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Original poster

Hotel issued 6 page threatening letter following poor review

130 replies

Itsalongwayto · 16/09/2020 17:21

following on from this post www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/4018141-Hotel-threatening-to-sue-us-for-bad-review

The owner has now got his solicitor to issue a six page threatening letter. I don't think I have said or done anything wrong except write a review that he doesn't like and publicise the dangers of his hotel. His initial letter was blackmailing me NOT to write a negative review, threatening 'further action' including contacting my place of work and professional body. I have evidence of all the negative comments i made, except the smell. Advice please.

OP posts:
notapizzaeater · 16/09/2020 21:44

He's mad as a bag of frogs .....

LemonadeFromLemons · 16/09/2020 22:05

This is a bit evil but if it is a real legal firm you could do things to incur the hotel owner a larger legal invoice... Grin

OhCaptain · 16/09/2020 22:20

From reading his responses and the weird language he uses, he fancies himself a bit of a legal eagle.

My guess is he either knows someone at that firm or has ripped off their letterhead. Usually I'd say that was too ludicrous to be true but - well, like I said I've read his responses to people!

Hey Mr. M - here's a little tip: don't try so hard to sound clever in your responses to bad reviews. You're making a show of yourself! Grin

diddl · 17/09/2020 10:00

"to sue me for lost income from the 209 people who have marked my review as helpful (ie won’t visit)"

Wonder how many of them are MNers with no intention of visiting?

LaLaLandIsNoFun · 17/09/2020 10:01

My ex husband once got his solicitor to write several emails and a threatening letter over a Dyson hoover threatening legal action...

Honestly, I wouldn’t worry

ProfessorSlocombe · 17/09/2020 10:03

Arkell v. Pressdram seems apposite here.

EchoCardioGran · 17/09/2020 14:27

@ProfessorSlocombe

Arkell v. Pressdram seems apposite here.
Oh that's a brilliant Professor ! I'd forgotten all about that case. Old enough to remember it in real time too!

(If anyone's got time do look it up if you want a laugh. Private Eye and their version of the Hotel Owner.)

LyingDogsLie1 · 17/09/2020 14:32

Check the law society’s find a solicitor page to check whoever is writing to you is a solicitor. It’s a criminal offence to impersonate a solicitor, so if that’s in question make sure you pick up on that.

Binglebong · 17/09/2020 14:52

I wonder if the Law Society would be interested if you thought someone was pretending to be from an establish law firm....

Binglebong · 17/09/2020 14:53

Sorry Lying Dog - I need to press post when I write something not half an hour later!

Treadcarefully1 · 17/09/2020 15:26

I can’t go into the reasons here for fear of being pursued any more than I recently have been, but what I would say is tread very, very carefully here and remove the review.

No, it’s not fair, but the loss of income really isn’t just based around those helpful comments, if he can prove (and he can prove it) that you have gone elsewhere to share your review and encourage other people to mark it as helpful, then he has proof of a campaign against him.

And if he has the money, or a friend who is a solicitor, then it’s going to cost him nothing, whereas it will cost you a substantial amount.

I have been legally pursued now by an actual solicitor over one comment which was removed fairly quickly for around six months now. I have had to pay for a solicitor’s advice, I have been physically ill because of it, The individual concerned has shocking reviews online but they have come after me specifically over a comment which was present for maybe an hour.

Trust me when I say that the potential outcome really isn’t worth it.

RedHelenB · 17/09/2020 16:38

@Treadcarefully1 Did it get to court?

Treadcarefully1 · 17/09/2020 23:41

@ RedHelenB No, but as he’s a solicitor he doesn’t need to pay for a solicitor to write his letters for him. The intimidation has been bad enough. He asks for something then leaves it a few weeks then comes back wanting something else. And every time he demands a response within a certain number of days or he will proceed further. Has talked about putting charges on my house etc.

Now, the OP has written a bad review which is fair enough. But where I think this individual could possibly have a case is in the fact that the OP has started threads about it on here, and off the back of those threads posters have gone on to the review to put a “helpful” mark, so it could quite easily be claimed that the OP has started a campaign against this particular business.

And even if the OP has the threads deleted he could have screenshots which could be used as evidence.

In an ideal world she should ignore But personally having been through months of intimidation like this I would just delete the review and have these threads pulled. The bloke is clearly unpleasant, but it’s not worth the stress to the OP to pursue this too far.

Aquamarine1029 · 17/09/2020 23:45

Fuck that guy.

prh47bridge · 18/09/2020 00:06

But where I think this individual could possibly have a case is in the fact that the OP has started threads about it on here, and off the back of those threads posters have gone on to the review to put a “helpful” mark, so it could quite easily be claimed that the OP has started a campaign against this particular business

No, that would not give him a claim. If he was able to claim for libel the OP's actions would potentially make it worse but, as she is able to show that her review was true, he will not be able to make a claim against her. He can make things unpleasant but, if he goes to court, based on the information posted, I would expect him to lose.

Hargao · 18/09/2020 05:47

Concur with @prh47bridge.

OP is there any indication of the individual at the firm who wrote it (is it signed by a person or just with the firm name)? You should be able to check on find a solicitor (or LinkedIn) to see how senior this person is. As others have said, impersonating a solicitor is illegal. Also, being a lawyer doesn't mean you just get to use the firm's letterhead to help out friends - that would normally be a pretty big no no because of potential claims, need to run conflict checks etc. It's possible that this could just be a really poor lawyer who is actually formally instructed (or a really poor senior lawyer, maybe a sole practicioner, doing it for a mate).

Either way the advice probably should he just ignore. I'd want to continue digging to drop whoever sent the letter in trouble but what I'd be advising a client is just to ignore and let it go.

(Of course none of us have actually seen the letter so there is the possibility there's something in there you should respond to, but I can't think what it could be. If you're really concerned, you could ask a law firm to have a look at it for you to put your mind at rest)

Treadcarefully1 · 18/09/2020 06:10

The question though is, does the OP want to go to court? Because while it’s easy to sit on the sidelines and say “let him take you to court/he won’t take you to court,” what if he does? the actual process is far more stressful than that and will cost her money if he does, and the assumption that this is someone impersonating a solicitor or that someone is acting illegally is mere speculation at this point, the OP says the solicitors are legit, and as someone stated up-thread, solicitors do write such letters.

In my instance I also think the one threatening me would never win in court, and as he has a certain profile, if it e.g. went to the press it would look very badly on him, but that doesn’t make the demand after demand any less stressful, and I can’t afford to if he does decide to go to court.

PopsicleHustler · 18/09/2020 06:53

Can you post your review

Also am pretty sure that this is a follow up from your first post?

The owner sounds like an absolute pig. He needs to fix his hotel up rather than hassle and threaten you. I'd leave it tbh. Let him be an idiot and you get on with your day.

I once stayed in a hotel in East london
I'd stayed in a really nice one (hotel1) literally next door, to (hotel 2). Then decided to go for hotel 2, because they appeared maybe 10 quid cheaper!!!!!!
As soon as I paid for the room in hotel 2, a worker passed me my keys and literally fled up the stairs to my room armed with a can of air freshener. He was literally trying to get there before me. But we reached the same time. He wanted basically, to get into the room,before me because I physically watched him use the can of air freshener to whack and kill the cockroaches up the wall and then use almost all of the air freshener to spray the room. After ter all that was done, he left me to 'enjoy' my room. Safe to say it was a major dump, like cheap crappie bedsits from the 80s with wicker chairs, grubby carpets, tatty wooden blinds and a divan bed with very undesirable bedding. I was like 19 or so at the time, don't know why I just didn't go back down and ask for my money back. At 33 now, I would have definitely kicked up a fuss.

PopsicleHustler · 18/09/2020 06:53

And left a scathing review on TripAdvisor too!

PopsicleHustler · 18/09/2020 06:56

@treadcarefully1

Even if he does go to court, he will look like an absolute fool. And the judge will make a mockery out of him. Based on the evidence op will provide including threatening and nasty emails or letter, plus proof that the room was a dump.

Treadcarefully1 · 18/09/2020 07:20

Yes he will, but the OP will still have to incur a financial outlay for doing so.

My guess is that he wouldn’t go to court, but would demand an out of court settlement to stop it from going to court. Either way it could cost the OP, and the question is whether it is really worth it for the sake of a factual review.

Also I wonder if he could come after MN. I know they have been threatened with legal action in the past by various individuals/companies.

In my case the admins of the group the comment were posted on were threatened that if they allowed this in future the individual would take action to have the group taken down. The irony is that that means no posts about said individual are now allowed on that group (and said individual is someone who potentially might be discussed in the context of the group, hence my original comment which led to the threats.)

Treadcarefully1 · 18/09/2020 07:21

Also, there clearly is some legal issue here, as the other thread is full of deletions now.

BlueThistles · 18/09/2020 07:26

6 pages !? bizarre

TheGirlWithAPrince · 18/09/2020 07:48

dont worry, anyone would laugh in his face. You cant sue for a real negative review if you could no one would give negative reviews XD you have the proof, you did ACTUALLY stay at the hotel so its not fake so you cant be sued, let them try. Then sue them back for emotional distress Haha

OhCaptain · 18/09/2020 07:50

@Treadcarefully1 your own situation is extremely unusual and not something OP has to worry about, IMO...

Did you join MN specifically to warn her?