Hotel threatening to sue us for bad review

[Itsalongwayto]

Unashamedly posting in AIBU for traffic. We stayed in a truly dreadful place over the August BH weekend. I wrote to the owner afterwards expressing our displeasure and with a long list of complaints including unsecure blind pulls, a trampoline with no safety net, water features with no warning, general filth and 1980s decor (I expect more at £300/night). Additionally one of the curtain poles fell down on my head. He wrote back ignoring most of my points but stating that he was disappointed that I hadn’t said thank you to them for fixing the curtain pole so quickly . I submitted a review on reevoo and Tripadvisor, neither of which have been published yet......but he has emailed threatening to sue us if we don’t take our review down (I’m assuming he has been sent a preview). We have photographs of everything except the awful smell.
I’m assuming it’s safe to just ignore and block? I’m not taking my review down.

[Weebitawks]

I'm with you if the place was filthy and the staff were unhelpful but in my opinion, you're being a bit over the top about the river etc.

[LUZON]

Oh my! I've read the reviews on tripadvisor and the owners responses to the bad ones are extreme. TBF the owners photos make it clear the decor is dated. So I think you are being unreasonable to complain about that. They seem to have photo of each of the apartments? The caravan looks ancient.

It shouldn't be dirty though. I think you need to focus your complaints on it being unclean.

There were quite a few scathing reviews. I wouldn't have chosen to stay there in a month of Sunday's. I guess you didn't read the reviews.

[LUZON]

Noticed that they don't mention any star rating anywhere on their website. They don't seem to be accredited by anyone. That would ring huge alarm bells for me.

[Livelovebehappy]

I think some of your complaints could have been avoided had you read the reviews and looked at pictures. The decor appears to be clear on all the pictures to be honest. Rivers with no signs? That’s a case of just using your common sense - whether there were signs or not, I would still keep watch and supervise DCs around water. I don’t book anywhere without reading reviews, especially at that price. Obviously you still use your own judgement in the end, as some people post ridiculous minor stuff. If there were lots of posts on poor cleanliness it would immediately put me off.

[Itsalongwayto]

@LUZON.....no, we didn’t read the reviews, and it was all that was available (probably for a reason). The photos of the apartment we stayed in were not the actual apartment. The kitchen and bedroom both looked much more modern.
They do claim they are 3 star....not sure who is classifying them though. I’ve done some more investigating about the owner- he features heavily in the local rag and seems like a really horrible person.......if I hadn’t already Established that by his responses.

[LUZON]

I couldn't see any photos where anything looked modern. 🙁. The whole place looks extremely dated in all the photos.

[Itsalongwayto]

@LUZON ...ok, modern is maybe pushing it....less than 10 years old rather than more than 30 years old!!!

[LUZON]

The owners responses to the negative reviews are really unpleasant.

It's a massive rookie error not to read the reviews but I guess you won't make that mistake again. ☹️

[NC4Now]

You’re not covered by qualified privilege, but on the very unlikely chance it ever made it to court you’d have a defence of justification and fair comment.

[Northernparent68]

What warning do you need about a water feature ?

[Extracurricularfatigue]

I’ve found it and yes, lots of positive comments on a quick glance, but the owner is clearly a nightmare from the way he responds to comments. He’s really not going to sue though.

[THisbackwithavengeance]

Hmm.

Some of your complaints sound a little... contrived such as the water feature and the trampoline. That makes me wonder if your other complaints such as 'filth' are equally valid? Even the broken pole, if fixed promptly is not really an issue.

I know someone who always makes a fuss and complains about a hotel in order to secure money off and freebies so perhaps my judgement is clouded and that's not you.

However...its your review and none of us were there so we only have your word for it.

Howeber if I saw a shocking review on TripAdvisor amidst a bunch of glowing reviews I would assume the reviewer was trying it on. What do the other reviews say?

[Billben]

Why are some posters being so obtuse about the water feature/river?

Yes, it’s probably not a legal requirement, but if I advertised something as child friendly, I’d make sure I damn well covered my arse by putting signs up. It’s no different than the signs you see in car parks telling you that thefts from cars is solely your responsibility. Another pointless sign but it is there to cover the owners’ backs.

[thesunwillout]

I'm normally quite good at sleuthing, where is this place and how are others finding it.

[IdblowJonSnow]

1980s means it hasn't been decorated in 30 plus years! I would also complain about that if it was an expensive hotel.
If it's all true then he has no grounds to sue you.

[PopsicleHustler]

Wow. Sounds awful

[MiddleClassProblem]

I think it’s more of a stream than a river but there were thunderstorms the week before so maybe it was particularly deep?

I think the recent reviews seem positive so it’s easy to see why at a last minute booking they could be overlooked and the features like the tennis court aren’t mentioned, the gym is described as lovely although it doesn’t sound like these reviewers used it, just went past it. The draw is clearly the animals and I’m guessing other families were more focused on that it took away from the shit bits.

I think it still sounds very expensive per night, SC even if it is a BH. I wouldn’t pay that for 3 star self catering.

[CorianderLord]

He can't sue you for a bad review ffs

[diddl]

@thesunwillout

I'm normally quite good at sleuthing, where is this place and how are others finding it.

I'm also wondering what I'm missing that 's so obvious to everyone else!

[ButteryPuffin]

Don't get people saying 'you can't find fault with that in a review'. Of course she can! Other people are free to discount those as trivial complaints if they want, but it's absurd to say you can't review the things that you find important.

[diddl]

[quote Itsalongwayto]@Nekoness, sorry, not meaning to mislead. The river was about 20m from the trampoline- further down the field/bog. One kid, one adult....all trampolines should have nets.
We have stayed in plenty of places with rivers and streams. There are always notices which say ‘we have unfenced streams/rivers/ponds...please watch your children’. They also usually tell you at check in.[/quote]
Isn't it up to the adults to know the area that they are going to though & take some responsibility for supervising their kids?

[MiddleClassProblem]

@ButteryPuffin

Don't get people saying 'you can't find fault with that in a review'. Of course she can! Other people are free to discount those as trivial complaints if they want, but it's absurd to say you can't review the things that you find important.

I think my point (when it was just a water feature) was that it kind of undermines the points that seem really valid by picking something like that, and they came in the OP before the problems of the filth and run down bits etc. It makes the bigger problems sound like an add on.

The photo of that tennis court is ridiculous!

[Extracurricularfatigue]

A review is a subjective response. If people were not allowed to hold opinions, and if it were legitimate for people to sue for those opinions, an awful lot of critics would be in trouble.

As for the water, any responsible owner makes parents aware of potential hazards to their children on the property. It’s good practice, it’s kind, and it’s helpful. Perhaps the owner could take that on board and warn his guests from now on, even if he makes heavy handed comments about health and safety as he does so.

[Marmunia1975]

He can't sue. Don't worry. Add in the screenshot of the threat too.

[CandidaAlbicans2]

Where anyone has written a negative review the response has been very rude and defensive

You can tell a lot about a place by the owners' response to negative comments, and I will boycott any place where the response is anything other than professional. Arsey or aggressive in any way is a massive red flag, so the owner is doing more damage than the review does. Mistakes happen, but it's how a business deals with it that separates the wheat from the chaff IMHO.