WedlakeBell | Hotels and Leisure

hospitality news Autumn 2007

Hotel websites, e-bookings and customer reviews

The hotel industry has seen a significant increase in online hotel reservations. More and more customers use the Internet as a research tool and decide on their choice of accommodation based on your online presence. You should be mindful of your official hotel website and reputation, over which you have no control. For example, sites that facilitate consumer-generated content, such as TripAdvisor's 'Rants & Raves' can either position you advantageously or, if a negative review is posted, dramatically affect your customer base.

How can a hotelier protect itself against the effects of negative reviews from dissatisfied guests? Is it time to fight back? And, if so, how do you do it?

It's unfortunate that there are unscrupulous hoteliers out there who seek to mislead consumers by posting their own, fake reviews on travel review sites. Such hoteliers beware!

The new Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2007 are due to come into force by April 2008. Under these Regulations, any trader who falsely represents himself as a consumer on blogs or other online forums could be subject to criminal prosecution.

So where have these Regulations come from?

The Regulations have come into being as a result of the EU's Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, which harmonises unfair trading laws across Member States. This Directive introduces a general prohibition on 'unfair commercial practices', its aim being to prevent traders from treating consumers unfairly. The DTI states that this prohibition is intended to act as safety-net consumer protection legislation.

And what do the Regulations say?

The scope of the Regulations is wide. The Regulations will apply to a very wide range of business-to-consumer transactions, and impose an outright ban on 'unfair commercial practices'. Under the Regulations, unfair commercial practices fall into four categories, including misleading actions, and those specific practices listed in Schedule 1 to the Regulations.

Misleading actions occur where a trader has given false information to, or deceived the consumer, by (for example) giving generally misleading information about purchasing considerations such as fitness for purpose. A misleading action will be a criminal offence if it contains false information and is untruthful or its overall presentation deceives the typical consumer, and this causes the consumer to take a transactional decision he or she would not have otherwise taken.

In addition, and more worryingly for those hoteliers wanting to pose as satisfied guests at their hotel, the Regulations contain a list of 31 different situations whereby a practice will automatically always be considered unfair. This includes falsely representing oneself as a consumer.

So how will the Regulations be enforced?

Traders that continue to post fake statements risk facing both civil proceedings and criminal prosecution. The law will be enforced by the Office of Fair Trading and by Trading Standards, who will have the power to apply for enforcement orders, orders for the disclosure of information and injunctions, as well as being able to bring criminal prosecutions. Penalties on conviction are a fine not exceeding £5,000 (where prosecuted in the magistrates' court) or a potentially unlimited fine and/or imprisonment for up to two years (where prosecuted in the Crown Court).

I'm a hotelier. What do I need to do?

In light of this new legislation, hoteliers should take note to:

review their sales and marketing practices in light of the Regulations
not to use fake blogs, message boards or other word-of-mouth campaigns as a marketing tool
clearly educate their employees as to the content and potential effect of the Regulations and what might be deemed to be an unfair commercial practice
warn their employees not to post fake blogs, as these could be interpreted as having been made on behalf of the company
keep records of internal practices maintained and enforced.

Dealing with unhappy guests

Deal with any complaints from disgruntled guests promptly and ideally before they check out of your hotel - a lot of potential damage can be avoided when you are still in control of the situation.
Keep guest satisfaction surveys simple and unobtrusive.
Respond to negative reviews on travel review sites such as TripAdvisor - for example, why things went wrong and what has been done to resolve it.
Post positive customer feedback you receive on your own official website and on TripAdvisor!