Richard Gollin, 64, launched a small claims action at Stornoway Sheriff Court over what he says are ‘false and malicious’ criticisms of his guesthouse in Lewis, which the site refused to take down after being posted by its users.
Richard Gollin, who owns a guesthouse in Lewis, in Outer Hebrides, Scotland, maintained the TripAdvisor website lost him valuable bookings of around £2,000 by refusing to remove the ‘untrue’ comments. Mr. Gollin claimed that negative comments posted about his guesthouse are false and should have been removed by Tripadvisor. Richard Gollin claimed that negative comments posted about his guesthouse are false and should have been removed by Tripadvisor.
According to “Hebrides News”, Mr. Gollin said that a posting was made by a guest who criticised the food and claimed visitors were underfed. Mr Gollin defended the quality of meals and insisted “our portions are certainly not small.” He says the writer gave the wrong date when he stayed “to cover his tracks. I believe that that one lie should disqualify his entry.”
“Tripadvisor is in dereliction of duty in failing to have proper supervision” of what goes on their website. All across the country people should stand up to Tripadvisor.”
He says fake reviews create a lot of damage when they attack small guesthouses compared to a hotel chain because “this is our livelihood – we are just a small B&B.”
He took the action over what was “clearly a malicious review for the guest who wanted to get his own back because he didn’t want to pay his phone bill.”
Until now, TripAdvisor, which is based in the U.S. and worth around $4billion, has denied it was subject to UK laws and could therefore not be sued. It previously challenged the jurisdiction of the Scottish court claiming the firm is outside the remit of the Scottish legal system because it is based in Massachusetts.
However, Mr Gollin’s lawyer, Duncan Burd, a solicitor who is more used to crofting cases, won a concession from the firm which has agreed it can be sued in Scotland. But Sheriff Colin Scott Mackenzie ruled in TripAdvisor’s favour over transferring the action to a higher court, which requires him to hire a lawyer and be exposed to unlimited expenses. An appeal is being lodged and is expected to be heard in Stornoway in two months. If it goes ahead, the case will now pivot on the legal interpretation of TripAdvisor’s website terms and under the basis of the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977.
Tatiana is the news coordinator for TravelDailyNews Media Network (traveldailynews.gr, traveldailynews.com and traveldailynews.asia). Her role includes monitoring the hundreds of news sources of TravelDailyNews Media Network and skimming the most important according to our strategy.
She holds a Bachelor's degree in Communication & Mass Media from Panteion University of Political & Social Studies of Athens and she has been editor and editor-in-chief in various economic magazines and newspapers.
