TripAdvisor accuses Duncan Bannatyne of using Twitter to bully
TripAdvisor has gone on the offensive over BBC Dragons' Den panellist and leisure entrepreneur Duncan Bannatyne's charges that the website is cowardly and damaging to the business of small hoteliers and restaurateurs.
Bannatyne's charge was made after one of his hotels – the Charlton House spa in Sommerset – was compared to 'Fawlty Towers' by one reviewer.
As reported by The Drum yesterday he has now offered to spearhead a campaign to call TripAdvisor to account for publishing defamatory and dishonest comments.
TripAdvisor initially rebuffed the claims saying it checks to me sure all reviewers are bona fide and gives hotel managers the right of reply.
However, now it has criticised the antics of Bannaytne directly. Emma O'Boyle, a TripAdvisor spokesperson told Brand Republic: "In the case of Mr Bannatyne's hotels we have had several worrying examples of individuals being intimidated by Mr Bannatyne and his hotel representatives.
"For example, Mr Bannatyne posted the personal mobile number and email address of one reviewer and accused them of being the 'Most dishonest person of 2010' to his some 250,000 twitter followers."
She went on to say that TripAdvisor has a "zero tolerance" approach on bullying and has written to the hotel's manager to say it does not condone such behaviour.
A spokesperson for Bannatyne said: "Mr Bannatyne did not post the phone number of reviewer, he simply retweeted it, and it was someone else who put it out in the public domain."