Complaining in cyberspace : the motives and forms of hotel guests’ complaints online

Traditionally, consumers who have been dissatisfied with service have typically complained to the frontline personnel or to a manager in either a direct (face-to-face, over the phone) manner, indirect by writing, or done nothing but told friends and family of the incident. More recently, the Internet has provided various “new” ways to air a grievance, especially when little might have been done at the point of service failure. With the opportunity to now spread word-of-mouth globally, consumers have the potential to impact the standing of a brand or a firm's reputation. The hotel industry is particularly vulnerable, as an increasing number of bookings are undertaken via the Internet and the decision process is likely to be influenced by what other previous guests might post on many booking-linked sites. We conducted a qualitative study of a key travel site to ascertain the forms and motives of complaints made online about hotels and resorts. 200 web-based consumer complaints were analyzed using NVivo 8 software. Findings revealed that consumers report a wide range of service failures on the Internet. They tell a highly descriptive, persuasive, and credible story, often motivated by altruism or, at the other end of the continuum, by revenge. These stories have the power to influence potential guests to book or not book accommodation at the affected properties. Implications for managers of hotels and resorts are discussed.

Family and guests at Aenny Catzenstein nee Gottschalk's 80th birthday; London.

Front row l-r: Beatrice Durand, Francine Durand and Aenny Catzenstein, the boys are Ara-Serge Donabedian and Patrick Matthiesen and the adults are Susan Prior, Francis Matthiesen, Maren Matthiesen, Nino Fabri and Olga Matthiesen,

Family and guests at Aenny Catzenstein nee Gottschalk's 80th birthday party; London.

Dinner scene with Franz Mattheisen left, daughter Susan Mattheisen next to him, next daughter Maren Matthiesen, his wife Olga Matthiesen at the end of the table. Beatrice Durand is facing the camera

Guests at Sophie Oppenheimer's 70th birthday celebration Portraits Groups

Handwritten on verso: (top l-r) Heinz Marcus, Hilde Marcus, Heinz Ascher, Else Stern, Gerhard Ascher, Hattie Wallerstein, Kurt Stern, Paula Stern, Lula Ascher and Hilde Marcus; (second row l-r) Otto Oppenheimer, Heinrich Ascher, Julius Stern, David Wallerstein, Max Marcus, Alex Goldschmidt and Ernst Oppenheimer; (third row l-r) Rose, Hans Oppenheimer, Gertrud Ascher, Oma Oppenheimer, Emma, Martha, Lene, Lucy, Hans, Lore; (front row l-r) Margot Ascher, Heinz Ascher, Golda Ascher, Edith Goldschmidt, Irma Ascher, Lotti Goldschmidt, Gretl Oppenheimer and Ilse Oppenheimer

Family and guests at Aenny Catzenstein nee Gottschalk's 80th birthday; London.

Front row l-r: Francine Durand, Beatrice Durand and Aenny Catzenstein, the boys are Ara-Serge Donabedian and Patrick Matthiesen and the adults are Susan Prior, Francis Matthiesen, Maren Matthiesen, Nino Fabri and Olga Matthiesen,

Wedding portrait of Adolf Wolff and Eva Nathan with guests; Berlin, Germany.

Back row against wall, left to right: Josef Molling, Margaret Molling nee Benjamin, Werner Wolff, Miss Hermann (called "Ferna", Peter Molling's governess), " Selma" (partially hidden, Anna Marianne/Berthold Nathan's cook), "Lisbeth" (Anna Marianne/Berthold's maid), Ilse Joachim, Ernst Joachim, Annemarie Nathan (3rd wife of Julius Nathan), Julius Nathan (brother of Berthold Nathan), Ernst Kallmes (son of Ceilchen nee Wolff, Helene's sister). Very tall against the wall: Max Benjamin (son of Helene). Third row, left to right: Mathilde Kaufmann nee Benjamin, Adolf Molling, Paul Nathan (son of Anna Marianne/Berthold), Marianne Rasmussen (daughter of Waldemar), Hildegard Weinberger (friend of bride), Herta Albrecht (friend of bride), Dr. Franz Gruenberg (friend of groom), Leonie Wolff nee Simon (wife of Werner Wolff), Lina Molling nee Marx (wife of Richard), Waldemar Benjamin-Rasmussen (son of Helene/David), Luzi's Husband, Minka Bernard nee Nathan (sister of Berthold Nathan), Richard Molling (brother of Claerchen), Albert Wolff (brothter of Moritz Wolff). Second row, seated, left to right: Helene Benjamin nee Wolff, Berthold Nathan, Anna Marianne Nathan nee Benjamin, bride Eva Wolff nee Nathan, groom Adolf Wolff, Claerchen Wolff nee Molling, Moritz Wolff, standing Luzi Rasmussen nee Gruen (wife of Waldemar). Front row, children on floor, left to right: Peter Molling, Elizabeth Benjamin-Rasmussen mar. Engel, Louis Peter Wolff, Helmut Benjamin Rasmussen (became Henry)

Wedding portrait of Freddy Gottschalk and Barbara Joan Doble with guests; Welwyn Garden City, England.

Portrait includes a number of family members who were able to get to England before the war and who chose to remain there.

Family and guests at Aenny Catzenstein nee Gottschalk's 80th birthday; London.

Front row l-r: Beatrice Durand, Francine Durand and Aenny Catzenstein, the boys are Ara-Serge Donabedian and Patrick Matthiesen and the adults are Susan Prior, Francis Matthiesen, Maren Matthiesen, Nino Fabri and Olga Matthiesen,

Family and guests at Aenny Catzenstein nee Gottschalk's 80th birthday party; London.

Dinner scene with Franz Mattheisen left, daughter Susan Mattheisen next to him, next daughter Maren Matthiesen, his wife Olga Matthiesen at the end of the table. Beatrice Durand is facing the camera

Family and guests at Aenny Catzenstein nee Gottschalk's 80th birthday; London.

Front row l-r: Francine Durand, Beatrice Durand and Aenny Catzenstein, the boys are Ara-Serge Donabedian and Patrick Matthiesen and the adults are Susan Prior, Francis Matthiesen, Maren Matthiesen, Nino Fabri and Olga Matthiesen,

Wedding portrait of Freddy Gottschalk and Barbara Joan Doble with guests; Welwyn Garden City, England.

Portrait includes a number of family members who were able to get to England before the war and who chose to remain there.

Accommodating Unwelcome Guests in Inorganic Layered Hosts: Inclusion of Chloranil in a Layered Double Hydroxide

The host-guest chemistry of most inorganic layered solids is limited to ion-exchange reactions. The guest species are either cations or anions to compensate for the charge deficit, either positive or negative, of the inorganic layers. Here, we outline a strategy to include neutral molecules like ortho- and para-chloranil, that are known to be good acceptors in donor-acceptor or charge-transfer complexes, within the galleries of a layered solid. We have succeeded in including neutral ortho- and para-chloranil molecules within the galleries of an Mg-Al layered double hydroxide (LDH) by using charge-transfer interactions with preintercalated p-aminobenzoate ions as the driving force. The p-aminobenzoate ions are introduced in the Mg-Al LDH via ion exchange. The intercalated LDH can adsorb ortho- and para-chloranil from chloroform solutions by forming charge-transfer complexes with the p-aminobenzoate anions present in the galleries. We use X-ray diffraction, spectroscopy, and molecular dynamics simulations to establish the nature of interactions and arrangement of the charge-transfer complex within the galleries of the layered double hydroxide.