“Dirtiest” hotelier sues TripAdisor
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A Tennessee hotelier is suing online travel giant TripAdvisor for inflicting what he called a “devastating loss of business”. According to The Telegraph, Kenneth Seat on, who owns the Grand Resort in Pigeon Forge, is seeking US$10 million compensation from the leading review site after it named his property “the dirtiest hotel in the US”. The dirtiest ranking, Seaton says, caused “great injury and irreparable damage” to his business and accuses TripAdvisor of “maliciously and wrongfully contriving, designing and intending to cause respected customers to lose confidence” in his resort. Seaton says the issues noted in user reviews, such as bloody sheets and maggot infestations, were exaggerated and have been addressed by new management. The prosecution claims that the whole TripAdvisor rating system is flawed and called for controls on user posts saying “there are limits to free speech”.