Indiana hotel reportedly charges woman $350 for bad review

A woman in Indiana said she was stunned after she posted a negative review about her bad experience at a hotel — and promptly got an extra $350 charge and a threat of legal action.

Katrina Arthur told WRTV she and her husband stayed at the Abbey Inn & Suites in Brown County — about an hour south of Indianapolis — in March 2016, but claimed that their stay at the hotel “was a nightmare.”

“The room was unkempt, and it looked like it hadn’t been cleaned since the last people stayed there. We checked the sheets and I found hairs and dirt,” Arthur said. She added that it reeked of sewage and had weak water pressure and broken air conditioning.

When Arthur tried to find hotel employees, she said she came up short and “had to clean the room myself.”

So, when the hotel asked Arthur to review her stay at the Abbey Inn, she made sure her experience was heard

“I was honest,” Arthur told WRTV. “I wanted people to know not to waste their money because I know people save their money for special occasions."

Once Arthur posted her review, she said the hotel charged her $350 and threatened her with legal action. So, she deleted her review.

Arthur said it felt like the hotel was “punishing” her “for being truthful,” and she contacted the Indiana attorney general’s office.

Arthur, who said “there’s nothing wrong with being truthful,” said she wants her $350 back from the hotel.

I bought a major appliance from Home Depot online. They keep emailing me asking for a review - I could win $1k if I comply!
The appliance is totally unsatisfactory, not even a one-star. I haven’t gotten around to reviewing yet but I don’t think they’re going to enter me in the drawing when they see what’s on my mind. :(

”Bet there is a Patel in the ownership group.”

I know exactly what you’re getting at. A number of years ago, I stayed in a Ramada Inn in L.A. that, at least according to the website, looked pretty nice (for a Ramada). It was said to be recently renovated, and the rate was good, so I booked it.

When I arrived, let’s just say the place didn’t quite live up to its billing. While it did appear it had been slightly renovated, it was obviously an old, re-purposed apartment building. The rooms were so tiny the door almost hit the bed upon entering.

What was most amazing, though, was the endless list of “rules” contained in the traditional hotel guide. They covered everything from how many extra towels and pillows you were permitted per day to exactly how many ounces of cereal you would receive in your “ration” at the “free” breakfast. After experiencing what they called a breakfast the next morning, I just had to laugh. They had lined up a series of little styrofoam bowls with about two spoonsfull each of corn flakes, and the only drink choice was “orange juice”, which appeared to be something more akin to watered-down Tang. To top it off, they closely monitored the line to make sure that you only took one bowl. It was just mind-bending cheapness.

And you guessed it, the owners were Indian (India Indian, not “come to our casino” Indians, as they said in the Big Bang Theory). The whole place was engineered to pinch every possible penny and to treat their guests like criminals.

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