Indiana woman charged $350 for negative hotel review

WRIC News

INDIANAPOLIS, IN (WCMH) — A woman in Indiana says a hotel charged her $350 after writing a negative review of her stay.

Katrina Arthur and her husband were just trying to enjoy a getaway trip in March of 2016, but soon after arriving at their hotel things took a turn for the worse.

Arthur tells WRTV, soon after arriving she could smell sewer, and the air conditioner and water pressure weren’t working.  

“So I checked the bed, and I found hairs, dirt, so I wasn’t crazy about that either. I was disgusted,” said Arthur.

After arriving home she got an email from the hotel asking for a review. Arthur didn’t hold back.

“I was honest and I wanted people to know not to waste their money, not to go there because I know people save their money for special occasions,” she said.

But soon after her review, Arthur says the hotel charged her $350 and she received a letter from an attorney threatening legal action.

“That scared me to death. So I went ahead and took it down,” she told WRTV.

However, she did contact the Indiana Attorney General’s Office, who has now filed a lawsuit against the hotel’s management group for violating the state’s Deceptive Consumer Sales Act. The lawsuit claims the hotel had a policy in place that allowed them to charge customers for negative reviews, and a copy of that policy wasn’t provided to customers.

Arthur says she just wants her $350 back and hopes the state’s lawsuit will send a message to consumers who post online reviews. “There’s nothing wrong with being truthful.”

Indiana woman charged $350 for negative hotel review

6 thoughts on “Indiana woman charged $350 for negative hotel review

  1. This is absurdly crazy! Can anyone say, hi, my name is Rishi Rayamajhl and your “govt” paid my way here and gave me lots of money to own this hotel and stick it to you American Nationals. Rishi learned quickly it’s all about the money in Amerika.

  2. I woulda told them what they can do with their 350$ bill, and it would not have been nice

    I’ll see you in court , jackass, pack a lunch too

  3. If she would have given a positive review.

    She would have only been charged 2 fitty.

    Like that gdmed lockness monster on southpark.

    Oye..oye…oye…

    Bada Ching…Oye…

  4. Looks like a setup to me. The room is disgustingly filthy, they ask her for a review, then charge her extra when she writes the truth.

    Doing that a few times a week adds to the bottom line.

    I had a hotel charge me a $250 cleaning fee for smoking in the room. I don’t smoke. How do you prove you didn’t smoke in the room? Hotel had me by the balss until I found out their parent company was the same company that owned my very expensive time share. I wrote them a letter explaining the situation and received a reply that said the hotel manager will be calling me shortly. Which he did, and told me he was giving me my money back. Got lucky on that one. I talked to some friends of mine and they told me that was the new scam. They don’t expect anybody to notice and if they do they won’t be in the area anymore.

  5. This Hotel is absolutely the greatest! I can wholeheartedly recommend it because the Motel Stix I stayed at the week before smelled like a sewer, the air conditioner wasn’t working and water pressure was low.There was even hair in the bed.
    This place is not that bad, who needs air-conditioning anyway?
    I also brought a lint roller this time, so the hair wasn’t a problem.
    Thank You….So much.

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