The Union Street Guest House, a hotel located in New York, posted a rule on their website saying newlyweds and other guests will be charged US$500 for posting bad reviews on Yelp or any other review site, the New York Post reported Monday.

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The online policy stated that the hotel knows newlyweds "love" their inn but it could be possible families may not share the same sentiment. Therefore, the statement continued, if any of the guests were to post a negative review, US$500 would be deducted from their deposit.

However, the Guest House also said that if guest delete bad reviews, they can get their money back.

For each bad review posted, the innkeepers replied stating that the reviewer had made the information up or was posting "mean spirited nonsense."

After going viral, the website deleted its online policy and claimed on their Facebook page that it was all just a joke.

"The policy regarding wedding fines was put on our site as a tongue-in-cheek response to a wedding many years ago," the Facebook post said. "It was meant to be taken down and certainly was never enforced."

Now, the post has also been deleted from their Facebook page.

The public fired back after learning about the hotel's supposed 'joke'. At present, the inn's Yelp account has been overwhelmed with one-star reviews and over 550 people have given them the lowest rating score.

Most of the reviewers were outraged by the policy. Some said that if the business do not want to receive bad reviews, they should "provide amazing service" instead.

Another person from Savannah, Ga. said that the hotel has to respect its customers because they "are the ones that put food on your table."

Rachel Walker, a Yelp spokesperson, spoke with Huffington Post and said that the company fights to protect "free speech" for consumers. She also stated that preventing customers from talking about bad experiences or bad service is not a good policy.

Meanwhile, Union Street Guest House has not responded to any calls from Huffington Post or the New York Post.

Tagsunion street guest house, yelp, hotel fines for bad reviews, ny hotel fines customers