TripAdvisor Review Costs Hotel Employee His Job

by Jessica Festa on

While many travelers enjoy using TripAdvisor to browse reviews of hotels and excursions, employees of tourism organizations have reason to fear the popular website and its unverified critiques. In fact, Fred Keeler, a former bartender at the Four Points by Sheraton Philadelphia Northeast hotel for almost 14 years, was fired after being the target of a TripAdvisor review.

“I’ve never heard of anyone being targeted specifically and actually being fired over a TripAdvisor review,” Fred Keeler told NBC News. “I want to prevent this from happening to anyone in the future.”

The post, written by user “Angelo G” and titled “Bad, Bad, Bad… Did I Say Bad!” gave the Sheraton a rating of 1 out of 5 and complained about everything from a “crappy check-in” to shower drains being clogged. What hurt Keeler, however, was a comment the writer made about the “one good thing” about his stay. Angelo G wrote, “The bartender, I think his name was Fred said for $20 tip he would give me open tap all night, he said ‘they count the good stuff.”

Keeler had had an argument with one of his co-workers the night before, and this is who he believes wrote the post. When the bartender was summoned to the human resources department, denied the allegation when shown the review. He was fired five days later.When NBC called Four Points by Sheraton Philadelphia Northeast for follow-up comments they declined to discuss the case, stating it was against company policy to talk about employee matters.

Although TripAdvisor has a team of content integrity specialists who review claims of suspicious content, Keeler’s options were limited. He tried to write a response post, but the site wouldn’t allow it as he wasn’t a hotel guest. When he asked them to take down the original post, his request was denied. It wasn’t until the former employee contacted KwikChex, who used TripAdvisor’s private message system to contact the review author, that the post was removed – in August, five months after it was originally published.

Despite a partial victory, the loss of his job was humiliating and devastating for Keeler, who lost his health insurance and the house he was in the process of buying. He now makes only a fraction of what he was at the hotel.

While the former employee is still hoping to get his job back, he doesn’t believe it will happen.

[Image via Shutterstock]

When Travel Helps You Appreciate Home

by Jessica Festa on

“Maybe that’s the best part of going away for a vacation – coming home again.” ~ Madeleine L’Engle, “Meet the Austins”

I had been dreaming peacefully – well, as peacefully as one can when riding a sweltering overnight bus along winding roads of Ecuador with a TV blasting low-budget murder movies – when I suddenly woke in a panic. My backpack – it was gone.

¿Dónde está mi mochila? I asked the man in the seat behind me, who happened to be awake at 2 a.m. Suspicious.

He shrugged, shaking his head. When I had gone to sleep I had looped it around my ankle so if anyone took it I would wake up. Obviously, my plan had not worked.

The driver must have seen me searching under the seats for it, when he came over and pointed to the rack above my head. Apparently, he had been trying to do me a favor, not knowing how I usually slept with one eye open on these buses guarding my things.

I gave him a wry smile, taking my bag down from the shelf and hugging it. I was exhausted, not just from lack of sleep, but from traveling in general. From having to sleep on uncomfortable buses while hugging my purse, having to make new friends and say goodbye to them three days later, constantly being lost, craving pork chops and meatloaf and not being able to take a hot bubble bath and read a trashy novel. I loved culture shock more than anything, but after awhile it could really make you appreciate home.I stared out the window, envisioning the mountains and lakes transforming into flat highways and fast-food restaurants. I’m usually not the type to get homesick. I’ve never felt particularly lonely or scared, and even when I miss home I never let it ruin my trip. At this moment, however, my mind was wandering to a place where comfort was the norm. It was a place I hadn’t been in three months.

What’s funny was, the things that were exhausting me were also the things I usually craved when traveling. Heading out on a trip without any plans, getting lost in new cities, sampling foods I’d never heard of, trying to communicate with locals and “roughing it” with just a barely-filled backpack – this was the point of traveling. To get away from the comforts of home, pack light and learn about the local way of life.

And, it still was; however, that didn’t mean I wasn’t really starting to appreciate the life I lived at home. Deciding on a late-night snack, I pulled out a small bag of fresh cheese and biscuits. As I attempted to slice the mushy cheese using a pen, my mind flashed to La Roma, a pizza place in walking distance from my house on Long Island. Crispy crust topped with bubbling cheese, chunks of meat and plump vegetables. What I wouldn’t give for a slice.

I tried to will the thought away, feeling guilty. It was as if travel was my boyfriend and I was mentally cheating on him with my lover, home. With home, there was no trying to find undiscovered cafes or underground bars. I was the local, so I already knew them. While I had been traveling through South America trying to find unusual landscapes and historical sites, there was so much of that on Long Island that I took for granted. With home, I had my routine, my Sunday hip hop classes and Friday happy hours with friends. I could walk three blocks to get my favorite Snickers Italian ice, and was always fully stocked with almonds, pretzels and peanut butter, three staples of my diet. With home, it was always comfortable.

Maybe I shouldn’t feel guilty for appreciating home. It doesn’t mean I love travel any less. However, home came first, and has been there all along. No matter how far away I go, or how much I change as a person, it will always there waiting for me as if I never left. And for that, I am grateful.

[Images via Shutterstock, Jessie on a Journey]