To still be fuming over tripadviser response

[MrsSparkles]

after a week? A couple of members of our rather large birthday party lunch last Sunday left a quite negative review on tripadviser for a restaurant.

Just for clarity there were 10 of us, we ordered on 3 separate tickets. 2 lots came after approx. 1 1/2 hours of waiting (would have been nice to have a warning it was going to be so long but heigh-ho). The last ticket - which was actually ordered first - eventually turned up 20 mins later having been re-ordered.

We asked for the manager to come and see us, but had to request this 4 times before he eventually came over, after about a 30 minute wait, and actually being at our table several times to get cutlery. We suggested it might be nice to offer the people who had to wait 2 hours some money back (not the rest of us). They did in the end but have now accused us of being rude and aggressive, and suggested we never come back.

I am fuming because 1. It should never have got this far, if he'd come over in a reasonable amount of time we wouldn't have been so rude and 2. If they'd just held their hands up the first time and said terribly sorry can we get the 2 of you a complimentary drink (or similar), we would have felt much happier.

Usually I will never write a restaurant off after 1 visit (everyone can have an off day) - which is why we didn't write a review, but I am so cross I want to email them to tell them exactly what I think of their shoddy customer service.

I work in retail and would be appalled if my managers behaved in this way.

[Sanchar]

That is exactly what he did! I may not be a high class tea connoisseur but I do know you don't put approximately 15tsp of tea leaves in a 3 cup tea pot☕

If I look up a restaurant on TA and see shitty arse replies from the management I cross it off the list.

[GarlicShake]

I don't understand why he got so defensive and didn't just take the feedback.

Yup, this! I'm not afraid of complaining, but we all know a lot of people are. Leaving criticism after the fact is their chance to say what they didn't voice at the time - and the provider's response should be the same.

What the tea shop manager did to you is the equivalent of ranting at me that I know nothing about tea, etc. More Basil Fawlty than reasonable business person! Worse, they've now done it online so millions of people will see it, instead of one tea-shop full of shocked customers.

... Now my imagination's having fun with the reviews that would be left for Fawlty Towers

[Sanchar]

I've left a review and had a similar response too.

Went to a local little tea shop with dh. cakes were fantastic, tea was utter, shiteing undrinkable shite.

Dh didn't want me to complain at the time so I left a pretty normal, polite review, saying how fab the cakes were but the tea was undrinkably strong, and suggested they could put less tea leaves in.

The "manager" left the most patronising and condescending reply, trying to make me look like some half wit fool.
Made me angry for about half an hour but, like others have said, it said sooo much more about him and his attitude to customers, and he lost a potential regular.

I don't understand why he got so defensive and didn't just take the feedback. A simple "thank you for your comments, we will look into our tea making practice" or something, even if they actually did diddlysquat about it, would have been a million times better and I would have gone back.
Now the other tea shop in our town gets my 3x a week custom instead.

[oncemoreuntothebreachoncemore]

I own a business that is on tripadvisor. Largely reviews are fair, but occasionally we get over really nasty slanderous comments from people who seem to have the sole aim of ruining our business. Reviews are completely unverified, so anyone can write whatever they want.

For example a restaurant customer slated our bedrooms, saying they were dirty and had evidence of mice. That pretty much killed all our bookings. The customer in question did not at any time access any of the bedrooms. If they had they would have found them clean and rodent free. Trip advisor eventually removed the review but the damage was done and we lost a lot of money.

I understand why owners are fighting back. The system is open to abuse.

[GarlicShake]

That was a great post, Magicalman. Good luck with your new place, and welcome to Mumsnet!

[2rebecca]

I agree that a specific negative review followed by an aggressive response by the owner tells me all I need to know. 1 hour 30 is far too long to wait assuming you hadn't been eating another course in that time. Anywhere with a waiting time of over 30 minutes should be telling people that, or turning people away and saying they are at capacity.
I agree vague overly positive reviews from occasional posters are best ignored.

[cleaty]

Yes I am always suspicious of reviews that say are vague about rooms, but say, the hosts Anne and John were so friendly and welcoming and could not do enough for us. Always without any examples.

[SheHasAWildHeart]

The signs are lots of negative reviews then a few glowingly positive ones from people who have never posted before. Positive reviews are usually very short and lack details, but invariably praise a member of staff.

This! There is a place in Birmingham that it exceptionally awful but the real reviews get lost in all the reviews that are as the above poster says. When I posted my honest review the manager wouldn't stop harassing me via PM.

[BadLad]

No worries. I frequently look to see if there are any new bad reviews.

[KimmySchmidtsSmile]

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/tripadvisor-reviews-fish-and-chip-shops-pinnacles-seahouses-a6965771.html
Independent must have been a slow news day all round, was also in telegraph

[KimmySchmidtsSmile]

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3519160/Fish-chip-shop-hits-negative-TripAdvisor-review-hilarious-down.html

Daily fail link re Pinnacles.

[KimmySchmidtsSmile]

steff mushy peas are the devil's work. Served with fishnchips traditionally, tis like a pea purée/gloop. Marrowfat peas soaked overnight with bicarb then heated with salt/sugar to make said bloop. Just google image it, they taste like they look. they speak very highly of me

[Magicalman]

Hi there, I was browsing Mumsnet regarding washing duvets and came across your post.
This prompted me to join so I may shed some light on the matter. I have owned a restaurant and fortunate enough to gain industry awards. I was the owner, hands on, not the chef. I sold out around 2000 and for some crazy reason am looking to start a brand new venture with a close friend of mine who was the GM for Hakkassan and Sketch (London Hi end operations). All this means is that we pride oursef on serive and customer satisfaction.

So hear goes:

From an operators perspective large parties can be hard to manage especially at peak time. If this were our operation our policy would be, as follows, Party of 10 has to book in advance and we would allocate a dedicated person to oversee the table.

Ordering on three tickets is strange and tantamount for disaster. The order should have been taken all at once and then sub grouped if the party wished to have separate bills.

It seems they were unable to cope. Either they were overbooked, understaffed or missing key individuals.

The time delay is unacceptable however all was lost when the manager didnt respond promptly. Becoming rude wont achieve much but it is a way to let off steam and frustration. Having dealt with these situations I find that 99% of the time an apology and a free drink or course will appease. Some customers enjoy moaning and to be honest I always knew if their issue was genuine or they were drama queeens. The position set out in this post is not acceptable and managed appaulingly.

Now here is the good news.Whether operators and managers like it or not, tripadvisor has been a game changer. If the issues were set out on TA then dont worry about the response. Any good operator will never call you rude and tell you never to come back (even if they want to) because it backfires. Most potential customers will see that reply and it will put them off.

Secondly, anyone using TA will scan all reviews and I have a feeling yours wasn't the only one.

The only type of review to avoid are the wannabe food critics who wish to impress others and rarely know what they are talking about. If the review is simple like, The food took ages to arrive. The steak was cremated and we asked for rare, the chips were cold and the management werent obliging and didnt care.. Thats factul, to the point and sums up that persons experience.

To sum up, owning or running a restaurant is a nightmare however we do it because we love it therefore there are plenty of reasons you can have an off day but it's rarely the customers fault if managed correctly and with care.

My suggestion if you choose to email is, as follows.

Be concise and specific and avoid emotion and write to the owner or The M.D.

Dear Sirs,

we would like to draw your attention to an unpleasant experience we endured recently.

We booked a party of 10 for 12.30.

We arrived on time and were seated promptly. We ordered food @ 12.45 under three separate orders and it finally arrived at 1.45 etc etc.

Setting it out this way highlights shoddy service without you getting personal.

I hope this gives all of you an insight into the crazy world of food and drink. Its not for the faint hearted and wholly down to the team pulling together ensuring the customers have a wonderful experience.

[UpsiLondoes]

Really? I think the manager at Pinnacles is a complete twat. Nothing remotely funny in the insulting replies.

[steff13]

I'm reading the Pinnacles reviews, too. I love them.

Question - one of the reviews says the special included "mushy peas." What are mushy peas?

[UpsiLondoes]

Honestly OP, if the manager read a negative review and replied those customers aren't welcomed back, I'd avoid the place because of the manager's response. It's just so... Unprofessional. Like that Four in a Bed program with b&b owners who see the reply "would you come back? No" and say Oh they're not welcomed back here anyway.

You're a fucking business providing a service.

[angryangryyoungwoman]

The management responses to Pinnacles reviews are hilarious to read. Thanks for the heads up badlad

[wasonthelist]

MrTiddlestheFatCat - I sympathise up to a point, but I have posted truthful negative reviews after my attempts to get things dealt with fell on deaf ears. I can't post using my real name as our company policy forbids it.

I often take positive and negative reviews into account - sometimes I think the negs are nitpicking and sometimes I think the positives are things that wouldn't appeal to me. Equally sometimes responses are very insightful.

It's an imperfect system but the standard of basic service can be so poor - as it the OPs case - in a restaurant they have one basic job - to feed you all in a timely manner. If they can't do that, then they don't really deserve customers.

[shinynewusername]

I absolutely do look at negative comments before booking anywhere - the response from the restaurant tells me all I need to know

This. I judge places far more on their responses to reviews, than on the reviews themselves. A firm response to a customer who is clearly taking the piss is fine, but defensive or rude replies to fair criticism are a strong indicator that the reviewer was right in the first place. Amazing that so many businesses don't seem to get this.

I once got a right pasting from a hotel after a generally very positive review because I called them quirky. They had an excavated medieval grave in the centre of their entrance hall, so I felt this was a reasonable observation

[Himalayanrock]

I can see that a complaint would be reasonable.. But a discount isn't going to improve the waiting time.

[GarlicShake]

Well, Himalayan, they can't refund the hour of your life you spent waiting for a service they'd contracted to provide, can they?

[Himalayanrock]

I don't get the connection between waiting for food and requesting money back... To me that's just cheeky!

[BadLad]

A fish and chips shop with a rude manager who writes scathing replies to bad TripAdvisor reviews?

Must be Pinnacles.

[MrTiddlestheFatCat]

At no point did I say you'd made it up...

I just said you must have been quite unlucky to have it taken down- Sort of just pointing out that what happened to you is not the norm in my experience, as they have always been quite strict.

MrsSparkles I'm glad you see where I'm coming from. Hope the rage has subsided- when my hormone induced pregnancy anger came on, I used to go and fold up my unborn daughter's clothes- something about the softness and the littleness just made me calm and happy totally irrelevant to thread

[MrsSparkles]

Mrtiddles I know what you mean - when people are nasty about my business online its like a dagger to the heart, especially as the vast majority haven't been in to try to resolve the problem but would just rather post anonymously online.

I don't want to post another review as it's all a bit tit for tat, I may consider sending an email listing my constructive points.

And yes - I do have far more important things to be thinking about (like names and hospital bags) but I am procrastinating!