A young woman was ordered to pay €200 after giving a negative review on a leased apartment she shared with her friends. The fee was ordered due to her review leaving ‘moral damages’ to the apartment’s company, with the judge concluding that the company’s business was negatively impacted because of the review. Evidence during the case showed how the company had kept €87 from a deposit of €120 after it held the woman responsible for the damage found in the apartment by the company.
The woman, Madeleine Bonnici, denied the above claim and warned the company she will give a negative review. Leaving a 2.5 score from 10 for each of the five categories the apartment could be judged upon on booking.com, she added that the apartment had the ‘worst host ever with bad manners.’
The case was filed by the company, stating that through this negative review the apartment was not listed anymore in the front page of this site. The company’s request was denied by the Magistrate Court after concluding that the score given by the woman was not libellous.
The court pointed out how despite the apartment not being on the front page, the apartment was still leased regularly on other electronic portals, being almost always occupied back in 2019. Mr Justice Lawrence Mintoff stated that evidence showed how the woman threatened the company with revenge due to not being refunded the money. He also added how he is not convinced the apartment deserved the worst rating when the only complaint was a geyser leakage.
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Photo Source: Laptop Study
