Bad Facebook review leads to call for better online protection

Tuesday 26 July 2016

A Jersey woman is calling for better monitoring of online business reviews, after being deeply upset about the comments left on one of them about her work.

Nicky Holgate-Smith says she was devastated to see her name appear on the 'Good or Bad Jersey Businesses' page on Facebook for more than seven thousand Islanders to see, something which she says has really knocked her confidence.

The local swimming teacher had taken on a new administrative role at a local hotel; but she wasn't in the post long when an unhappy customer, Lucy Sanderson, alleged on the Facebook page that she hadn't been properly told about the hotel's direct debit protocol and how she had to send an instruction to cancel her three-month gym membership.

In the post, Nicky was dubbed the "elusive manager" and criticised for her "seeming lack of admin and communication skills."

She said: "I find it soul destroying that these types of pages are un-monitored. This particular thread has left me mortified and upset that this is on a public forum and it has caused me unnecessary stress. I have been in tears because of it.

"I have recently started a new job and this post is very damaging to me as my new manager mentioned this post, and its validity to me; it is especially upsetting as it is relating to my administration and communication skills.

“This Facebook page is dreadful; there are no controls over it and people can post what they like. I’m dyslexic, so to say that I’ve got rubbish admin skills and a lack of communication really knocked my confidence. I have to work a lot harder.

“As far as I’m concerned if you are going to run that type of page, you need to be more vigilant and look at the devastation this could cause and whether they have taken the proper procedures to complain."

But Lucy Sanderson says she did contact the hotel prior to posting her comments on the Facebook site, and although she's sorry that her comments might have caused hurt or upset, these sites are designed to help flag up any flaws in customer service locally, and help improve the service we are getting.

Lucy said: "I feel that online forums are important for both customers of good and bad service for a number of reasons: they provide an opportunity for people to share their experiences, they can bring attention to flaws in service that businesses might not be aware of, and also a chance for viewers of comments to hear first hand about services in local businesses.

"It is important that comments are true and that these platforms are not used as sounding boards for people's opinions unless without good reason, and I also believe that guidelines, such as giving the business an opportunity to resolve or acknowledge an issue first. In the situation I experienced with a local hotel, I did contact them first. In fact I had contacted them a few times - I also added a comment after hearing back again from a general manager, and I am happy to say that a reasonable resolution was offered to me by the hotel. The hotel refunded my account as of from the date I had called a previous staff member.

"In my original quote, I named a first name of someone I had spoken to in May, it was the person I spoke in regard to my complaint and concern over an vast overpayment of gym fees. She gave me her name and assured that she’d rectify the situation, refund my money and most importantly, call me back. It is a shame that she subsequently left her position with the hotel, and a shame that she felt hurt by my comments, but the fact is, she did not do any of the things that she promised she would do. I did not know her last name, and even if I had, I would not have noted it on my complaint online.

"I believe that as Jersey is a small place, this sort of thing would be unfair. I do feel though, that it would be mightily unfair to the thousands of people who use these sorts of platforms locally, to be silenced or their honest comments restricted. We live in a society where we have freedom of speech; with that, I feel it is unfortunate that the person who was mentioned in a complaint is upset by it, but as a customer, I was even more upset by being given a poor service by someone."

Deputy Information Commissioner Paul Vane said this was not a data protection issue as the law wasn't designed to provide any recourse to protect people against online comments of this nature.

He said: “It’s a very fine balance between freedom of expression and a private life and as a regulator they do butt up against each other. These social media sites do highlight those examples where they do hit on each other straight in the face, they are designed for people to voice their views.

“It’s very much down to the administrator to moderate that page."

Lucy Sanderson has told us the hotel has now refunded all payments taken since May, when she first got in touch to query her membership, and as a goodwill gesture they have given her free use of their leisure club facilities for a month.