Should have read the terms and conditions (Couple 'fined' for bad hotel review)

[VauxhallandI]

Just read and saw the news article on BBC Breakfast about the couple "fined" £100 by a hotel for leaving a negative Trip Advisor review of their stay in Blackpool.

I felt sorry for them but imagined many on here wouldn't as apparently it was in the small print on the form they signed when they arrived.

 

[TUC]

Whatever it says in the small print is probably legally unenforceable as being both an unfair contract term and a penalty clause.

 

[DarloRich]

Small claims court here we come!

 

[bb21]

I agree. I cannot see this "fine" being supported by a court of law.

 

[CallySleeper]

Link to the article please?

 

[table38]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-30100973

A couple say they have been "fined" £100 by a Blackpool hotel for leaving critical comments on travel review website Trip Advisor

Other news sources are available

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/11239413/Hotel-guests-fined-for-leaving-bad-online-review.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2840131/Couple-fined-100-hotel-called-hovel-review-Punishment-TripAdvisor-comments-illegal.html

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/couple-fined-100-slamming-rotten-4651681

 

[gordonthemoron]

credit card chargeback

 

[yorkie]

Unfair and/or hidden T&Cs may not be enforceable (and the railway industry is not exempt )

I bet this one gets cancelled before it goes to court though. It's also backfired as the hotel are going to get a lot more negative publicity as a result

 

[Mojo]

Doesn't seem to have put off most people writing bad reviews...

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_...adway_Hotel-Blackpool_Lancashire_England.html

 

[muz379]

Totally unenforceable as an unfair term, Id do a credit card charge back and contact trip advisor - in this day and age the hotel not being on trip advisor would really hurt its business .

 

[VauxhallandI]

Surely they should have read all the terms and conditions before they travelled?

 

[muz379]

Surely they should have read all the terms and conditions before they travelled?

They totally should have done and then they would have known what an unscrupulous business this was and found somewhere else to stay .

However that being said its unclear from the story if this information/clause was in something they could have accessed pre booking , or if it was just in a disclaimer they had to sign on arrival at the hotel . That would make a great deal of difference .

 

[Tetchytyke]

Surely they should have read all the terms and conditions before they travelled?

Yep, they should. I wouldn't stay in a hotel that had that clause, it's a sure-fire certainty that it'll be awful.

The charge is almost certainly unenforceable, and now that it's splashed across every newspaper everyone will know to avoid the hotel.

 

[WelshBluebird]

I am amazed at how some business owners can be so naive.
Surely it is obvious a charge as stupid and unfair as this would make them look even worse than bad reviews would make them look?

Also I wonder what the rules are regarding card payments? I thought you couldn't hold onto card details without due reason. I wonder how long this hotel was keeping details for?

In any case it looks like trading standards have had a word and the hotel will be removing this from their T&Cs and not levying the charge in the future. Not sure about this particular case though.

 

[D841 Roebuck]

Er - aren't there strict rules about the retention and storage of credit/debit card details?

Anyway - the moral of the story would seem to be - PAY CASH!

 

[telstarbox]

The owners deserve to go out of business.

 

[bnm]

Anyway - the moral of the story would seem to be - PAY CASH!

No. The moral of the story is don't give even one penny to The Broadway Hotel, Blackpool. Go elsewhere. You're spoilt for choice in Blackpool. I rarely pay over £30 for a night there in decent accommodation. A little research goes a long way.

 

[kieron]

The owners deserve to go out of business.

As they've had the sort of publicity money can't buy, I would be surprised if the hotel is operating under the same name or the same management this time next year.

 

[Tetchytyke]

Er - aren't there strict rules about the retention and storage of credit/debit card details?

There are indeed. You cannot retain numbers at all, in any format, for any reason. You can only take the card number and enter it into a terminal for a "cardholder not present" transaction, you're not even allowed to write it down.

The fines can be astronomical.

I'm hoping the hotel owners get taught a lesson.

 

[Bletchleyite]

There are indeed. You cannot retain numbers at all, in any format, for any reason. You can only take the card number and enter it into a terminal for a "cardholder not present" transaction, you're not even allowed to write it down.

Hotels can, and do, take a "swipe" on checking in which can be used in the event that the guest doesn't pay on checkout, or in the event of services being consumed that need paying for and aren't paid for at checkout such as a minibar, or to pay for theft from or damage in rooms (usually based on a published schedule of prices, which I think effectively decriminalise nicking stuff like the fancy shower head in favour of it being a sale at a slightly inflated but still not unreasonable price). This is both legitimate and necessary.

However a bad review charge is ridiculous and I can't see any Court making anything other than a mockery of it.

Neil

 

[Njal]

Trip Advisor bad review 'fine' scrapped by Blackpool hotel

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

A hotel that "fined" a couple £100 who described it as a "rotten, stinking hovel" will refund the money.
Tony and Jan Jenkinson posted the comments on the Trip Advisor website after spending a night at the Broadway Hotel, for which they paid £36.
The couple, from Whitehaven, had the £100 charge levied to their credit card two days later.
The Blackpool hotel has now said it will refund the money and vowed to improve the facilities.
It introduced the policy of charging people who wrote bad reviews to prevent "customers from defaming" the business, a spokesman said.
In a statement, the hotel said: "We exercised this policy with Mr and Mrs Jenkinson as we felt extremely upset by their actions and insulting comments towards our staff.
"We agree there is room for improvement at our establishment and we desperately want to turn things around."
The hotel has now cancelled its policy after Blackpool Trading Standards warned it could be illegal.

 

[Tetchytyke]

Hotels can, and do, take a "swipe" on checking in which can be used in the event that the guest doesn't pay on checkout

They're not allowed to anymore.

They can "pre-authorise" a certain amount, or they can take a refundable deposit, but they can't retain the card details.

 

[Bletchleyite]

They're not allowed to anymore.

They can "pre-authorise" a certain amount

Which is what they are doing by "taking a swipe". Most of the time it's the cost of the room plus the cost of the full contents of the minibar, though.

Neil

 

[Tetchytyke]

Ah, it depends, I've stayed in hotels where they've taken a carbon copy of the card. Not recently, I must add...

 

[Greenback]

Oh dear, the hotel has backed down, but not before they have found themselves all over the web for the worst possible reasons. If only they had tried to sort out their problems instead of trying to blackmail and punish their customers...

 

[NSEFAN]

It says something about a business when they are suffering from bad reviews, and rather than decide to up their game instead punish people for speaking out against them!

 

[Kite159]

It's not like they don't have a lot of competition, that part of Blackpool seemed to be hotel/B&B/guest houses central

Seems the reviews on trip advisor are mostly poor anyhow, so I doubt they will be in business if trading standards or the local council decide to pay a visit.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Unfair and/or hidden T&Cs may not be enforceable (and the railway industry is not exempt )

I bet this one gets cancelled before it goes to court though. It's also backfired as the hotel are going to get a lot more negative publicity as a result

The hotel have made a statement stating that this matter is now being subject to review, no doubt caused by the publicity given to the matter.

 

[IanD]

Seems to me that the review from the couple was particularly over the top hyperbole and the hotel owner was reacting in the same sopiteful vein. Maybe someone should start a website called 'GuestAdvisor' where hotels et al can post comments about their customers so other hotel owners can then decide whether they want them to stay.

 

[swj99]

I won't comment on that particular hotel because I've not been there, but I once almost stayed in one in the west country, but when I we saw the room, it was full of dog hairs (all over the bed spread) and stank something rotten. I would have rather slept in the car or a bus shelter than in that place. Luckily we managed to find a nice guest house a few miles up the road.

On the subject of the Broadway, having read the first few pages of reviews, I'd probably give it a miss.

I knew a lad from near Manchester back in the late 80s who used to go on holiday to Blackpool. He didn't have a lot of money, and I remember him telling me he'd go there for a week, but rather than pay for a room somewhere, he would simply sleep in a deckchair on the beach at night.