11-28-2014, 06:35 AM
An "online reputation services" company called KwikChex, acting on behalf of more than 1,000 hoteliers, says it estimates there are at least 27,000 legally defamatory comments on TripAdvisor, "allegations that are false and should, if necessary, be tested in court". Chris Emmins, who runs Kwikchex, is in the process of contacting TripAdvisor about some of these specific comments, with "a notification saying: 'We regard these reviews as suspect, this user may now be open to legal action, please inform them.' We're hoping that people will reconsider their comments, particularly if they are a competitor, and remove the material they've posted . . . In virtually every country, when it comes to defamation, the judge will ask what opportunity the defendant has been given to correct the situation, so we're going this route to say, legally, we've done everything we can." After that, Emmins suggests, they'll take further legal action against the defamatory reviews that haven't been taken down.
One of the hoteliers involved in the KwikChex action is Frank McCready, who owns the Old Brewery guest house in North Yorkshire, and runs a website called I Hate TripAdvisor. He thought TripAdvisor was a brilliant idea at first, but soon changed his mind. "A lot of small businesses are being damaged," he says. "Some of the reviews that are put up there are malicious; you have competitors trying to denigrate other hotels in the area, and properties achieving reviews that seem impossible. As a hotelier in a small town in Yorkshire, I know all the other properties, and every town has a place that people know locally as somewhere you wipe your feet on the way out of. We ended up being rated lower than them, despite the fact that we've got three stars."
McCready would "like changes in the law that meant people who posted reviews had to be visible and accountable – if you publish something you have to use reasonable restraint, make sure your facts are right. I'm angry at the moment that it's not transparent, it's not honest, it's not straight. It's seriously damaging people's livelihoods."
http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2011/j...-bannatyne
One of the hoteliers involved in the KwikChex action is Frank McCready, who owns the Old Brewery guest house in North Yorkshire, and runs a website called I Hate TripAdvisor. He thought TripAdvisor was a brilliant idea at first, but soon changed his mind. "A lot of small businesses are being damaged," he says. "Some of the reviews that are put up there are malicious; you have competitors trying to denigrate other hotels in the area, and properties achieving reviews that seem impossible. As a hotelier in a small town in Yorkshire, I know all the other properties, and every town has a place that people know locally as somewhere you wipe your feet on the way out of. We ended up being rated lower than them, despite the fact that we've got three stars."
McCready would "like changes in the law that meant people who posted reviews had to be visible and accountable – if you publish something you have to use reasonable restraint, make sure your facts are right. I'm angry at the moment that it's not transparent, it's not honest, it's not straight. It's seriously damaging people's livelihoods."
http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2011/j...-bannatyne