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

Taking a table is less of a problem when you're drinking alcohol actually because you usually have a few drinks without too much of a break whereas multiple cups of tea is less enticing. Cafes also have their quiet times of course.

Same thing isn’t it? Though merry isn’t blind drunk of course

Yes, my nearest town has a lot of 'naice' cafes that sell artisan beers and wines and liqueur coffees.

I personally dislike cafes as a rule. I dont like that they all feel quite cramped and there's a limited time one can take up a table without feeling impolite, and I'm quite happy sitting in a pub alone with a glass of wine and a book, It's one of my life's pleasures. But I totally understand why a lot of women would prefer a cafe.

Oh dear. Not being sober doesn't necessarily mean being drunk. It could mean being tipsy or merry. You can become tipsy or merry in a cafe just as well as you can in a pub.

That’s fine but the sign makes reference to not being sober (ie drunk) so it doesn’t really make sense for a cafe.

I don't go to the pub to get drunk either, a bit merry maybe and I can also do that in a cafe.
It's true that small towns in the UK tend to only have cafes open 9-5 selling tea, coffee, etc. but in cities cafe-bars are quit popular, luckily, because it's not always nice to be a woman alone in a pub-type environment and cafes can be much nicer.

You made yourself look petty by that comment op. Well done on the cafe response. Take it you not visiting again so lost out on a good cafe. What were the cakes like? Do love a good tray bake.

The sign is a bit naff and also a bit weird for a cafe as most cafes are open during the day rather than into the night. But I am a child of alcoholics and when you have emotional/childhood trauma, life is about dealing with “triggering” things rather than expecting others to change small things for you

It's like those old office signs

We're not all mad here but it helps

Not funny but were everywhere in the 70s

I find mentioning the sign OTT but I find the response telling, if the bulk of the review was good then a nod to the little critique with a thank you for your feedback would have been much better.

Yes everyone has the right to, but, and this is the point...... is it relevant to what the business is doing? It's this i have a right to my opinion and post whatever, and not thinking of the consequences, the context and is it relevant.
Let's say it was lovely food, but the makeup on the waitress was appaling and the short skirt, well it left nothing to the imagination. Now is that anything to do with the food the cafe served? Nope, but people will get on high horses stating sexism etc.., on opinion is an opinion, not a review.

I don't know anyone affected by alcoholism. I still think the sign is rubbish.

Not sure I would comment on it in a review myself, but the OP has the right to express her views and the café owner has the right to disagree.

But what the café posted in reply would give me a reason to consider whether to bother going there.

That's the point of the thread, the chippy response, not whether the OP was right to comment or whether the sign is funny, sad, inappropriate etc.

So for me YADNBU, OP. As others have said , the reply should be along the lines of "Thank you for your kind comments. In respect of the sign, it's the first feedback we've had and will reflect on it."

That means the cafe owner can think about it and don't have to take it down.

But talking about a sense of humour failure in response to a mild constructive point makes them sound rather defensive and lacking resilience for a grown ass adult. Or they themselves could do with "leaving sober" at least while they do their admin.

Imagine if you sent your food back- I'd worry you might get it tipped over your head.

You are being ridiculous and need a hobby.

It's a sign, not a legal contract.
No one is obliged to drink because of it.
Don't like it? Inwardly roll your eyes and get on with your life.

But you don’t go to a cafe to get drunk do you? Like you maybe would with a pub.

I sign like that is just not funny so pointless to have it..

Can I ask whether the sogn would have stopped you from going again? Of not then it was unnecessary feedback, a bit like commenting on the menu font.

I appreciate things are hard for alcoholics but the world doesn't revolve around them. If alcohol is that problematic, they should be avoiding places woth alcohol as its reasonable that those places might have alcohol jokes.

I don't think it's condescending, I think it is the majority of people will think nothing of the sign, where as, if you bring this up in a review of a business, it has an affect upon the business. Where as the sign is nothing to do with what the cafe actually does, but if one person takes offense at this sign, mentions it in a review, that negative gets multiplied by 10 fold or more, thus unduly, potentially, influencing that business.

It's a sign - meant to be amusing that's it - if you don't find it amusing that's your opinion, but and this I think is where the difference comes with the 'lighten up' section. If everything and individual is displeased of, then gets mentioned in reviews showing the negative that the individual has 'experienced' then it's classified as a negative review. We have a right to our opinions and views, but the idea that everything written can also be taken out of context, and understanding any trigger which the individual may have is personal to them, and shouldn't be used in a review, especially when it's as inoffensive as a sign.
This thread is an example of how uptight some people are about 'its my right' or 'my family suffered badly over this' - that's your personal experience, what about the millions who haven't suffered - are their opinions or values any less important than yours? Live and let live.

😂🤣
Amazing how they managed to have a house in the first place when their paperwork would've been scrawled with squiffy writing! Or how they managed to have jobs that allowed them to get/keep a mortgage! How incredible.

P.S you do know that when you buy a house, you're not also buying the owners? Once you've bought the house, they go. They go and live/buy somewhere else.
HTH (I can't guarantee they'd take the sign with them though. Sometimes people leave things like that. So you totally might have ended up stuck with it)!

You're welcome

How is leaving constructive feedback in a positive review "taking offence"?

Someone disagreeing with something doesn't mean they are offended.

There's a lot of triggered sober (by either definition) people on this thread.

Yet you are the one using hyperbole, taking personal offence, and making ad hominem comments at someone mildly disagreeing with you on the internet.

I hope you don't run a café 🤔

If you don’t like something about a retail outlet or cafe/ restaurant then don’t go there and spend your money.

You’ve taken offence to something that no one else has ever mentioned to them before. That sign might just be one of a number of quirks that makes that cafe different. Why should they bend themselves out of shape just for you?

🤣 please lighten up! It’s just a sign with a play on words and a cafe owner stating that everyone gets the joke but the OP.

Have you written to your MP?