Defamation (by calling employee name) on Tripadvisor Review

[Michael Bretwe]

Hello,

Former employee of a hotel, I had to manage a situation with a dissatisfied customer who later posted a comment about the hotel on Tripadvisor.com, quoting me (first and last names) as sole responsible for the hotel final decision and describing me as a crook for doing so.

The management of the hotel contacted tripadvisor who at the time refused to withdraw this comment. I then contacted tripadvisor in turn, asking them to remove my names and first names from the comment, showing them that a Google search on my name / name led this review, with my name + crook title in the list of pages to visit (I did not ask them to delete the review but just delete my name).

Tripadvisor again refused, and asked me to contact the hotel (which I left already) to ask them (hotel) to log a request by themselves (which I do not intend to do).

Does this situation seem normal and acceptable to you? If not, what argument, principle or text of law could I use to push them to withdraw my first and last names?

Thank you for your answers

 

[adjusterjack]

If not, what argument, principle or text of law could I use to push them to withdraw my first and last names?

Probably nothing short of a lawsuit. So, consult a defamation attorney and then decide how much money you are willing to throw at this.

Understand, though, that the review will eventually sink to the bottom and nobody will care anymore.

 

[quincy]

Hello,

Former employee of a hotel, I had to manage a situation with a dissatisfied customer who later posted a comment about the hotel on Tripadvisor.com, quoting me (first and last names) as sole responsible for the hotel final decision and describing me as a crook for doing so.

The management of the hotel contacted tripadvisor who at the time refused to withdraw this comment. I then contacted tripadvisor in turn, asking them to remove my names and first names from the comment, showing them that a Google search on my name / name led this review, with my name + crook title in the list of pages to visit (I did not ask them to delete the review but just delete my name).

Tripadvisor again refused, and asked me to contact the hotel (which I left already) to ask them (hotel) to log a request by themselves (which I do not intend to do).

Does this situation seem normal and acceptable to you? If not, what argument, principle or text of law could I use to push them to withdraw my first and last names?

Thank you for your answers

Do you have a common first and last name?

Defamation laws vary by state. In what state do you reside? In what state does the review-writer reside?

Here is what TripAdvisor says to do if you get a bad review:
https://www.tripadvisor.com/TripAdvisorInsights/w649
It is often necessary to get a court order to remove content from a website if the website will not remove the content on request. To get a court order, you file a lawsuit. A court will not issue an order unless the content you wish to have removed violates a law.

 

[cbg]

Under the circumstances, I do hope that the name you used as a user name for this site is not your real name...

 

[quincy]

... showing them that a Google search on my name / name led this review, with my name + crook title in the list of pages to visit (I did not ask them to delete the review but just delete my name) ...

As a note: Google searches are not created equal. Your own search results of your name probably will differ substantially from my search results of your name.

Google search habits and histories can guide what appears.

So, unless your name is unique, others may never run across the negative TripAdvisor review even if it might continue to appear on a page one search that you do of yourself.

In addition, like Adjusterjack said, content published online gets replaced with other content pretty quickly.

This is not meant to discourage you from speaking to an attorney in your area if you feel your reputation has been severely harmed by the "crook" label - but most negative reviews are looked at as opinion rather than fact. It is likely few would read the review and come away thinking you are a crook.

 

[justalayman]

Also, depending on what was actually written, the term crook, even though all uses would be seen as negative, could be used in a rhetorical sense and limit the possibilities for any action. In Could be seen as personal opinion more than a true accusation . When people call all car salesmen crooks, it is not likely to be an actionable offense as it is not a literal use of the term but merely an opinion.

The precise statement the term is used in will make a difference as to what actions are available to you.

 

[quincy]

It is important to know the reason the negative review was written in the first place.