The client was told to pay $ 350 and threatened with legal action after she left a review about my negative experience at the hotel Indiana.
The case attracted the attention of the Prosecutor General of the state. 15 December against the hotel, a lawsuit was filed alleging that the hotel violated the act about the fraudulent sale of consumer goods in Indiana.
Katrina Arthur and her husband, who live in the County of Greene, stayed at Abbey Inn & Suites in March 2016. «We just wanted to leave and be alone, – said Arthur. – It looked very nice on the website».
But Arthur contends that the problems began as soon as they arrived.
«It was a nightmare. The room was untidy and gave the impression that it wasn’t cleaned after the last people who stayed there. When we checked the sheets we found hair and dirt.»
According to the woman, the room had several problems: the room had a bad smell like sewer, the water pressure was weak and the air conditioning was not working. They failed to find any of the staff representatives, so Arthur had to clean the room yourself.
Returning from a trip, the woman received an email from the hotel with a request to leave a review. Arthur decided to tell everything as it really is, without hiding anything. But she was shocked when after the publication of the review, the hotel removed her Bank card $ 350. In addition, she received a letter from the lawyer of the hotel, threatening legal action. This so frightened the woman that she removed the review.
But after a while she learned that her case is not unique, so I decided to apply to the Prosecutor General of the state to try to get their money back.
As it turned out in the course of the trial, at the web site Abbey-Inn.com there is a document in which it is said that the hotel will charge customer $ 350 if they are not addressed with the problem to the representatives of the hotel, and just write a negative review.
But, according to the attorney General, Abbey Inn has not provided a copy of this document and did not place it in the rooms or common areas. Moreover, Katrina Arthur also were not warned about this when leaving your feedback.
Mike Blumenthal of GetFiveStars.com platform that helps companies collect customer feedback, called the Abbey Inn charges «outrageous».
«Reviews have long been an area where freedom of speech is protected and encouraged,» said Blumenthal.
