AdamSmith Posted August 6, 2014 Posted August 6, 2014 Hotel threatening $500 'bad review fee' trolled with spoof complaints New York's Union Street Guest House said it would dock people's deposits if they criticised it. Now pranksters have posted a raft of joke reviews, sending its ratings plummeting Pete Cashmore Tuesday 5 August 2014 11.52 EDT The Guardian The Union Street Guest House has this week been labelled perhaps the meanest, mardiest, most criticism-resistant hotel in the US. The Hudson, New York establishment's website listed a charge of $500 (£296) for wedding couples if they or their guests left negative reviews on online customer review sites. Of course, such exercises in damage limitation only reap dividends, both in terms of limiting dissent or making a few extra bucks out of disgruntled guests, if the rest of the world doesn't know about them. Sadly for the Union Street Guest House, the rest of the world has found out about them -- prompting the hotel to issue a statement saying the whole thing was a joke. Unconvinced, pranksters have had great fun this week leaving humorous "guest reviews" of the hotel on online review site Yelp, safe in the knowledge that they have no three-figure deposit to be withheld. Indeed, more than 500 of said reviews appeared in one day, sending the guesthouse's average rating plummeting to one out of five, which is an achievement in itself given that many people still left ironic five-star ratings in among the slatings. Here are some of the best complaints: ▶ "Nice soothing screeching noises everywhere all the time at night." Mihai D, Beaconsfield, Canada ▶ "Went to sleep here with two testicles. Woke up. They gone." Joe C, Virginia ▶ "I stayed here on March 14th, woke up the next day, BOOM! Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Coincidence? I think not." Daniel, San Diego ▶ "The hall was double-booked for my wedding and a white supremacist rally, which added character." Steve W, Foster City ▶ "I sneezed once in the lobby and was charged a $250 cleaning fee." Scott L, Las Vegas ▶ "I had the feeling I was being watched the whole time during my stay, then the creep at the front desk stabbed me to death while I was in the shower." John B, California ▶ "I didn't read the fine print carefully. Apparently the Hotel Manager had the right of 'prima nocta' and was legally allowed to sleep with the bride on the first night." Joe D, New York ▶ "Had my wedding here, and they required a human sacrifice. I objected, but it was clearly printed in size 1 font in a lost dialect of Sumerian at the bottom of the agreement." Chris, Phoenix ▶ "The floors made my feet smell like feet." RB, Los Angeles http://www.theguardian.com/world/shortcuts/2014/aug/05/union-street-guest-house-500-dollar-bad-reviews RA1 1 Quote
Guest ButtWilde Posted August 6, 2014 Posted August 6, 2014 Like we've seen with other more homophobic and sinister business owners of the past, social media and reviews of their establishments, have become the means to extract sweet and discriminatory revenge upon them. The gay weeding cake bakery I think most still remember. And then there was a homophobic restaurant in Florida not long ago which had their Yelp page crushed by the LGBT community for discriminating against a gay couple expressing otherwise acceptable heterosexual affection for one another. Some were indeed funny, others were obviously vindictive, ugly and probably not a good representation of the community at all. But that's the world we live in and so goes the "lock and load" trigger finger revenge which social media provides us with today. It was also interesting to note, Yelp, in most cases I witnessed, did not censor (other than profanity) or "lock" or "delete" (ahem) the comments section or the individuals expressing their thoughts. I'm not sure how enforceable this would be legally speaking, since it is infringing upon a constitutional right, but the notion of even including this within a guests invoicing is enough for me to stay away. Not that I'm getting married any time soon. Quote
Members JKane Posted August 6, 2014 Members Posted August 6, 2014 My favorite is in the comments for this article: Welcome to the Hotel California. You can check out any time you like but you can never leave... ... a bad review? Quote
Members RA1 Posted August 6, 2014 Members Posted August 6, 2014 I thought that was a roach motel. Best regards, RA1 Quote
