Originally Posted by dulciusexasperis

I'm in agreement both with the fake reviews it makes easier and the avoidance of being held liable for slander that sites like TA hide behind. It should be noted that in fact, if you can trace an individual who wrote something online about your business or yourself personally, you can in fact sue them for libel. One good reason for people to want to remain anonymous. They can slander with impunity. I see posters doing it on forums of all kinds including TA and this site, every day.



I don't write reviews as such Proudelitist. I do sometimes recommend a hotel in a specific location. I don't think I have ever criticized an airline. I have criticized air travel as a whole. I have seen individual here post totally insulting remarks directed at me personally and I have seen FT leave them up. Whether they are directed at my real name or my handle makes no difference. I would be fine with posting under my real name if all others had to do the same. I think i would probably win more defamation lawsuits I brought as a result, than lose those brought by someone else against me.

I agree they may have been 'doxing' but will you agree that if they disagreed strongly enough with the negative review, it might be perfectly understandle why they would do so. What other recourse do they have when someone writes a negative review they feel is unfair? Once again, it is 'I can hurt you in real ways through my review but you aren't allow to respond with anything that might hurt me in return.' I'm sure the TA rules preclude the hotel from venting with something like, 'you're an a###ole.' Where's the fairness in that?

I'm not suggesting at all that this was the case with the OP who may or may not have a perfectly legitimate reason for writing a negative review. But the fact is, TA is not a level playing field. Anyone can open an account and post any kind of negative comments they wish to make. Open enough fake accounts and post enough negative reviews and you can shut a business down because the reality is, a lot of travellers actually believe what they read on TA. Some may take reviews with a grain of salt but others do not and if enough of those others avoid your business as a result, you end up out of business.

How would you suggest leveling the playing field in reveiw sites Proudelitist and do you really think one like TA actually cares whether it is level or not? They are just covering their own butts from liability as lhrsfo points out and are notorious for knowing that fake and untrue reviews are posted on their site every day. Again, I'm not suggesting the OP did that. The hotel knows he is not a fake but they may well perceive his negative comments as totally unreasonable and have 'doxed' him in retaliation. If you punch me in the face, I'm more likely to punch you back than just ignore it. I'm not that strong a Christian to turn the other cheek, are you?