Porn on Hotel Site - what should I do?

[Lollipop's Mom]

This is my first real 'help me' kind of post after reading this board for a couple of weeks.

Here is my situation.

My daughter (almost 8 yrs) and I are planning a weekend getaway for her 8th bday. Just planning on going into the US (we are in Canada) for a couple of nights about an hour from home and shopping for summer clothes.
We went to the town's homepage and looked at hotels/motels. We were going to websites of the hotels and looking at the pool and stuff, and getting rates.

There was a link to a hotel (LARGE hotel chain all over the world) and when I clicked it, it started to load and then up popped the MOST GRUESOME porn site I have ever witnessed (not that I have really seen many, but you know how some links go to them). It was not just standard porn, but a very specific type of fetish and entirely gross. I can't say much more on a family board so I will leave it at that.
My daughter saw it. I clicked out quickly, but she did see it. She started asking questions about the content. I explained the best I could, but this is not anything any adult wants to see never mind a 7 yr old child.

My next step was to email the hotel chain to alert them. I left it for 24 hrs and heard nothing. I then looked up more email addresses for their PR dept, cus. relations, etc....

I got an email the next morning saying 'Thanks and we will look into it'. No "OMG we are sorry your 7 yr old viewed this while surfing our website..." . I was honestly expecting an apology, and thought that good customer service might offer me a night or 2 for free for what happened.

I have not heard anything more, and am not satisfied. The website is still up and running and looks like no attempt has been made to fix it at all.

I was telling a very outspoken friend of mine who suggested I sue them for emotional damage to my daughter, but I think that is a bit drastic. She also told me to contact the press and get the story out there. I am just not sure if I should be taking it 'that' far.

I would be really happy with some gift certificates though. I do feel I am owed something for this. Am I wrong?

What would you do?

 

[ScarlettO]

wOULD YOU MIND TELLING THE NAME OF THE HOTEL? I use the web pages of all the major chains and have never had a pop-up. Was it a major chain?

 

[Lollipop's Mom]

I need to be clearer. It was not a pop-up, but when I visited the hotel's website (not the main page, but when I clicked on the specific property's own website), it started to load and then completely redirected to this porn site. Like the porn site had taken over the hotel's webpage somehow.

Also, at this point, I am going to keep the hotel chain to myself.

 

[Pam]

I would be really happy with some gift certificates though. I do feel I am owed something for this. Am I wrong?

If the place offended you so badly - why on earth would you want to take your child and stay there?? Just because you hope you can go there for free??

A few years ago our web hoster/internet company didn't renew our domain name, even though we sent them the check - a sordid businessman in Switzerland grabbed our domain name and proceeded to try and sell it back to us for thousands of dollars. I told the internet company that it was their responsibility. They stalled - the businessman stuck a porn site up - under our company's name - to pressure us. This could have happened to the hotel.

It took a couple of weeks of negotiations to reach an acceptable price - and the web hoster did cough up some $$$ - but not as much as the businessman wanted - to get our name back for us.

 

[CindysGusGus]

This happened to me. I work for a Christian Org and was looking up menus for a restaurant in Orlando that I love. When I pulled it up it was a link for a gay porn site. luckily the people I work with know me well enough and the webmasters who were monitering thought it was awfully funny but I was mortified. I called the manager and they explained that it was the original webmasters domain and when he was fired he kept the domain. To spite the restaurant he did that. What scares me is that this is an easy site to find and for families researching their vacations but they say there is nothing they can do. I would call rather than Email...keep asking for higher up in the chain. Esp if this is a chain hotel it shouldnt be like what happened to me.

 

[Dan Murphy]

It very well may be some spyware has done this. Or virus. Do you run currently up-to-date anti-virus and anti-spyware software? As for the freebies, unnecessary, IMO.

 

[Toby'sFriend]

I would be really happy with some gift certificates though. I do feel I am owed something for this. Am I wrong?

yes

 

[Tinkbell]

I wouldn't expect anything from them. I also wonder why you want to go there if you were so offended?

 

[jfulcer]

Like others have said, I cannot believe that a major hotel chain would do something like that. Possible causes:

1) Spyware, like Dan suggested. It monitors your surfing and attempts to popup things you might like to see.

2) You mistyped the address. You'd be surprised at how many porn sites you'd find that way. The operators are counting on you typing www.nsn.com or www.mocrosoft.com and thousands of variations.

3) A porn site is on a 'close name' and you are not finding the hotel's actual site. - Try www.hotel6.com and www.motel6.com. You'd get widely varying results.

If it was a major chain, I'd tend to think it was one of the above two explanations. I'd check into spybot and adaware (both FREE) and then if that turns up nothing, worry about the hotel site.

If you PM me the site, I can look at the registration and see what's up with it.

With regards to the 'free certificates' - naw. IMHO it's another learning experience on the net - and another good reason to have NETNANNY or some such on your machine. Had you had that, it never would have shown up.

Sueing? Thats taking it REALLY far.

 

[Serena]

Originally posted by Lollipop's Mom
What would you do?

I would not expect anything from it.

 

[Lollipop's Mom]

This site was not the result of spyware. I tried the address on 3 other computers of friend's to make sure. The first thing I thought of was spyware.

No, I did not type the address wrong. I linked from the site. I did a google search for this hotel, and that is the site that comes up.

 

[dcgrumpy]

I would be really happy with some gift certificates though. I do feel I am owed something for this. Am I wrong?

Can I have the address? I could use a free vacation, LOL



I tend to go with what the others have already said.

 

[jfulcer]

Originally posted by Lollipop's Mom
This site was not the result of spyware. I tried the address on 3 other computers of friend's to make sure. The first thing I thought of was spyware.

No, I did not type the address wrong. I linked from the site. I did a google search for this hotel, and that is the site that comes up.

Go ahead and post the site here. We've all been warned.

 

[Disney's Deluxe Princess]

What hotel chain was this? I'm sure the link was not put there with the hotel's knowledge, if the hotel is reputable. Sounds like foul play. They don't owe you anything for this.

 

[Pam]

Going back and rereading your original post, I am now confused..... Where did you find the email addresses for all of those departments of the hotel?

Did you try to phone them directly to lodge your complaint/notify them of the porn website that pops up when you type their URL?

 

[Stepharoonie!]

I wouldn't expect anything from it, either. It's not like the hotel deliberately put that through their website.

 

[Disney's Deluxe Princess]

Originally posted by Lollipop's Mom
We went to the town's homepage and looked at hotels/motels. We were going to websites of the hotels and looking at the pool and stuff, and getting rates.
I

Sounds like the town's web page has the problem.

 

[jfulcer]

Originally posted by Lollipop's Mom
I did a google search for this hotel, and that is the site that comes up.

What did you type in for Google?

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Install a pop up stopper and you should eliminate any future problems.
You can get them free.

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Originally posted by Lollipop's Mom
This site was not the result of spyware. I tried the address on 3 other computers of friend's to make sure. The first thing I thought of was spyware.

No, I did not type the address wrong. I linked from the site. I did a google search for this hotel, and that is the site that comes up.

Spyware is insipid, most computers, unless scanned constantly, has some sort of spyware.