Cafe’s reply to my review - is it any wonder places are struggling?

I agree with you OP. Having a drink / drinks - fine, British booze culture - no thanks.

I think it’s a weird sign for a cafe.
I think it’s weird to take issue with it in a review.
I think it’s weird for them to suggest, in a public response to a review, that you don’t have a sense of humour.

You are over reacting

is it any wonder the sector is on its knees struggling currently with this sort of attitude from a business owner?

There are many reasons why this sector is struggling, but I am fairly certain this is not one of them.

You had a right to voice your view, and the business owner had a right to voice their view.

Yep, I agree with you.

I'd definitely roll my eyes and probably internally judge them as being pathetic.

But I wouldn't waste my time or energy on an online review (of this cafe or anything else to be honest) and I say that as someone who has also lost a dearly loved one to alcoholism.

I was in a clothes shop the other day and they had a sign saying noone leaves our shop naked. I have family members who are naturists and I was terribly offended!

The sign was inappropriate and I would have found it odd in a cafe, but not enough to mention in a review.

Shall we also cut out all humorous references to drunkeness in literature whilst we're at it? going as far back as Shakespeare and chaucer

Is the complaint not against the whole al-anon ethos...? Re the cafe having a sign up, and saying that's dreadful towards her family member who wasn't even there?...
They did not cause it, they cannot control it, and they cannot cure it.

I wouldn’t have found the sign offensive. But I don’t know why businesses bother to defend themselves against comments like this that are clearly just a difference of opinion.

If someone has posted something very damaging or that’s a downright lie in a review, yes, address it. For this? A simple “We’re sorry to hear you didn’t like the sign - hopefully it won’t put you off visiting us again!” comment would suffice.

But the majority of people can get drunk on occasion, and not be an alcoholic? Just because a minority can’t, doesn’t mean that we have to wipe out every sign or statement which references over indulging on alcohol.

Running a hospitality business sucks. It’s one of the most thankless jobs in the world and the hardest job I’ve ever had. Maybe focus your review on the actual food and service because whinging about the decor makes the actual humans on the other end of the review feel like they can never win. 🤷‍♀️

I can’t imagine getting upset enough about any sign, unless it was obviously racist / sexist / homophobic etc, to bother mentioning it in a review.

I wouldn’t find the sign particularly funny (one of our local cafes has various “wine o”clock” type signs which I also inwardly eye roll at), but sometimes you just need to move on and not go there again if it upsets you that much.

I didn't say it did, the poster I was replying to was the one telling others to get a grip.

Alcoholism has torn my family apart.

if you don’t know how that feels, then count yourself bloody lucky.

Signs like that aren’t funny and are indicative of this country’s appalling relationship with boozing.

Slightly ironic that you are allowed to give your view to the cafe but don’t think they have the right to do the same back

If I saw a reply to a comment like yours I would make a point of going to the cafe to give them support as I like that they don’t put up with ridiculous nonsense

Yes, you also need to get a grip.

you feel whatever you want to feel. It doesn't matter. It should have no impact on other people.

Not everyone who isn’t ‘sober’ is an alcoholic. Did you not know that?

Blimey, here we go again, the minority attempting to usurp the majority or impose their view as 'its more important'. It's a humorous sign, some people will laugh, some won't. Just as some people will speed in their cars and some wont - shall we ban cars?
This whole 'I'm offended' when it's nothing in the big picture of life, is surely why we as a country are quickly going down a creek with out the paddles - (obviously wearing the correct safety gear, and phoning the lawyers because the paddles weren't secured to us whilst we were paddling!)

I agree with you OP.

I remember buying food from a food van at a local festival when I noticed it had a ‘humorous’ crack about people with allergies pinned over the menu.

It wasn’t amusing. At all.
It was really quite nasty.

We’d recently been in hospital with DC who’d had an anaphylactic reaction to a food a few days before.

If they’d had a similar sort of ‘joke’ about, say, people in wheelchairs being unable to access their food truck there would have been absolute outrage.

I’d absolutely no problem with the menu not being suitable btw, but anaphylaxis really isn’t funny. Neither is alcoholism.

He shouldn't even have commented on this.

Your review was enough to embarrass you. You don't have to find it funny (I don't!) but you are ridiculous.

sigh ... maybe consider other people exist outside of your experience OP.

The sign wouldn't bother me but the response of the cafe to your review would. I don't like places that are unnecessarily snarky

Someone Is always offended about something these days. When did we all get so uptight?