Industry warned over TripAdvisor blackmailers
Hoteliers and other tourism businesses are being urged not to respond to customers who try to extort freebies by threatening to post bad reviews online.
The British Hospitality Association said it has noticed a growing problem of online reviewers blackmailing tourism businesses.
It has become such a big concern that BHA deputy chief executive Martin Couchman is now in talks with online review site TripAdvisor on behalf of the association’s members.
"People threatening restaurants and hotels with bad TripAdvisor reviews to extort freebies is a problem which has been growing," said Couchman.
"While it’s very difficult to put an exact figure on how widespread the problem is, it is clear that there is a small minority of online reviewers who are either directly or indirectly blackmailing hotels and restaurants for their own gain. Even just one or two bad reviews can have huge consequences for a business’s reputation.
"For example, people may attempt to blackmail during the meal. While it can be difficult to prove that somebody has held your business to ransom in this way, we would advise that business owners do not respond – or make free offers – to reviewers they suspect are malicious.
"I would ask hospitality business owners to contact TripAdvisor or the British Hospitality Association if they are concerned about malicious reviews."
TripAdvisor said it takes any allegations of blackmail or threatening behaviour by guests very seriously.
"It is absolutely against the terms and spirit of our site to use TripAdvisor’s name to try and claim discounts or freebies that would not be available to other guests. Thankfully, such instances are rare, but if an owner does experience this, we have tools in place to help them report it to us," said a spokesman.
Through its Management Centre, TripAdvisor now offers owners the chance to report threats before the review is submitted.
"Our fraud detection experts will then investigate and, where we find evidence of threatening behaviour, take action to stop their reviews from ever reaching the site," said the spokesman.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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