Last Updated on December 17, 2019 by Christopher G Mendla
A couple stayed in a motel and were not happy with the accommodations. They left a bad one star review on Google. The motel had a clause buried on page 2 of 7 in their online agreement that posting bad reviews would result in a $350 dollar charge.
An article goes on to say that there is now a lawsuit filed by the couple against the owner. Actually it’s against the old owner as the motel has been sold since.
I found the google reviews and sure enough, the bad review in question was posted, along with other bad reviews.
It is unfortunate that the new owners are saddled with the negative publicity created by the old owner’s actions.
This raises some interesting questions about liability online. The motel simply charged the credit card of the visitor after they posted the bad review. It would seem that should create a situation where the visitor could get their credit card company to deny the payment.. or maybe not.
It also raises the question of liability when blogging. Even a mediocre review could result in some lawsuit happy jerk sending out the attack lawyers. It’s worth looking into setting up an LLC of some sort.