Actually, seriously, it’s theft.
A couple say they have been “fined” £100 by a Blackpool hotel for leaving critical comments on travel review website Trip Advisor.
Tony and Jan Jenkinson posted the negative comment after being unimpressed with the one night they spent at the Broadway Hotel.
The couple, from Whitehaven, later found £100 charged to their credit card. The hotel said its policy was to charge for “bad” reviews.
Even if it is “policy” it is unenforceable. Any such terms and conditions are unfair and would therefore breach the unfair contract terms act – and rightly so. Also, taking the money without specific authority – and, no, they did not have such authority – is theft. The couple can instigate a charge-back via their credit card company. A private business does not have the right to fine customers who complain about its service. The only way these charlatans got away with it was because the couple paid with a card. Had they paid cash, there would have been nothing the hotel management could have done. It’s also worth noting that the “fine” was more than the cost of the room.
Is it me, or should anyone paying less than forty quid for a room not have expectations that are too high?
Apart from all of this, only a business that provides appalling service and knows it, would even try such chicanery. Still, they are now famous. So that worked out alright, then.
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Update: It seems that the hotel management have relented after a little persuasion from trading standards. And maybe they realised they had just got more publicity that was good for them.
Common sense tells you to expect little for £36 for a double room.
Rather odd foot shooting business practice by the hotel in question…which by appearance alone i’d avoid unless desperate..
The credit card company sends a statement not an invoice, so the cardholder can challenge any charge, or simply pay the rest of the charges but not the disputed one. This may mean cancelling a DD and pay by cheque.
In my experience, card companies will put a disputed charge on hold whilst investigating. I doubt a card company would accept a ‘fine’ as a ligitimate charge, probably will consider it an abuse of the retailer T&Cs.