easy to work around, make your review after the deposit comes back.

Your guests are the ones leaving the reviews, not you.

Re: Hotel fines $500 for every bad review posted online

#100

Post by PeterisP »

chasing wrote: post #84

Yes. And because of this you should definitely go to Yelp and give them a one-star review. And destroy their Facebook page. And maybe go take a shit on their doorstep. That's definitely the answer when a small business makes an error like this. They're frustrated by something they don't feel is fair and made a ham-fisted attempt to fix the problem. Ruin them. (The ice machine thing, though -- that actually seems like…

"makes an error" and "makes a malicious policy" are two entirely different things.

You forgive accidental mistakes, but you should punish intentional morally unacceptable behavior.

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