Are administration / review charges on hotel guests acceptable?
Archive - Originally posted on "The Horse's Mouth" - 2014-11-20 18:00:19 - Graham Ellis
I see from the press that a hotel in Blackpool charges £100 to guests who post poor reviews of them online, and that the hotel is rated as number 858 of 894 hotels in the town. My cynic's view is that they might be finding it a goor way to raise extra money, especially as they're quite a cheap place towards the lower end of the market.
These day, though, all good hotels and B and B proprietors are working to get good reviews, thoughtful in handling justified but poor reviews, and concerned at what do do in the event in an unjustified, perhaps malicious, slamming. You may wonder "would that really happen" ... well, yes, I'm afraid it would.
1. We opened our doors to the cameras of "Four in a Bed" - a TV show in which only the highlights of a week's visits by guests least likely to choose to stay (given the option) are broadcast. It's set up to be an interesting show, and it's marvellous publicity - but it also raises emotions including (we have learned) in people who have never stayed, and who judge a place purely by what they see of it and its owners on TV, and have those emotions raised to such an extent that they follow up on what they think as if they had stayed.
2. People love a bargain. And some love complaining in order to get a better deal. "We always look for faults when we check in so we can complain and get an upgrade" said a contact to me once ... and I can believe it of her. We've been caught once (once too many) when I suggested to a guest who had reported a spec on the mirror that shouln't have been there that she pay what she felt to be the right amount, and she walked out at the end of her stay paying nothing. And this tiny minority of people will quite cheerfully threaten a poor review unless [insert what they want here] ... occasionally following through if the hotel doesn't give way.
So, I have an understanding for the folks in Blackpool. I think they have it wrong; I think they need to look at their product as say "perhaps these people have a point" ... but I do have an understanding.
And I was taken by a peverse parallel too. We too have a £100 charge in our terms and conditions which we may levy. We have a very late cancellation without penalty policy as business guests do need to change plans at the last minute on occasions, but late cancellations do cost us. So we reserve the right to make a charge of up to £100 in cicumstances where cancellations are not bona fide or prompt - say someone books a room "just in case", or if they decide they're not travelling weeks ahead, but only let us know with little notice. And we would also apply the charge should someone cancel, then phone in to re-book a few minutes later and ask for a last minute bargain price because "I know you had a room just cancel". They would probably find, indeed, that they weren't welcome to rebook even with the £100 penalty as the trust that's needed between guests and operator would have been broken. We have - never - made the charge. But if there's a good case to do so, make no mistake that we would.