Gag Clause - Is This Right?

Crabtree2015

Hello, I went on holiday at the end of the summer and had an immediate problem with the accommodation and made a complaint. In short, we were not helped at all by our holiday company but ended up staying for one week (instead of the 2 we had paid for) and finding ourselves a better alternative that we had to pay an extra £1000 for. Our first week spent somewhere we felt was not as described was awful and we made the company aware of this. At the time they agreed to give us 20% discount on the 2 weeks booked. We contacted them once back and they ignored us. We have recently contacted them again and they are incredibly reluctant (unsurprisingly) to give us the discount they had previously agreed to. They claim our complaints are "weak" yet are willing to provide the discount. However, they are saying they will only provide the discount if we agree and sign a pro forma, essentially agreeing not to put any reviews about our holiday or their company anywhere. I assume this is legal but morally I find this highly questionable. I would have wished even ONE person to have put a slightly negative review about the place before we booked as it would have helped. How can a holiday company get away with only allowing positive reviews?

agrinnall

I'd take the money then post an anonymous review in such a way that it rubbishes the company but doesn't identify you or your precise holiday. Alternatively, don't take the money and post exact details in as many places as you can find.

Stevie_Palimo

agrinnall wrote: »

I'd take the money then post an anonymous review in such a way that it rubbishes the company but doesn't identify you or your precise holiday. Alternatively, don't take the money and post exact details in as many places as you can find.

Depending how deep the pockets are of the holiday Company posting a anonymous review can still be traced if they wanted to, If you did sign it and were caught be prepared for a dog doo storm.


Stupid piece of advice if you ask me.


Do either or here and do not even think about both as when you come back down the line stating I am in big trouble over posts I made after accepting that I would not post you will be laughed at.

tomtontom

If you are going to accept their offer you need to remove your previous posts on here also. As above, if you agree to a non disclosure clause you need to abide by it.

eDicky

I would tell them straight that only a 100% refund will now prevent you from naming and shaming them by publicising the entire story, perhaps mentioning acquaintance with some travel journalist.

agrinnall

Stevie_Palimo wrote: »

Stupid piece of advice if you ask me.

Luckily I didn't, and now I know not to ask you anything in the future either.

The simple answer is to get someone else to post the review.

christaitfife

What would the advantage be to the holiday company if they gave you a part refund and then let you post negatively about them? I am sure that they are covered in some way (be it terms and conditions or something else) that they need not compensate you at all.

If you feel that you have a good case and can robustly prove that your accommodation was not as described and it is the fault of the holiday company you should reject the offer outright and start formal proceedings.

If you wish to take the 20% refund you should accept the 'gagging clause'. If you were to post negatively, by matching your complaint to your review along with dates I am sure that it would be rather easy for them to prove that it was you who reviewed them.

As a poster mentioned previously, you have already broken the gagging clause by posting on here - and most large companies have people who scour sites like MSE. I am sure by matching:
1. You stayed for one week instead of two
2. You had to pay £1000 more for a better alternative
3. You have been offered a 20% refund with Gagging Clause
4. As of the 16th November you are yet to agree
5. They have used the term "weak" to describe your complaint
.... they will be able to work out that this post is by you!

If I were you I would take the money and delete this thread.

eDicky

Am I missing something? Is there some way of identifying the OP's holiday company within this thread?

Moto2

The OP hasn't agreed to anything yet, they are free to post whatever until and if they sign a gagging clause.
It doesn't really matter what they can and can't identify

pendragon_arther

Small claims court.

Pollycat

pendragon_arther wrote: »

Small claims court.

From the OP's other thread, it may be that the company she booked with isn't a UK one.

Can you still use small claims against a non-UK company?