6 ms·

Nice: If you have booked the Inn for a wedding or other type of event anywhere in the region and given us a deposit of any kind for guests to stay at USGH ther

by yread 12y ago

Nice: If you have booked the Inn for a wedding or other type of event anywhere in the region and given us a deposit of any kind for guests to stay at USGH there will be a $500 fine that will be deducted from your deposit for every negative review of USGH placed on any internet site by anyone in your party and/or attending your wedding or event If you stay here to attend a wedding anywhere in the area and leave us a negative review on any internet site you agree to a $500. fine for each negative review. (Please NOTE we will not charge this fee &/or will refund this fee once the review is taken down). Also, please note that we only request this of wedding parties and for the reasons explained above.

dspillett 12y ago
> for the reasons explained above Being lazy and not reading it myself: do they attempt to adequately explain the policy other than "we'd like to be able to be dickish without getting bad reviews" in "the reasons explained above"? (edit for those only reading this far: it appears that they do, see the replies to this post for detail)
- zorrb 12y ago
  "Please know that despite the fact that wedding couples love Hudson and our Inn, your friends and families may not. This is due to the fact that your guests may not understand what we offer - therefore we expect you to explain that to them. USGH & Hudson are historic. The buildings here are old (but restored). Our bathrooms and kitchens are designed to look old in an artistic "vintage" way. Our furniture is mostly hip, period furniture that you would see in many design magazines. (although comfortable and functional - obviously all beds are brand new) If your guests are looking for a Marriott type hotel they may not like it here."
  - eli 12y ago
    I actually kinda see where they're coming from. I'm sure they do get complaints from people who never stay anywhere besides upscale chain hotels. But obviously this is not the way to address the issue. It's mean and ultimately self-defeating.
    - dm2 12y ago
      A piece of paper asking guests to keep this in mind when giving reviews would suffice. A company that threatens to fine me for giving them a negative review is much more likely to actually receive a negative review from me.
      - deleted 12y ago
        [deleted]
      - Silhouette 12y ago
        A company that threatens to fine me for giving them a negative review is much more likely to actually receive a negative review from me. And a company that actually fines me would be much more likely to receive a chargeback, formal complaints to any relevant regulators, or even for that kind of money a small claims suit. I'm not really sure how they expect to win with this policy, particularly since they're presumably about to get more negative publicity than every bad review they ever avoided and searching for them on-line will probably lead to dozens of critical comments forever now.
    - dhimes 12y ago
      I agree. If they are offering something unique and unusual, it is their problem to ensure that the guests are educated. And, guess what? If guests don't like it, they need to change their strategy and modernize.
    - specialp 12y ago
      Yes this is true, but this is the wrong way to do it. I have stayed at many places reviewed badly by people who just do not get it. Like I stayed at a wonderful rustic place in Maine [1] but there were quite a few reviews complaining about the rustic nature and giving them one star. As a human being I can then read these reviews and decide that the people rating it one star were expecting that this should have been some 5 star modern hotel or Sandals. This happens with restaurants too as some people do not take into account the cost/location of a restaurant in reviews "I have had better burritos in San Diego, zero stars!" when reviewing a Tex-Mex place in New Jersey. Bottom line is that people are smart enough to filter out bad reviews. 1. http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g40525-Boothbay_Harbor_Maine-Hotels.html http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g40525-Boothbay_Harbor_Mai...
  - dspillett 12y ago
    Actually, that I can understand. If we were in an understanding world the guests who wouldn't normally go to a place like that (and won't/don't enjoy it) but are because it is part of a big event like a wedding, would not leave bad reviews on that basis on the understanding that it is what the bride/groom/others wanted and they are happy. But we are not in such a world and there are people out there who will leave a bad review because they went to somewhere they would never like on its own merits and don't like it... I can't say I like their way of dealing with it and can see why people are up in arms, but I can see the problem that they are trying to protect themselves from.
deleted 12y ago
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padobson 12y ago
If anyone tries to say we suck, you're gonna pay. Otherwise, we might actually have to get better at our jobs!

by yread 12y ago

dspillett 12y ago

> for the reasons explained above Being lazy and not reading it myself: do they attempt to adequately explain the policy other than "we'd like to be able to be dickish without getting bad reviews" in "the reasons explained above"? (edit for those only reading this far: it appears that they do, see the replies to this post for detail)

zorrb 12y ago
"Please know that despite the fact that wedding couples love Hudson and our Inn, your friends and families may not. This is due to the fact that your guests may not understand what we offer - therefore we expect you to explain that to them. USGH & Hudson are historic. The buildings here are old (but restored). Our bathrooms and kitchens are designed to look old in an artistic "vintage" way. Our furniture is mostly hip, period furniture that you would see in many design magazines. (although comfortable and functional - obviously all beds are brand new) If your guests are looking for a Marriott type hotel they may not like it here."
- eli 12y ago
  I actually kinda see where they're coming from. I'm sure they do get complaints from people who never stay anywhere besides upscale chain hotels. But obviously this is not the way to address the issue. It's mean and ultimately self-defeating.
  - dm2 12y ago
    A piece of paper asking guests to keep this in mind when giving reviews would suffice. A company that threatens to fine me for giving them a negative review is much more likely to actually receive a negative review from me.
    - deleted 12y ago
      [deleted]
    - Silhouette 12y ago
      A company that threatens to fine me for giving them a negative review is much more likely to actually receive a negative review from me. And a company that actually fines me would be much more likely to receive a chargeback, formal complaints to any relevant regulators, or even for that kind of money a small claims suit. I'm not really sure how they expect to win with this policy, particularly since they're presumably about to get more negative publicity than every bad review they ever avoided and searching for them on-line will probably lead to dozens of critical comments forever now.
  - dhimes 12y ago
    I agree. If they are offering something unique and unusual, it is their problem to ensure that the guests are educated. And, guess what? If guests don't like it, they need to change their strategy and modernize.
  - specialp 12y ago
    Yes this is true, but this is the wrong way to do it. I have stayed at many places reviewed badly by people who just do not get it. Like I stayed at a wonderful rustic place in Maine [1] but there were quite a few reviews complaining about the rustic nature and giving them one star. As a human being I can then read these reviews and decide that the people rating it one star were expecting that this should have been some 5 star modern hotel or Sandals. This happens with restaurants too as some people do not take into account the cost/location of a restaurant in reviews "I have had better burritos in San Diego, zero stars!" when reviewing a Tex-Mex place in New Jersey. Bottom line is that people are smart enough to filter out bad reviews. 1. http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g40525-Boothbay_Harbor_Maine-Hotels.html http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g40525-Boothbay_Harbor_Mai...
- dspillett 12y ago
  Actually, that I can understand. If we were in an understanding world the guests who wouldn't normally go to a place like that (and won't/don't enjoy it) but are because it is part of a big event like a wedding, would not leave bad reviews on that basis on the understanding that it is what the bride/groom/others wanted and they are happy. But we are not in such a world and there are people out there who will leave a bad review because they went to somewhere they would never like on its own merits and don't like it... I can't say I like their way of dealing with it and can see why people are up in arms, but I can see the problem that they are trying to protect themselves from.

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

padobson 12y ago

If anyone tries to say we suck, you're gonna pay. Otherwise, we might actually have to get better at our jobs!