Transparent consumerism at its best: A couple staying at the Broadway Hotel in the city of Blackpool, northern England, were surprised to discover that they had been 'fined' 100 pounds sterling following a negative review they had published about the hotel.
Tony and Ian Jenkinson stayed at the hotel in August, and were severely disappointed with the hospitality: "The hot water tap didn't work, the electric kettle didn't work, and the drawer fronts just fell to the floor," the couple say.
In addition, the wallpaper was peeling off the walls, the carpet was thin and stained, the bed base was scuffed and dirty. The curtains were also filthy and tattered, and there wasn't even a telephone.
The couple posted their review of the hotel on the consumer website TripAdvisor, suggesting that you stay away from the place and check in an hour early: "This place needs to be closed, a rotten, smelly shack. We don't know if anyone ever checked what was going on inside. It's hard to understand how it got past any review.".
While trying to recover from the traumatic experience of staying in the den known as a 'hotel', the couple discovered to their surprise that their credit card had been charged £100.
The hotel's policy attached to the booking document sent to them sounded almost surreal: "Despite the fact that customers and couples love our hotel, some people tend to leave negative reviews about our hospitality. You have also chosen to publish such an opinion about us on a website and will therefore be charged £100 for each review.".
Gillian, The councilwoman of Blackpool - the city where the hotel is located - who was contacted by the story promised that she would make sure to refund the couple's money, and would even ask the hotel owners to remove the problematic clause: "We have to remember that the vast majority of hotels in Blackpool are excellent and provide excellent customer service. This is an isolated case.".
The consumer website TripAdvisor said that the hotel's behavior goes against all of the site's policies, which aim to publish reviews of companies even when they try to threaten their customers.
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