to be suspicious of this?

[back2work]

I had a bad experience in a hotel restaurant recently when on a night out with friends. It was just slow, indifferent service and fairly poor food (for a high price). We let the restaurant manager know but she didn't do anything, except share our disappointment. So I posted on trip advisor and the hotel manager wrote back saying I should contact him directly.
So I sent him an email today and he wrote back saying that he'd like me to give them another chance and then he mentioned that another review has just gone live praising the restaurant. So I checked and that's not true (mine is the most recent and that was a few weeks ago).
AIBU to suspect that a good review for the restaurant will go live in the next day or so and that it will be written by the manager posing as a customer?

Does it matter?

I bet you're right!

I would write back immediately and say he's mistaken, there is no review, unless he's written it himself and knows its coming.

Why not be blunt :)

Or write another review on tripadvisor praising the managers clairvoyancy?

Is he offering a free meal for you and your friends?

Tripadvisor are used to dealing with this stuff. just forward the email thread to them and let them deal with it.

You should probably give him another chance. Things can go wrong in the restaurant business and they can go wrong at very short notice! Tripadvisor - hmmmm - I dunno but I'd hate the play any part in potentially undermining someone's business because of one 'off' night. Give them another chance and if it's no better then fair enough.

what does it matter? Ime people are fr more likely to write negative reviews than positive ones anyway, and if a restaurant has negative reviews they're going to want to do something about that.

Also, just because your experience was negative, doesn't mean everyone's is.

and don't go there again...

In my experience Trip Advisor is notorious for allowing fake reviews to remain on their site. Even when you complain with proof they do nothing. If you challenge their integrity they just ban you. Of course it can't be anything to do with Expedia.com their parent company.

I'd say to give him a chance knowing how many things can go wrong. Is he offering something for free? Only write a retraction if you truly feel it's right to do so, not because of the manager.

ruining someone's business... its a two way thing, of course. We owe the restaurant a chance to prove that our experience was a one-off, it owes us the food and service that we paid for but did not receive.

However, one review should not be able to sink a restaurant.

He's offering me some money towards the next night out there but its about 1/3rd of what we spent and we live in surrey so its not as if we are stuck for alternatives for next time, so why risk it?

i wrote about a terrible hotel in leeds on tripadvisor and very shortly afterwards a really good review appeared. it was a lie. i can't prove it, but i know it.

Don't go. They have tried to offer you a free night out. Accept with good grace or just ignore.

When I say don't go,I mean it sounds like you have made up your mind.