Duncan Bannatyne considers legal action against TripAdvisor
Dragon's Den panellist and fitness and leisure entrepreneur, Duncan Bannatyne has launched an outspoken attack on the website TripAdvisor, which he described as 'despicable and cowardly'.
Bannatyne said he was considering spearheading and campaign against the website, as well as suing it, after it compared one of his own hotels to Fawlty Towers.
According to Bannatyne TripAdvisor is risking the livelihoods of dozens of hoteliers and restaurant workers because of its policy of publishing all the reviews its receives from the public.
He said, the review which was published about his hotel was 'dishonest' , however the way TripAdvisor operates means that it is open to disgruntled customers abusing the service – and unfairly damaging the reputation of quality operations.
TripAdvisor, he said, should commit to removing fraudulent or defamatory reviews, rather than simply giving management a right of reply.
In his specific case, Bannatyne said a guest dishonestly give his establishment, Charlton House spar in Somerset a bad review in order to get an unwarranted refund.
The website which gets around 40m hits a month is increasingly influential in the leisure industry, with many basing their purchasing decisions on its reviews.
Recently 100s of hoteliers threatened to bring legal action against TripAdvisor claiming many of these reviews were dishonest or false.
Now Bannatyne says he is willing to suppor this effort. He was quoted in The Telegraph as saying: “TripAdvisor is a despicable and cowardly organisation, which is bullying small hotel owners all over the United Kingdom. As a recent victim of a rogue review, I am well placed to lead the campaign for more protection against the perils of TripAdvisor.
“They have tried to bully me, they have sent threatening letters and emails, they have urged me to shut up, but they won't speak to me directly.”
However TripAdvisor dismissed the allegations: “If a property owner has an issue with a traveller review we provide avenues for them to raise concerns and strongly encourage them to contact our owners centre, where there issues will be investigated,” said a spokesman.