TripAdvisor, the online travel website, has agreed in Stornoway Sheriff Court in Scotland that the Scottish Courts have jurisdiction over a claim made against the website by a guesthouse owner.
Richard Gollin owns a guesthouse in Lewis in the Outer Hebrides and issued proceedings for a small claims action against TripAdvisor in the Stornoway Sheriff Court. He claims that some of the reviews of his guesthouse posted on the website are “false and malicious” and that TripAdvisor has refused to take the reviews down. He says that, with TripAdvisor refusing to take down the posts, the “untrue” critical reviews have lost him bookings worth about £2,000.
TripAdvisor had originally denied that it was subject to the jurisdiction of the Scottish Courts as it is based in the USA. However, TripAdvisor has now accepted that the Scottish Courts have jurisdiction, although the Stornoway Sheriff Court also ruled that the case should be referred to a higher court in Scotland.