This story got my attention the other evening and I got lost in the sea of Facebook/Yelp comments. Very Amy's Bakery. Since the onslaught of negativity around their (now defunct) policy they have posted this on their Facebook page:

"Dear guests of Union Street Guest House,

Yesterday Union Street Guest House went viral for all the wrong reasons. News articles, blog posts and social media posts were published about our policy to charge wedding parties a $500 fee for every negative review.

Quite frankly, I’m embarrassed. This indeed was a policy of the Union Street Guest House. It was originally intended as a joke and never something I told employees to enforce. However, since it was listed on our website it did represent an official policy. I now realize this joke was made in poor taste and not at all funny. This is no longer a policy of Union Street Guest House and we have taken it off of our website.

I’ve also read the reviews from guests saying we tried to enforce the negative reviews policy on them and for that I apologize. It was never my intention for anyone to pay this fine. The instances where an attempt was made to collect the fees were a breakdown in communication between my staff and me, and for that I accept full responsibility.

Including the fine for negative reviews as part of our policy was a mistake. That’s not the type of business that we run. It was a case of a joke gone very, very bad.

The internet, social media and review sites are very powerful platforms and this situation has taught me valuable lessons about them. Feedback from our guests is very important to us. I admit that at times it can be tough to see a negative review and I could do a better job of taking that criticism in stride. We value each and every one of you and want to hear about your experience with Union Street Guest House, even if it’s a negative experience. Your reviews give us an opportunity to

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Plus the community is awesome, everyone is extremely helpful, supportive, and friendly. I haven't had a single negative experience here. So kudos to Snapzu for being the most excellent and easy to use content sharing platform.

It's been said many times before but not heeded. Perhaps it's time we start listening to those with heart and a conscious rather than those with money and ulterior greedy motives:

"Our society must make it right and possible for old people not to fear the young or be deserted by them, for the test of a civilization is the way that it cares for its helpless members." ~Pearl S. Buck (1892-1973), My Several Worlds [1954]

"The test of the morality of a society is what it does for its children." ~Dietrich Bonhoeffer

"A decent provision for the poor is the true test of civilization." ~Samuel Johnson, Boswell: Life of Johnson

"...the moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; those who are in the shadows of life; the sick, the needy and the handicapped." ~ Last Speech of Hubert H. Humphrey

"A nation's greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members." ~ Mahatma Gandhi

"A society will be judged on the basis of how it treats its weakest members and among the most vulnerable are surely the unborn and the dying," ~Pope John Paul II

Oh you don't want us flying over property the tax payers pay for? Recording government employees whose salary is paid for by the citizenry? Ok, then you are no longer allowed to cheat and be lazy by using such prying sneaky equipment as automatic number plate recognition scanners. You're also not allowed to infringe on our personal liberties by pulling us over in our private vehicles on our bought and paid for roads for absolutely no reason. No more nefarious and devious Mr. Big activities that serve only to entrap the very people who pay YOU to keep THEM safe. Oh, and no more fancy tax payer purchased helicopters keeping track of citizens movements anymore either. Time to stop declaring war on the very civilians who you are paid to protect and serve NOT shoot and lock away. You are becoming the very terrorists we are being taught to fear.

Also, does this new demand apply to all employers everywhere? Listen up employers of the world, no more recording your employees. Put the multitude of cameras and scanners away. Our public servants have declared it to be wrong and interfering and spying and dare I say it, trespassing. Tsk Tsk.