Hostel blasted for calling guest ‘retard’ online

The boss of Blue Sky Hostel in Glasgow, Todd Pedersen, who has sparked an online storm after he called a Commonwealth Games visitor a retard for leaving a bad review .Picture: Hemedia

Pedersen, 46, was quick to deny any problems after guest Louise Taylor complained about her stay at the Blue Sky Hostel in Glasgow.

Louise had posted a comment on the city centre hostel’s Facebook page, saying: “Worst hostel I have ever stayed in.

“Grotty, uncomfortable, wires coming out of walls everywhere, mouldy bathrooms, only 1 working shower in the building, aggressive, foul mouthed staff & at 2am there were people having to change beds & rooms about which woke everyone else up.

“No light switch in the room nevermind a plug socket! Bed was a foam mattress which didn’t even cover the springs. Place is a health hazard. AVOID.”

But as the row went viral, Canadian Pedersen stood by his comments and claimed Louise, from Lancashire in England, had never raised any concerns during her stay.

He stormed: “It was totally ridiculous. She didn’t ask anything or make a peep while she was here and was asked when she left and said everything was OK.

“Four hours later I saw the review on the webpage and and it was just ridiculous. Saying things that were totally wrong.

“She didn’t say anything like that. We did have a screw up with people in her room. She didn’t know where stuff like the showers were and she didn’t ask.

“After the fourth or fifth person I just started taking the piss out of them. Just a big joke after that. People were calling me Hitler and all kinds of things and it just got blown up.

“I don’t remember half the stuff that went on there. What can you do?

“Everybody just started saying all kinds of crazy stuff. All of a sudden it’s gone viral.

“The part I stand by is when I said look you didn’t ask anybody anything, all your assumptions were wrong.

“Nobody has any face to face communications any more. They can type on Facebook and can’t come down to reception and say they’re unhappy.

“All your complaints could have been rectified in two seconds if you’d asked.

“The rest of it was just a bunch of people blowing things out of proportion.”

In his initial online response, Pedersen claimed: “We are having a new fire alarm installed, sorry, we care about safety.

“The light switches are right beside the door, open your eyes. there are 6 sockets in the room you were in, they are in the wall where they normally are in most houses.

“The reason people were being moved is because you retards left your door open and people came in your room that were not booked in your room.

“This is why everyone must have a key and not put shoes in the doors when you go to the toilet!

“Not once did you come ask where showers were, if you did you would have been told the locations.

“There are showers on every floor. Obviously you have no communication skills other than typing in Facebook.”

Other people were quick to join the debate between the pair after Todd claimed the hostel was for those aged 18-35 and said he warned people who wanted “five-star” service it isn’t what they will get at his establishment.

One Facebook user, Grant Hodgson, wrote: “You’re lucky you aren’t 36, Lou. Otherwise you would’ve been too old to stay.”

Pedersen replied saying: “That’s why we have a age limit, seems after 35 people bitch about everything, ohhh, i booked a 18 bed dorm and couldnt sleep...”

A determined Louise told the owner: “I didn’t want five star service; I wanted a clean bed for the night, the ability to sleep and the ability to have a shower in the morning without scalding myself/feeling sick looking at all the mould.”

She was even told by the hostel owner that she must have put a “heck of a load” on the bed, after she complained about the mattresses in her room.

After the exchange went viral, users of the social networking site moved to TripAdvisor to post fictitious reviews of the hostel.

One user titled his comments: “If Harold Shipman ran a hostel.”

Someone even mocked up a picture of the hostel owner on a book cover titled: “F**k You: Lessons in customer service and general satisfaction.”

The hostel owner, who is originally from Canada, also denied he posted under the experience section of his Linkedin account that he was “Heir Hitler”, claiming his account had been “hacked.”

And he remained upbeat about the online conversation which has gone viral online.

He said: “There’s no such thing as bad publicity. Who knows what’s going to happen? It doesn’t really matter.

“I’ve got thriving business and about 2,500 customers in a month and have about four complaints.

If she would have just come and asked, everything would have been sorted out, but she didn’t.”