Oh, this idea can't miss.

Why am I not surprised that Australia has this service?

Wow! Big Brother is watching, or at least keeping track.

I appreciate that they give people several "strikes" before they get put on the blacklist.

Look, I'm sorry I did it, Australia. But when I flushed the toilet and I saw the water flowing the wrong way, I became disoriented and flew into a rage. Everything I thought I knew about the world was thrown into disarray. I deeply regret my actions: throwing the chair into the mirror, ripping the curtains from the windows, refusing to flush for the remainder of my trip, leaving a godawful stench, for fear of witnessing the unholy circling of the drain.

After a short stay recuperating in a mental health facility, and an even shorter period of time studying the Coriolis effect, I can safely say that it won't ever happen again. So, c'mon, Australia, whaddya say? Can you find it in your heart to forgive me? After all, I'm sure every one of us has certain things that we or our ancestors have done that we're not proud of, perhaps even criminal things, things that might have gotten them ejected from one country and sent to another. Certainly a civilized nation, such as yourselves, can understand that, right? Let's let bygones be bygones, whaddaya say?

@ElizabethD: I do too. I'm totally an after hours swimmer.

I don't know how law enforcement in Australia works, but if this system could be used as evidence in a court, I can see how someone committing a string of semi-serious offenses can essentially have proof brought against them even if he or she has had no previous convictions or arrests within the justice system.

@TinkishDelight: I've been caught several times playing tennis at 3am.

I'm not sure if it's the tennis or the thrill of being caught that makes be do it.

Bart Simpson is probably on that list already for that collect call.

@ElizabethD: The Australian government is not behind this, so the Big Brother reference is out of place.

Seems like a perfectly fine idea to me, especially since it isn't government run. I'm quite surprised hotels everywhere don't do this already.

I guess pretty much all Rock Bands and Singers are pretty much banned from staying at any hotel in Australia. I don't think they would make an exception if somebody glued furniture upside down from the ceiling in the hotel room.

I'm not sure I see a problem with this, at least for the serious offenses (trashing rooms worth thousands of dollars or assault). If I was running an upscale hotel, I know I wouldn't want someone who was known to flash the workers or physically harm them or something renting a room from me. I'd rather lose their business, because it may end up costing me more to fix any damage they did in the long run.

@shepd: I think a lot of hotels keep their own notes on excessive problems with guests. If Joe and Betty are on their honeymoon and the hotel they're staying at constitutes as a splurge or a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing, the hotel may not bother keeping a record of their destructive ways. But if it's a business traveler, and they have that person coming relatively frequently, and he or she is a problem, the hotel will most likely flag that person internally.

@Liam Kinkaid: Best. Comment. Ever.

@FTWGeek (With Friends Now): Unless you're an emo band of some kind. Then all you'll do is lounge on the furniture with your shoes on and leave behind a sense of lonely male broodiness.

Oh what fun it will be when the name mix ups start to happen, or when a disgruntled hotel employee enters loyal customers into the banned database (especially when customer service can't do anything to fix it).

At the surface it seems reasonable to report vandals, thieves, and violence to a blacklist. I mean, you don't need Amy Winehouse trashing every hotel in the world, do you?

This is interesting because it shows how the internet is enabling services for the larger community that once were only available in the local community.

It seems reasonable in a small community that those citizens who behaved badly would quickly get a reputation and be denied services based on this reputation; denial of credit,freebies,special benefits, etc.

This service now offers to allow the reputation of individuals to make it out to the whole continent. Not a terrible idea... although...

I wish I could clip comments.

@Aennan: You can always take a screen cap from the security camera footage and add that to the entry.

@FTWGeek (With Friends Now): Having the Band of the Moment trash their room(s) in your hotel is probably good publicity (and having their manager pay for the damage takes a bit of the sting out of the damage.)

I don't have a problem with this. Sometimes, there needs to be consequences to acting like a jerk.

But there's a slippery slope here. Let's say that someone follows the rules and doesn't trash the room, but they're just general pains in the keister to have around. Always complaining, demanding special treatment, etc. I'm sure anyone that's worked retail knows the type. Will they get added too?

I worked at a fancy hotel for 5 years and the managers had a list like this.

We had a regular business traveller who frequently caused problems and on his last visit included a short trip to jail for attempting to assault one of our bartenders (charges later dropped). I was working the night he was denied checking in and became very irate about it. My hotel's list was likely not "approved" or affiliated with Marriott, just the managers discretion. But they politely asked him to leave and he eventually complied.

There used to be a website here in New York...not sure if it's still running called baddtenants.com (spelling is correct). Landlords could put names of tenants that were evicted on and there would also be someone at the courts getting info on who didn't pay their rent and was going to be evicted. This way, your potential new landlord could see if you were a deadbeat but I don't know if it was widely used.

Not really any different in principle than CLUE is for insurance companies. I think most larger companies already have their own internal databases anyways

@Pasketti: Maybe. I hate people who abuse the system like that. Their goal is to get whatever they can for as least amount of effort possible - and for free. There's a point in which it stops becoming annoying and it becomes habitual abuse. You quash that.

@pecan 3.14159265: You know they won't.

@Liam Kinkaid: I talked to Australia. They're willing to forgive you, if you'll agree to a public booting by the Prime Minister.

@cmdrsass:

OK. "Big Mate." How's that?

@Liam Kinkaid:

Consumerist commenters are amazingly creative. <3

Aint Big Brother, this is a private (for profit) business that members (hotels) can choose to subscribe.

The same kind of system as the electronic check clearing houses in the USA that maintain a data base of bad check writers to protect their clients (vendors).

Giving the members (hotels) a hard time about their membership in the business can be the most effective means of convincing the member to decline their membership.

@AllanG54:

IF the list was "public" or easily seen (send me $10 and you can see the list or check out a single person) the more ethical rental agencies would be hesitant to use the list for fear of legal reprisals.

@pb5000:

Legal.

Ethical? Always subject to debate because I could claim I was placed on the list and denied service based upon race, religion or other protected factors

Now all we need to do is to take this list, cross-reference it to the Do Not Fly list, and have a group of people confined to their residences for the rest of their lives.

@RecordStoreToughGuy_Is_Ista_Licious: Great reference and all, but these days Rudd is more likely to be all polite and sensible instead. :D

Having been in a non-smoking room that has clearly had smokers in it, and having really horrid allergies to tobacco smoke, I'm all in favour of this.

Hell I'm in favour of hotels banning smoking in all rooms. I'm sure there are some that do. Maybe I should look for one next time I travel...

@pecan 3.14159265:

Nah, if you're an emo band they'll have to clean lots of blood off of the bathroom walls from the time you cut yourself in a desperate cry for help.