British hotel charged couple $156 for posting harsh review on TripAdvisor

A British couple says they were charged 100 pounds ($156) by a hotel in northwestern England after they described it as a filthy hovel in an online review.

Tony and Jan Jenkinson told the BBC on Wednesday they were charged by the Broadway Hotel in Blackpool after leaving their comments on TripAdvisor.

The couple says the 36 pound-a-night hotel was a "filthy, dirty, rotten, stinking hovel," and discovered a charge on their credit card after the review. When they asked about it the charge, they were told the hotel had a "no-bad-review policy" included in its terms and conditions.

John Greenbank, a trading standards area manager, says he's "never seen anything like this."

Hotel management could not be reached for comment, but Blackpool authorities say it has changed its policies.