Blogger looking for free stay ‘humiliated’ by hotel owner’s public Facebook rant
A blogger has been on the receiving end of a public dressing down by a hotel owner after she reached out for free accommodation in exchange for a review.
Dublin businessman Paul Stenson rebuffed Elle Darby's approach for an all expenses paid visit to his Charleville Lodge hotel and proceeded to explain exactly why in a lengthy Facebook tirade from his White Moose Cafe page.
"Thank you for your email looking for free accommodation in return for exposure. It takes a lot of balls to send an email like that, if not much self-respect and dignity," Stenson began.
Despite Darby's 80,000 YouTube followers, and claims to have 'helped out' Florida theme park Universal Orlando, which she said could bring attention to Stenson's business, the hotel owner points out he had a stronger social media presence.
"Lucky for us, we too have a significant social media following," he wrote.
"We have 186k followers on our two Facebook pages, an estimated 80k on our Snapchat, 32k on Instagram and a paltry 12k on our Twitter, but Jesus Christ, I would never in a million years ask anyone for anything for free."
He also asks the blogger who would cough up the money to pay for the wages of his staff, and the amenities she would use during her stay if he were to cover her bill.
He finishes by offering advice to Darby, suggesting she should change her approach when looking for a free stay at a hotel.
"In future, I’d advise you to offer to pay your way like everyone else, and if the hotel in question believes your coverage will help them, maybe they’ll give you a complimentary upgrade to a suite," Stenson wrote.
Following his rant on January 16, which has been liked over 8,000 times, Darby responded with a video blog to reveal her anger at Stenson's "impolite response" and defended her actions.
“I was embarrassed, I felt humiliated,” the 22-year-old said as she addressed her fans.
"I emailed them politely offering them a business idea, a business proposal, a collaberation idea with nothing but the purest intention.
"They then decided to take that email that I had written to them in confidentiality, and blast it over their social media pages with nothing but malicious intent."
But in fitting with his original post, Stenson bit back and offered another damning response, this time in the shape of a tongue-in-cheek apology addressed to all bloggers.
"I am so sorry that I didn’t think of you guys until now. You are a much more lucrative group of people to piss off than the vegans and the gluten intolerant combined," he joked.
He has since posted to Facebook that he has banned all bloggers from his hotel and restaurant.
The online altercation has since split Facebook users as to who was in the wrong with some suggesting Darby was in need of a wake up call.
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"I’m genuinely sick of fame-hungry Instagram wanna be famous Work dodgers begging for free s***!," one user wrote.
"What kind of exposure do they think their pathetic page will bring to an already very successful business. Honestly boils my blood! I love your response."
But other believed a shorter response from Stenson would have sufficed and his actions were unjust.
"This is really tacky. All it takes is to reply to the email with 'no'," another comment read.
