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Hotel fines $500 for every bad review posted online

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

#241

Post by hawkharris »

hnal943 wrote: post #237
hawkharris wrote: post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're regurgitating a common narrative about online witch hunts. While I agree that they're unethical, that's clearly not what's happening here. The comments that have superseded yours in this thread echo that sentiment. The other commenters and I agree that if an organization creates a public policy, people should be able to criticize the group on the basis of that policy. It's as simple as that.

Yeah, everybody's doing it.

I'm sure that you normally have intelligent things to add to the conversation and your comment above is just a one-off.

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

#242

Post by hawkharris »

danielweber wrote: post #202
Karunamon wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's actually been there since at least 2013: https://web.archive.org/web/20130301124243/http://www.unions... Let 'em take the dings. An example must be made of this kind of anti-consumer behavior.

pour encourager les autres

This is very pretentious.

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

#243

Post by cheshire137 »

baddox wrote: post #51
k-mcgrady wrote: post #44

Is there any proof this is happening other than this post? I hope so otherwise internet vigilante justice is destroying a business and people's livelihoods. Edit: I took a look at their site and apparently they only enforce this policy for weddings: "Also, please note that we only request this of wedding parties and for the reasons explained above." The reasons seem to be that as guests are not booking the hotel them…

I don't see any evidence that they've actually enforced the rule, but the rule is posted on their website: http://www.unionstreetguesthouse.com/events_weddings.shtml .

Looks like the part about negative reviews is gone now.

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

#244

Post by zaphar »

baddox wrote: post #238
zaphar wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's like saying it's not extortion if I threaten your friend unless you do what I say. The Bride and Groom are threatened with a fine unless their attendees do what the hotel says.

That's not at all analogous. The bride and groom are "threatened" because they're the ones that signed the contract.

The legality of the contract is up in the air.

Just because I sign a contract saying I agree to pay $1 everytime someone I know says something unkind to anyone doesn't mean the contract is enforceable.

Besides I don't think the he meant extortion in the legal sense but more the moral sense.

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

#245

Post by DannyBee »

vitd wrote: post #232
DannyBee wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"It's probably not legal, if it is then it is unenforceable in court, even if it was in their terms contract. " Could you explain why you believe this? The main issue i would see here would be liquidated damages issues, not something like SLAPP (at least in most states).

I'm not the original poster you're responding to, but it seems odd to say, "if any of your friends do , you'll be fined." It would make sense if it were something physical like vandalizing the hotel while they were at my party (possibly - depending on the circumstances). But if your friend from the party comes back 2 weeks later and vandalizes the hotel, should you still be liable? That's kind of what this feels like…

"Why am I being fined just because they booked a room for my party? "

Because you agreed to those terms? Just because you agreed to a crappy deal for you doesn't get you out of it. If you don't like it, don't take the deal? We are talking about wedding receptions, it's not like random hotel guests. These have real contracts, deposits, etc (and they said they take it out of your deposit).

"It seems unenforceable to a lay-person because it puts the burden of controlling third parties we can't control on us. "

This is incredibly common.

For example, almost every contract you would ever sign for selling software, etc will say something like "you agree to indemnify us if a third party sues us over intellectual property issues in your software". This is clearly enforceable in almost all cases. You have literally no control over who chooses to sue them.

As for not making sense, the law makes perfect sense in this sort of case - you may freely contract for almost anything.

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

#246

Post by [deleted] »

dm2 wrote: post #16

What a horrible policy, it won't end well for them. http://www.yelp.com/biz/union-street-guest-house-hudson?sort... 10 negative Yelp reviews have been posted today (so far), ouch... http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g47931-d490934-Revie... Their website navigation is a very discrete image map in the middle of the page, http://www.unionstreetguesthouse.com/ obviously this was someone's first website. It's probab…

[deleted]

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

#247

Post by dm2 »

dm2 wrote: post #16

What a horrible policy, it won't end well for them. http://www.yelp.com/biz/union-street-guest-house-hudson?sort... 10 negative Yelp reviews have been posted today (so far), ouch... http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g47931-d490934-Revie... Their website navigation is a very discrete image map in the middle of the page, http://www.unionstreetguesthouse.com/ obviously this was someone's first website. It's probab…

Hah, now the hotel's management is claiming to news sites that it's policy was a "joke" and that they have removed their policy.

What a blatant lie, they deserve to go out of business.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/101891812

Does that mean that in court everything in their contract should be considered a joke?

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

#248

Post by frogpelt »

dm2 wrote: post #199
frogpelt wrote: post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel bad for the unlucky bride and groom racking up all these $500 charges today.

It's at 400 negative reviews after 3 hours, nobody is getting charged anything, if they do they'll sue and the hotel will receive even more negative publicity. Looks like it hit Reddit, that's why it jumped so quickly, http://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/2ckx8i/hotel_cha...

I apologize for the apparent lack of humor or the humorous lack of apparentness in my joke.

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

#249

Post by egeozcan »

hawkharris wrote: post #61
egeozcan wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree, posting fake reviews as an individual is as bad as what they are doing. I think the services should put a warning though. Something like this: "The reviews for this hotel may not be completely accurate according to some recent evidence and we are still investigating the case. Thank you for your understanding".

I'm not sure where you got "fake reviews." I specifically suggested that people comment on a public policy posted by the hotel. No more, no less.

I was replying to the parent, not the grand-parent. A review without using a service is a fake review.
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