Hotel Charges Guests $500 For Bad Online Reviews 183
njnnja (2833511) writes In an incredibly misguided attempt to reduce the quantity of bad reviews (such as these), the Union Street Guest House, a hotel about 2 hours outside of New York City, had instituted a policy to charge groups such as wedding parties $500 for each bad review posted online. The policy has been removed from their webpage but the wayback machine has archived the policy. "If you have booked the Inn for a wedding or other type of event anywhere in the region and given us a deposit of any kind for guests to stay at USGH there will be a $500 fine that will be deducted from your deposit for every negative review of USGH placed on any internet site by anyone in your party and/or attending your wedding or event If you stay here to attend a wedding anywhere in the area and leave us a negative review on any internet site you agree to a $500. fine for each negative review."
I wonder if Barbra Streisand has ever stayed there (Score:5, Funny)
Maybe she could have warned them what happens when you try to bury the truth.
Damn them with faint praise (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Contract binding third parties (Score:5, Funny)
I sign those contracts all the time.
Sometimes my contract says that I believe a group of people will perform better than another group of people, and if my chosen group of people perform badly, I have to pay a penalty to the other party.
The other party is my bookie.
There are ways of posting bad reviews (Score:5, Funny)
without posting anything bad. For instance:
- This hotel definitely has 8 rooms, and all of them have beds.
- The hotel's owner is very dedicated to ensuring your bill is correct when you leave.
- Checkout time is strictly enforced, so you're sure to find your room empty when you arrive.
- Staying at this hotel is much better than camping on a landfill.
- This hotel is much less expensive than the George V, and much more comfortable than a Texas motel.
Re:Is it a bad review to mention they charge for o (Score:3, Funny)
How stupid can places get?
Zeroth Law of Stupidity: There is no upper bound on the amount of stupidity that can exist within any particular individual. First Law of Stupidity: We always underestimate the number of stupid people, even after the First Law of Stupidity is applied/accounted for. Does that answer your question?
Re:Good (Score:5, Funny)
A good review can be just as effective: "I really loved the cold soup, the dirty sheets, and the rude staff attitude - it made me feel just like home."
Re:Damn them with faint praise (Score:5, Funny)
John J. on Yelp [yelp.com] beat you to it:
Apparently we are not allowed to write negative reviews, so I will write a positive one.
I very much enjoyed my stay at the Union Street Guest House, which met or exceeded every expectation! Everything felt authentic and vintage, like the bathroom, which did not have working toilets. ("Just like olden times," noted the concierge.) Similarly, the beds were very uncomfortable, just like in the days of yore, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that they had taken the trouble to obtain several hundred bedbugs to place in the bed, for the sake of authenticity.
The food in the dining room was similarly amazing -- totally inedible! One bite of the cold porridge and my wife said, "Wow, this stuff is unbelievable!" So true.
I can't recommend this place enough. It is by far my favorite plague-infested parasite haven in Hudson, NY.
Please don't fine me $500; I spent all my money getting rid of the bedbugs I brought back with me.
So... (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Good (Score:4, Funny)
Have you ever considered a new wife?
(Posting anonymously because some stuck up people think women are some kind of sacred beings and sexist jokes on them are some kind of blasphemy.)