The Indiana attorney general's office has filed a lawsuit against the Abbey Inn & Suites in Brown County after a guest claims she was charged $350 and threatened with legal repercussions simply for leaving a negative (but honest) review.
According to WRTV, Katrina Arthur and her husband stayed at the hotel-which is located roughly an hour south of Indianapolis-during March 2016 in search of a relaxing getaway.
She says they found the opposite.
"It was a nightmare," Arthur told WRTV. "The room was unkempt, and it looked like it hadn't been cleaned since the last people stayed there. We checked the sheets and I found hairs and dirt."
She said the room smelled like sewage, the water pressure was weak and the air conditioner was broken. Arthur claims she cleaned the room herself after her call to the front desk "automatically went to a lawyer's or something weird like that."
After their stay, the hotel asked her to leave an online review.
"I was honest," Arthur told WRTV. "I wanted people to know not to waste their money because I know people save their money for special occasions."
However, she was stunned to learn that the hotel charged her an additional $350 and later received a letter from an attorney threatening legal action.
Arthur said she deleted the review out of fear and contacted the Indiana attorney general, which argues the hotel violated the state's Deceptive Consumer Sales Act by enforcing a customer review policy deemed "unfair, abusive, and deceptive."
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"Guests agree that if guests find any problems with our accommodations, and fail to provide us the opportunity to address those problems while the guest is with us, and/or refuses our exclusive remedy, but then disparages us in any public manner, we will be entitled to charge their credit card an additional $350 damage," the policy read. "Should the guest refuse to retract any such public statements legal action may be pursued."
According to the lawsuit, the hotel's policy was in effect from September 2015 to November 2016 and was only posted to its website, leaving guests in the dark.
Arthur said she hopes the lawsuit reminds fellow guests that "there's nothing wrong with being truthful."
While no hotel wants to receive a negative review that can oftentimes be inaccurate, research shows that management can turn a disappointed guest into a brand advocate simply by providing a timely and appropriate response to a negative comment.
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