TripAdvisor slaps warning on Thailand's 'Sea View Resort & Spa' review page

[CorpusChristie]

1 hour ago, kingstonkid said:

 I agree fully with you and understand what you are saying.  However, that being said precedence has been established where a Thai hotel did not like a review and won a decision in court.  Even if they had lost the decision that writer still had to spend time in jail.

 

I am quite sure that some time in the near future another hotel will try the same thing.

 

 

   No , he and the hotel came to an agreement .

Stop the abuse and the hotel will drop the charges .

Both agreed to that and he was free to go .

There was no decision in Court because all charges were dropped  

[CorpusChristie]

2 hours ago, alyx said:

1) Have you ever been in a cell in Thailand or elsewhere?

 

 

 

Yes, spent a few nights in a cell with guys dressed in orange jump suits and chained to a cannonball awaiting trial .

   I know the difference between being sent to jail and being held on remand in a police station or the courts cells 

[alyx]

8 minutes ago, CorpusChristie said:

 

Yes, spent a few nights in a cell with guys dressed in orange jump suits and chained to a cannonball awaiting trial .

   I know the difference between being sent to jail and being held on remand in a police station or the courts cells 

Not the legal difference ....if you really went through that, especially if you were innocent you should know how traumatic the experience is traumatic : it remains a jail time 

[Airalee]

10 minutes ago, CorpusChristie said:

Yes, spent a few nights in a cell with guys dressed in orange jump suits and chained to a cannonball awaiting trial .

How were the canapés?

[CorpusChristie]

4 hours ago, mark131v said:

 

Blimey you are extremely pedantic aren't you, all that despite being shown umpteen times that you have been incorrect on many facets of this case!!!

 

Shall we meet in the middle?

 

Barnes was incarcerated and deprived of his freedom in a Thai cell for two nights and days on the word of the SeaView Hotel Koh Chang after they accused him of a crime, does that meet with your level of pedantry or not, just curious that's all

 

 

 

  No, Barnes stated that the hotel had slaves at the hotel which was a false allegation .

  He was detained because he coulnt pay his bail money .

He made a false allegation and didnt get prosecuted for the false allegation .

  The untrue false allegations are there for everyone to see 

[RobU]

11 hours ago, alyx said:

Still...it should not have been a police matter. When I choose a hotel I start by reading the most negative comments and then I try to see clear through the rest of the comments. The customer posted what felt right in order to damage the hotel's reputation and the hotel should have stuck to reply strongly and report his unfair comments to the sites. Whether the customer lied or not is not relevant: it is a Pandora box. It just shows that anyone can fall under some jurisdiction and then it is up to them, not the hotel, to prove that one has written a honest report of their experiences.  Full stop.

 

Under Thai Law Libel and Slander is a criminal offence therefore it is a Police matter...

[CorpusChristie]

1 minute ago, Airalee said:

How were the canapés?

 

  Plain rice with a mushroom on top , twice a day

[alyx]

Just now, RobU said:

 

Under Thai Law Libel and Slander is a criminal offence therefore it is a Police matter...

Nobody is arguing that. 
This is about: did the hotel handle the situation correctly? 
The answer is No considering the outcome ???? 

 

 

[Airalee]

5 minutes ago, CorpusChristie said:

 

  Plain rice with a mushroom on top , twice a day

Sounds delicious but I believe they served them upside down.  Passable wine list?

 

 

[mark131v]

17 minutes ago, CorpusChristie said:

 

  No, Barnes stated that the hotel had slaves at the hotel which was a false allegation .

  He was detained because he coulnt pay his bail money .

He made a false allegation and didnt get prosecuted for the false allegation .

  The untrue false allegations are there for everyone to see 

 

Why did he need bail money?  Why was he detained? Why did he need bail money? Why was he detained ad infinitum....

 

No more I give up pedantry makes my brain hurt

 

[RobU]

I am quite pleased that a Hotel fought back against an obvious bully. He plonked himself down in the main lounge with a bottle of spirits. He expected to force the hotel  not to charge corkage by bullying and threats. He succeeded they didn't charge him corkage. He then, like most bullies do, decided to twist the knife and have a bit of fun and started a campaign online. He refused to engage with the hotel, again trying to be clever thinking that the hotel wouldn't dare take action. They called his bluff and pressed charges he stupidly continued to refuse to engage so the police arrested him. He refused to pay the bail charge so he was remanded in custody (Exactly the same can happen is the US and the UK). The fact that he was arrested at work is totally irrelevant, the police of any country do not schedule their  time for the benefit of accused, they schedule their time for the period most convenient to the police. This man has an outstanding arrest warrant in the USA for gun crime which includes firing his weapon at an establishment he was ejected from for using similar threatening behaviour, whilst displaying a gun, he probably fled to Thailand to escape this warrant. He is potentially a violent and dangerous character. It is likely he was aggressive and threatening hence the police involvement to force him to engage. I am glad he was sacked by the school such people  should not be allowed to teach children. Trip advisor is just another American Bully  of the same nature backing up a fellow bully.

[RobU]

40 minutes ago, alyx said:

Nobody is arguing that. 
This is about: did the hotel handle the situation correctly? 
The answer is No considering the outcome ???? 

 

 

Then why did you state it wasn't a police matter? Stop expecting the laws of this country to be the same as in the west

[alyx]

6 minutes ago, RobU said:

Then why did you state it wasn't a police matter? Stop expecting the laws of this country to be the same as in the west

Kindly read again as I never said that. I said “it should not have been a police matter “

Considering your obvious lack of understanding or poor reading skills , I will not reply to the second part of your post ( no offence meant )

Sleep on it Good night   

[joecoolfrog]

1 hour ago, Airalee said:

That the hotel availed themselves of such an “archaic and draconian” law speaks volumes.

What option did they have , bar just being slandered and potentially losing a great deal of business.

Do note that the hotel did it's best to compromise , tried several times to contact the guy but were ignored.

In fact he continued to post untrue and vindictive reviews , is that acceptable to you ?

[whaleboneman]

9 hours ago, CorpusChristie said:

 

   He didnt get sent to jail, he was just held in detention whilst the police investigated 

1984 speak.

[mark131v]

18 minutes ago, RobU said:

I am quite pleased that a Hotel fought back against an obvious bully. He plonked himself down in the main lounge with a bottle of spirits. He expected to force the hotel  not to charge corkage by bullying and threats. He succeeded they didn't charge him corkage. He then, like most bullies do, decided to twist the knife and have a bit of fun and started a campaign online. He refused to engage with the hotel, again trying to be clever thinking that the hotel wouldn't dare take action. They called his bluff and pressed charges he stupidly continued to refuse to engage so the police arrested him. He refused to pay the bail charge so he was remanded in custody (Exactly the same can happen is the US and the UK). The fact that he was arrested at work is totally irrelevant, the police of any country do not schedule their  time for the benefit of accused, they schedule their time for the period most convenient to the police. This man has an outstanding arrest warrant in the USA for gun crime which includes firing his weapon at an establishment he was ejected from for using similar threatening behaviour, whilst displaying a gun, he probably fled to Thailand to escape this warrant. He is potentially a violent and dangerous character. It is likely he was aggressive and threatening hence the police involvement to force him to engage. I am glad he was sacked by the school such people  should not be allowed to teach children. Trip advisor is just another American Bully  of the same nature backing up a fellow bully.

 

Oh mate you are missing the bigger picture by a country mile!!!

 

It is completely and utterly irrelevant if Barnes was a knob, personally I think he may very well have been a bit naughty but is completely irrelevant

 

There where no winners in this soap opera but there was certainly losers the biggest of which is the Hotel, they will lose money and trade at a time when most are struggling already

 

Next Koh Chang will now be known as the place where they are so petty and vindictive they will jail there customers for a negative review

 

Next Thai tourism in general, as if things are not bad enough muppets like this shooting the business in both feet the repeatedly making headlines around the world for all the wrong reason's, nope you really couldn't make it up!!

 

I said there are no winners but the only positive I can see is the world is more aware of the travesty that is 'face' and the dinosaur that is Thai justice. Yep they have managed to make themselves a laughing stock once again

[Why Me]

Barnes was probably unpleasant but service-oriented businesses deal with such customers on a daily basis. The front-office staff are, or should be, trained to diffuse confrontations quickly and quietly. Filing suit should not be an option unless the guest has committed assault or physical damage.

 

As for damaging reviews, those who use sites like TripAdvisor are perfectly capable of sifting rants from the thoughtful write-ups. Barnes's reviews, especially over the top ones along the lines of "modern day slavery", would only have had eyes rolling and caused little damage. Sea View knew all this yet chose to go after Barnes for reasons only they can say. Probably some immature fellow in management who thought it would be fun to teach the farang a lesson.

 

Well, now they are forked and deservedly so. It's their turn to grovel and/or pay up big time to have that "we jail critics" label taken off. 

[CorpusChristie]

3 minutes ago, whaleboneman said:

1984 speak.

 

  That year went and passed , just a book written 70 years ago about the future  that didnt happen 

[CorpusChristie]

1 hour ago, alyx said:

Not the legal difference ....if you really went through that, especially if you were innocent you should know how traumatic the experience is traumatic : it remains a jail time 

I was guilty of all charges they bought upon me .

Criminal damage , abuse of police officers , attempted bribery of police  , attempted escape and various other things .

   I was given the option , admit to the minor crimes of criminal damage and get a small fine and a suspended jail  sentance and they would drop all the more serious charges which could get me years in jail .

  I accepted that , pled guilty and got a small fine and a suspended jail sentance .

  Just need to conform and go with the flow.

The Thai justice system is quite fair  

[Kohkah]

17 hours ago, RotBenz8888 said:

The "resort" shot them self in the foot big-time????. Reading this story, who in the world would pick this place over 100s of others? 

Time will pas by and none will remember. Perhaps change hotel name as well.

[Speedhump]

6 hours ago, mark131v said:

 True, but, and there's always a but...

 

I have followed this from the first report because I know the hotel and have stayed a few times and even took my family with me when they visited I always regarded it very highly, not anymore..

 

I have seen all the online reviews that Barnes posted and he may very well be a bit of a plonker but they are benign and who is to say if he is wrong with what he saw or felt, it was a negative review and certainly not deserving of jail time

 

There is no racist/xenophobic point all he does is point out one of the managers nationality and infer that the staff seem miserable and maybe badly treated, wouldn't be the first time I have seen staff mistreated in Thailand or other places for that matter

 

Some is inflammatory but that is beside the point there were four online reviews one of which TA had taken down, this only became news when the hotel themselves released it during their damage limitation statement. If the hotel had done the right thing this would have had zero impact, but they didn't

 

Trip Advisor say in their report that it was they who paid Barnes's legal costs and got the hotel to sit down and negotiate, to me it seems like the Hotel were happy to go all in and if the foreign press hadn't got hold of it I believe they would have

 

Any business that gets a former guest jailed for this do not deserve to be in business, the harm they have done to themselves but also tourism in general is shocking, there is undoubtedly going to be a massive financial impact from this owners stupidity

 

The only positives I see is that it has shined a light into the murky world of Thailand's control laws that are blatantly a tool to protect the rich and powerful and the more people in the world hear about this abuse of power the better 

 

The saga has also shown the Thai national weakness that is 'face' and shown they are absolutely some of the most petty and vindictive people when they perceive they have been wronged or slighted, a good warning that they are willing to trash their entire business so long as they don't lose face, medieval thought process really ...

His posts were not 'benign' they were rants, attacks, and did not 'infer that staff were maybe badly treated', he accused them of employing slave labour.

 

I can see that by dubiously defending him you only want to slur Thailand, where in fact their character is only that of most Asian countries in the region. You can get into trouble in many countries around the world if you throw your weight around and act the loudmouth, at least here it's dealt with by the law and no other way, harsh though you may find it. 

[Speedhump]

6 hours ago, alyx said:

you should read all the posts....this not the point

I don't need to read 22 pages of posts to reply to one. The hotel was pushed beyond endurance by this aggressive man's highly unreasonable and sustained online attack. If the law is there to stop him then they certainly had the right to use it. 

 

Laws on defamation and similar in the UAE also are strict, and people learn by their mistakes. But it's still a major holiday destination, COVID excepted.

 

This is a fart in a teacup. 

[Speedhump]

6 hours ago, alyx said:

it is definitely the duty of TripAdvisor. Do you think that such a big company has based its decision on hearsay: they have been more than well informed about the case, I guess

No, it is not doing its job by not mentioning the highly unusual circumstances, as I clearly said. They almost make it sound as though it's a regular occurrence. 

[samsensam]

9 minutes ago, Speedhump said:

I don't need to read 22 pages of posts to reply to one. The hotel was pushed beyond endurance by this aggressive man's highly unreasonable and sustained online attack. If the law is there to stop him then they certainly had the right to use it. 

 

Laws on defamation and similar in the UAE also are strict, and people learn by their mistakes. But it's still a major holiday destination, COVID excepted.

 

This is a fart in a teacup. 

 

This is a fart in a teacup

 

in the grand scheme of things for sure. however the owner of the hotel may rue the day they decided to use a sledge hammer to crack a nut. a far more proportional and indeed rational course of action would be to address the complaints with relevant, accurate responses within TA and/or escalate to the TA compliance /complaint department. basic common sense that is applied by the vast majority of individuals and businesses that have issues with reviews on TA.

[Grge Soul]

I reviewed a boutique hotel in Phnom Phenh  (poor wifi, staff attitude, general crappiness) - later they replied with a full assault of nonsense on TA. 

 

I emailed the hotel manager and he admitted he did it out of face saving, and retracted their complaint on TA.

 

Honesty cannot be beaten.

[Miami007]

18 hours ago, patman30 said:

cannot really fault TA at all here
they must warn their users of the consequences of leaving a negative review
especially when there is evidence they could face legal action from specific hotel owners or management, whilst on holiday or travelling
most people are not generally clued up on many laws in the foreign countries they visit.

the hotel in question did really shoot themselves in the foot on this occasion
it will likely be a very costly lesson for them

Obviously, this warning will make a difference to European/ American/ Australian travelers.  Will Chinese care - not so much as they don't use Tripadvisor like in the West

The guest was an American citizen but lived and worked in Thailand.  I am sure that the NYPD would not arrest an American in New York if and when a hotel files a suit for defamation in Thailand - most TA users are safe

 

As the borders are closed for the most part (14 day quarantine, covid insurance, visa requirement of showing bank statements, no Visa exempt being the main roadblocks), this won't matter for the majority of the world for some time.

 

 

[Grge Soul]

2 hours ago, CorpusChristie said:

 

  That year went and passed , just a book written 70 years ago about the future  that didnt happen 

It's happening bud. Wake up a wee bit.

[Miami007]

6 hours ago, alyx said:

Really? trust me, when I have a bad experience I do advertise it as much as I do for positive experiences. I do not think either that is a case of foreigners against locals (where ever that could have taken place). Fairness would have been to talk to the guest and use the right to answer. You may not be aware of this but if I comment, the place can reply and...I am not allowed to answer back. So the system is more than fair

I believe the hotel tried to contact the guest and he refused..

 

The best way to avoid malicious reviews would be to require the real name (and dates of stay) to be posted.  If I had an unpleasant stay at a hotel, I would / should be man enough to give my name and not hide behind an alias.  Negative reviews are good when they address actual shortcomings - not when they address perceived entitlements.  

 

Being in hotels myself, i would have responded and outlined the facts - suing the person in the USA would not get me anywhere.  If he kept posting on many sites, it would just create a nuisance.  It seems the biggest problem is that people have too much time and not enough work.

[mark131v]

51 minutes ago, Speedhump said:

His posts were not 'benign' they were rants, attacks, and did not 'infer that staff were maybe badly treated', he accused them of employing slave labour.

 

I can see that by dubiously defending him you only want to slur Thailand, where in fact their character is only that of most Asian countries in the region. You can get into trouble in many countries around the world if you throw your weight around and act the loudmouth, at least here it's dealt with by the law and no other way, harsh though you may find it. 

 

Proper drama queens on here, honestly it's scary!

 

Mate there was 4 reviews online, 1 was removed by Trip Advisor and only resurfaced through the hotel releasing it it's not online anywhere, removed, gone, get it!!

 

Reviews 2 and 3 (the second Trip Advisor and first google) were exactly the same review and who is to say if that was his honest experience

 

Last review pretty much a repeat re-worded version of 2,3 and could very well be his true and honest observation's, again impossible to tell!

 

Review 1 that was actually removed by Trip Advisor until the hotel re-issued it as part of their damage limitation exercise:

 

Modern Slavery 29th June Removed by Trip advisor and not online

 

Do not sleep here! Don’t support modern day slavery of Thai people! The staff are not friendly because of their management. The foreigners treat staff like slaves. There is one that is really bad. He is from the Czech Republic. He is the restaurant manager. Not only does he treat the staff like slaves, he also act’s like he is more important and better than the guest’s in the hotel. Please do not support this modern day slavery. There are lots of other hotels on the island

 

Review 2 on Trip advisor 3rd July

 

Unfriendly staff and horrible restaurant manager

 

Unfriendly staff, no one ever smiles. They act like they don’t want anyone there. The restaurant manager was the worst. He is from the Czech Republic. He is extremely rude and impolite to guests. Find another place. There are plenty with nicer staff that are happy with you staying with them

 

Review 3 first on google: Roughly between 21-9 Aug

 

Word perfect same as review 2 on Trip Advisor see above

 

Review 4 on google the final review: a week after the first google review

 

The staff was not friendly. Nobody could smile. The restaurant manager was very rude and full of himself. He is from the Czech Republic. There are other hotels with better- friendlier staff. Avoid this place as if it was the Coranovirus!

 

So essentially 3 reviews 1 off which had already been removed by Trip Advisor, how petty vindictive and frankly bonkers is that?!!!

 

All you drama queens and hang em highs need to go and give your heads a good wobble, it’s pathetic and stupid and I am really glad Sea View have been found out…reap the whirlwind bitches!!!

 

 

[MadMuhammad]

18 hours ago, ChipButty said:

Bottle of Vodka

Wasn’t it gin?