Hotel owner to sue Tripadvisor reviewer for bad review
A hotel in Oregon is suing a Tripadvisor reviewer who posted a damning hotel review on the site.
The anonymous web user, wrote a review of the Ashley Inn, Lincoln City, Oregon, USA, faces having to pay out $74,5000 (£55,000) in damages to the hotel if it succeeds in its action.
He or she, known only as 12Kelly, wrote: "Breakfast is nasty, the room is nasty," claimed the owner "smokes weed" and that someone on the front desk "had phone sex with someone."
The critique, which was posted on April 23, has since been taken down, but the hotel's owner, Lincoln City Lodging Limited Partnership, is taking legal action to prevent the reviewer from posting again.
According to Oregon Live, the defamation lawsuit claims 12Kelly made the statements "deliberately, maliciously and wilfully with the specific intent to cause damage to character and reputation of Lincoln City Lodging and the Inn."
The current Tripadvisor reviews of the hotel are mixed, but most rate it as 'Excellent" or 'Very good" and it has an average score of four out of five.
Aol Travel recently reported how a Scottish hotel owner has lashed out in fury at a Tripadvisor reviewer after receiving negative reviews.
An increasing number restaurants, hotel and B&B owners in the UK have reported a rise in the number of customers who use Tripadvisor as a threat.
Hospitality chiefs in Britain have recently been warned that hotels and restaurants are being targetted by blackmailers who demand free meals and stays in exchange for not writing bad reviews on Tripadvisor.
The fraudsters tell staff they will post bad comments if they don't get better service, free food or upgrades.
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