News Forum - Khao Yai hotel threatening 3 million baht lawsuit for bad review named

[vlad]

Lowseasonlover looks like the ozone management needs to apologize quickly before permanent damage and the reputation of its future is stopped. If it is in a group of companies of that brand they must look at the management of this Hotel and decide if there likely to damage there reputation for coming out with these statements. 

[Nabashalam]

IMHO I think Agoda should shoulder all legal costs for the reviewer. They have a warning notice to reviewers but it should require all Hotels listing on their site to sign a contract stating that they cannot list sue any reviewer for their reviews. If not they cannot list on Agoda. Problem solved!

[Guest1]

4 hours ago, Hyper said:

So many short sighted parties:

1. Ozone hotel - just became infamous in the midst of a 'famine' they just killed whatever goose that gave them food. LOL

2.  Agoda - they helped Ozone to find their own member.. LOL. Agoda should start to defend the woman/their member or they will have no more people who will comment on their web and their web will no longer serve any purpose. Sadly they will not survive Covid..

Agoda is a Thai based Company, isnt it?

Or was that booking dot  com?

Or both?

Anyway, my point: If they are a Thai Co, there is not much anonimity to expect, to Thai Hotels, methinks

[Paulw]

Well they have now really shot themselves in the foot, good luck with potential bookings Ozone!! Agoda need a kick in the bum for this as well. Obviously neither establishments are very smart as look at how much negative publicity they have given each other and in these very tough times!!!!!

[vlad]

In one Paulw they think were stupid and we will be worried. In all seriousness the Ozone management willfully threatened a guest online, and they should be accountable for it. 

[Poolie]

The Ozone Hotel management will no doubt seek their next move by consulting Thaiger Talk.

[Lowseasonlover]

1 hour ago, Guest1 said:

Agoda is a Thai based Company, isnt it?

Or was that booking dot  com?

Or both?

Anyway, my point: If they are a Thai Co, there is not much anonimity to expect, to Thai Hotels, methinks

Agoda is a Singapore based company and its part of Booking.com which is based in Holland

[Lowseasonlover]

2 hours ago, vlad said:

Lowseasonlover looks like the ozone management needs to apologize quickly before permanent damage and the reputation of its future is stopped. If it is in a group of companies of that brand they must look at the management of this Hotel and decide if there likely to damage there reputation for coming out with these statements. 

That hotel is a stand alone company not part of any group 

[Lowseasonlover]

1 hour ago, Paulw said:

Well they have now really shot themselves in the foot, good luck with potential bookings Ozone!! Agoda need a kick in the bum for this as well. Obviously neither establishments are very smart as look at how much negative publicity they have given each other and in these very tough times!!!!!

I guess many guest have seen it, There is a post on BDC obviously from a previous guest asking that hotel if they are the ones suing a guest for a bad review, I dont know if it's still there

[vlad]

Sounds like they got the Publicity they wanted. Most i saw were Thai on there facebook slagging them off.

[Lowseasonlover]

3 minutes ago, vlad said:

Sounds like they got the Publicity they wanted. Most i saw were Thai on there facebook slagging them off.

It was also in a couple of FB groups they are getting a good slagging off 

[vlad]

Wonder if they wise up and apologize  they might try limiting the Damage but probably they will ignore it or they will lose face.

[Guest1]

1 hour ago, Lowseasonlover said:

Agoda is a Singapore based company and its part of Booking.com which is based in Holland

At least cofounded in Phuket, Agoda is.

My info might be outdated, but I think, I remember, before they moved the callcenter to Manila, it was in Bangkok or Phuket. After the change, the call çenter was a lot less reachable. And booking com , I probably confused that with their Phuket office in Chalong, from 15 years or such ago. 

When did booking buy agoda? Missed that.

"Robert Rosenstein and his friend Michael Kenny cofounded Agoda 15 years ago in Phuket and worked through growth, downturn and acquisition. Mr Rosenstein now leads the Singapore-based company as CEO, overseeing 1,300 employees representing more than 20 countries."

[Guest1]

1 hour ago, vlad said:

Wonder if they wise up and apologize  they might try limiting the Damage but probably they will ignore it or they will lose face.

They will put that on the bill from the reviewer, I would think. At least try that, why did she not just quietly did, what Ozone wanted her to do? At least that would be "not my fault" Thaistyle, methinks ;-(

[Lowseasonlover]

12 minutes ago, Guest1 said:

At least cofounded in Phuket, Agoda is.

My info might be outdated, but I think, I remember, before they moved the callcenter to Manila, it was in Bangkok or Phuket. After the change, the call çenter was a lot less reachable. And booking com , I probably confused that with their Phuket office in Chalong, from 15 years or such ago. 

When did booking buy agoda? Missed that.

"Robert Rosenstein and his friend Michael Kenny cofounded Agoda 15 years ago in Phuket and worked through growth, downturn and acquisition. Mr Rosenstein now leads the Singapore-based company as CEO, overseeing 1,300 employees representing more than 20 countries."

Prior to Agoda, Michael Kenny started two other hotel booking websites, PlanetHoliday.com and PrecisionReservations.com, but combined companies, launching Agoda.com in 2005. In 2007, Agoda was acquired by Booking Holdings (formerly The Priceline Group).

[Pietpiet]

I have had 2 bad experiences with Agoda and will never use them again, but did not know they were connected with Booking. Com. Will make sure I never use either of them again.

PJM

[DiJoDavO]

Any updates how it ended up? 

[Leo]

On Agoda it has a rating of 8.2 out of 10 (with some recent reviews, to which management always replies to), and rates of about 1800 baht/night inc breakfast.

https://www.agoda.com/ozone-hotel-khao-yai/hotel/khao-yai-th.html?finalPriceView=1&isShowMobileAppPrice=false&cid=1844104&numberOfBedrooms=&familyMode=false&adults=2&children=0&rooms=1&maxRooms=0&checkIn=2022-01-18&isCalendarCallout=false&childAges=&numberOfGuest=0&missingChildAges=false&travellerType=1&showReviewSubmissionEntry=false&currencyCode=THB&isFreeOccSearch=false&isCityHaveAsq=false&tspTypes=-1&los=2&searchrequestid=581659cd-0ad1-4a92-b4af-e9eae4f214cf

Now here's something interesting. Very recently I had a review for a Bangkok hotel posted for a couple of days, then taken down by Agoda. On sending them an email asking for an explanation, they replied they didn't know what happened and they don't see a review on their end. When I explained that in my bookings it indicates that the hotel has already been reviewed and therefore I can't leave another review --> no reply.

Btw, my review was also a 6/10, indicating pros and cons (and no, I haven't been sued).

So you can make what you will of Agoda reviews and the company's practices.

 

 

Edited January 13, 2022 by Leo

[Bifrost]

the Hoterls name andl ocation please ! so we all can publish it anywhere in social medias to warn any to NEVER book any room on this terrible  place !

[Lowseasonlover]

7 hours ago, Bifrost said:

the Hoterls name andl ocation please ! so we all can publish it anywhere in social medias to warn any to NEVER book any room on this terrible  place !

Not a good idea

[Rain]

19 minutes ago, Lowseasonlover said:

Not a good idea

Shouldn't be a problem if you keep yourself anonymous - 

[inVinnieVeritas]

The hotel name is stated in the article: 

 

https://www.facebook.com/ozonehotelkhoayai/

[Vince]

On 1/12/2022 at 7:03 PM, JamesR said:

Can you imagine how it would be eating dinner there.

After eating the waiter comes by.

"How was the food sir/madam", said with a smile.

"It was nice but I think the fish was a little undercooked in my opinion".

The waiter comes back with the bill.

"Here is you bill sir, Three millions seven hundred and fifty baht", said the waiter politely. .

"What"

"Sir, it includes an insult tip, you pay now", said with a snarl, the hotel security standing behind him looking on menacingly 

The posting of negative opinions online is slightly different than a private one. 

A complaint at a restaurant often gets some action - the fish can be cooked longer to your preference or a new fish provided or a refund.

An online complaint stays forever and nothing can be done about it. That broken toilet from 2022 is forever advertised for the next 10 years until the business shuts down. 

Negative reviews cause a loss of face and people can and do lose jobs over them (I'm not defending the threat of lawsuit or demand for money, just saying these things have consequences). 

 

[JamesR]

2 hours ago, Vince said:

The posting of negative opinions online is slightly different than a private one. 

A complaint at a restaurant often gets some action - the fish can be cooked longer to your preference or a new fish provided or a refund.

An online complaint stays forever and nothing can be done about it. That broken toilet from 2022 is forever advertised for the next 10 years until the business shuts down. 

Negative reviews cause a loss of face and people can and do lose jobs over them (I'm not defending the threat of lawsuit or demand for money, just saying these things have consequences). 

Replies from the restaurant manager or whoever can respond to an online comment e.g." We were sorry to inconvenience you dear customer, the toilet has now been replaced."

Or as I did regarding the restaurant I owned for 22 years before selling, I replied to comments.

e.g. "There was not enough meat in my spring rolls, terrible".

Reply: "There was no meat at all in your vegetarian spring rolls ordered from the veg menu".

[Vince]

Just now, JamesR said:

Replies from the restaurant manager or whoever can respond to an online comment e.g." We were sorry to inconvenience you dear customer, the toilet has now been replaced."

Or as I did regarding the restaurant I owned for 22 years before selling, I replied to comments.

e.g. "There was not enough meat in my spring rolls, terrible".

Reply: "There was no meat at all in your vegetarian spring rolls ordered from the veg menu".

Yes, but these are still transitory issues. 

I used to read reviews on a website with four letters starting with a y (mostly food) and there was a strong pattern in reviews. 

One pattern was "this was my first and last time I'll ever eat here and everything was bad" - no one smiled, the sushi was overcooked, the toilet was broken and dirty, etc. etc.

Maybe it's all true, maybe it was a bad day for the business, maybe it was a bad day for the customer. Who knows? 

The customer, having a bad experience, should definitely let the owner or manager or waitstaff know. Seething privately and going home to write a scathing review seems like what really happened. 

So another crap review hits the internet, maybe the waiter gets fired, maybe a small business is hurt.

Michelin doesn't award or take away stars from a single review. Personal preference and variable experience is a problem in review experience.

If someone goes somewhere and has two or three problems, attempts to have it addressed and is ignored, that's more notable. Of course I could be wrong.