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.

[MrsSparkles]

Linking the review would totally out myself .

As I work in a customer industry I'm very aware giving positive feedback where deserved and I regularly do, and negative I always try to be constructive and helpful.

I guess I'm just rubbed up the wrong way by being told I'm not welcome back somewhere when in my opinion they were the ones in the wrong. I should really move on and do something more useful, like pack a hospital bag, than obsess over this shouldn't I?

[LineyReborn]

You could leave your own review, saying that the restaurant's response to Mr/ Ms X's review tells you all you need to know about how it reacts to somewhat unhappy customers. Keep it mega polite and if they go off on one, you win.

[lem73]

If I was looking at restaurants on trip advisor, I wouldn't be too impressed with reading a management response like that.

[LineyReborn]

And yeah, pack your bag, smile, and be excited

[Lockheart]

You say you "wouldn't have been so rude" - so you WERE rude and the restaurants reply is fair.

From your description the service was indeed pretty shoddy and obviously management has some issues they need to deal with, but it is possible to put your foot down and complain without being rude.

It sounds like six of one half a dozen of the other. I would put this behind you and forget about it.

[LineyReborn]

I think I might have been a bit 'rude' if made to wait for two hours for a simple plate of fish and chips and the manager took four requests to show up at the table.

[MrTiddlestheFatCat]

I would just forget about it and focus on yourself right now. Or send them a civil email.

As a business owner, I hate TripAdvisor and think it is severely damaging to businesses in many cases. My business is my livelihood, but people are able to post whatever they want on there and if I respond correcting them, or pointing out a fabrication, I look unprofessional. Its used as a threat unless i give people their money back, when they've had their moneys worth already.

Often its people who I have gone above and beyond to try and help- and they then continue to post a review on there absolutely slating us. I have had people with personal vendettas and competition and all sorts post on it. Its tricky, and unfortunately you just have to focus on the good reviews (of which there is thankfully more).

I would never write a review on it. If I had a problem, i'd politely speak to a member of staff. If in your situation, that didn't work, I might pop them an email across. I understand why people get defensive, although I don't think its always the right way.

I think there is a real trend towards complaining etc. around and wanting as much as possible for as little as possible and that sort of thing. Not saying that to you OP, because your situation does sound genuinely like a bad experience that warranted addressing and an apology.

[MrsSparkles]

I think rude is probably accurate (from their point of view at least) - but given we had to wait so long for anyone to listen to our complaint I don't feel we can be blamed, you know how it feels when you sit there stewing over something.

As I said right at the start the whole thing could (and should) have been sorted out so easily. Aggressive - not a chance. Right will now try to move on from it now and accept maybe they feel as personally aggrieved as I do.

[LineyReborn]

I agree that 'aggressive' is a ridiculous term to use about your entire party when one ticket was justifiably complaining about the long wait for service and the manager was slow to respond to an issue raised there and then.

[puckingfixies]

I usually find the responses to reviews far more informative than the reviews themselves to be honest. A response that is overly defensive, aggressive or rude will put me right off, a polite response - even if not admitting fault, would make me more likely to book.

[MrsSparkles]

Mrtiddles - I've heard people saying that in restaurants and I think its awful to do that, I didn't btw, I just said I thought they deserved some money back. It's a blessing and a curse to have TripAdvisor, but how they could police it better I don't know.

[GarlicShake]

I wrote a terrible review of a highly-rated country pub we went to under very similar circumstances. It had changed hands, evidently to the type of people whose choice to work in the catering business was a bad mistake. The manager posted a shitty reply. About a year later, I looked at the pub's reviews to see she had responded just as revealingly to a few other people she'd also mistreated.

I reckon it's a job well done! If anyone's thinking of bringing a group there, they'll be aware this manager cannot cope with the demand and doesn't like customers expecting her to. It's what they need to know - and is why we check reviews. You've done a public service, be proud rather than angry.

[SheHasAWildHeart]

I left a TA review for a place I went to that was lovely (which I was very positive about) but when I went to place my order at the till all three members of staff ignored me and stood their bickering so loudly got ten minutes. I found this rude and unprofessional. They responded to my review with a list of excuses - but in my mind there is no excuse for arguing in front of customers, but you can't respond to a restaurants response.

[MrTiddlestheFatCat]

They would need some sort of verification that you'd actually visited, I think, like a receipt, but whether thats possible I have no idea. And I don't think TripAdvisor particularly care about it either. As I said, it is very frustrating when you work incredibly hard and your business that puts food on the table, to have it ripped apart and I think a lot of people forget about the humans behind it sometimes.

Obviously, the good reviews are fantastic, and at the same time, you don't want anyone to leave unhappy and if there's things wrong, then you want to fix it and make things as good as they can be. I just don't believe a public, anonymous forum is always the best place for constructive criticism, if that's what people truly intend.


I do understand why you're angry, and I can see why it's annoying because the business do get the last word. But don't fume about it, just don't go back and try somewhere else

[donotreadtheDailyHeil]

I don't think negative reviews are a bad thing at all and you can absolutely respond if you think it's unfair, as long as you do so in a measured way. There are restaurants who respond in a very negative way, telling the person not to come back and often it's clear that there is some sort of back story. But if you complain, and nothing (or very little, or only after a very long wait) is done, you are well within your rights to leave a negative review. If the manager think they acted fairly they can say so, and future guests can make their minds up for themselves.

[KimmySchmidtsSmile]

OK so this is what you should do...

Your own review stating that, as a pregnant mum with a child wanting to know where her meal was, you were in fact far from aggressive (not needing the stress) and nor were you rude expecting some kind of customer service rather than a two hour wait then false accusations online rather than an apology. Ensure that you add you are more than happy not to be welcome there again (quote whatever was thrown at your friend) as you were never made welcome there in the first place. Their service time on that occasion lent itself to tourists rather than repeat custom in any case. Fool me once...

Seriously, write a factual negative review backing up/verifying your friend's experience and replying to the restauranteur.
Anyone on trip advisor takes the negative ones very seriously (unless it is clearly shilling) and will join up the dots between your friend and your reviews.

[LineyReborn]

I think the key red flags in the OP's story about the restaurant are:

Long wait for food
No warning about the long wait for food
Having to ask for the manager four times to speak to them

The Trip Adviser response from the restaurant is part of that defensive, somewhat arrogant couldn't-give-shitness really that really pisses customers off.

Why restaurants do it, I don't know. It's a cutthroat business with crappy profits, and loyal happy returning customers and their tips ought to matter.

[UnderTheGreenwoodTree]

I can understand you feeling a bit pissed off actually - you had terrible service, waiting an hour and a half for food is really bad. Having to ask for anything 4 times is really bad - and then being accused of being rude/aggressive must be galling.

This trip advisor thing is becoming a bit of joke - managers are using their replies as a chance to insult/belittle/make complaining customers the butt of jokes, and granted that might sometimes be fair enough (there are plenty of twatty complainers on there) but overall I would say it doesn't put them in good light.

[rookiemere]

As a customer though MrTiddles I find tripadvisor incredibly useful.

It gives me far more useful information than I can get from a website and generally if there are loads of good reviews and a few negative ones then I'll just think fair enough it's an off day. I'd use it more for hotels rather than restaurants though, as I find there is more variation in restaurant reviews and people complain about odd things.

Thing is as a customer if I'm receiving bad service I don't necessarily want to bring it up with the person who's giving me the bad treatment. We stayed in a hotel where they put us right beside a wedding reception so we got no sleep until 1.30am - tried to complain on the way out, receptionist could not be less interested, emailed their website and also filled in feedback. Again no response. Where was I meant to go with that one if not tripadvisor? And to be fair many aspects of our stay were pleasant so I scored them 3 star overall.

[KimmySchmidtsSmile]

Trip advisor do not check where you have stayed or eaten, no. They need every review they can get, hence "badges" for contributions.
But as a source of info it works, unfairly or not, by and large in the customer's favour.
To be clear, I ALWAYS leave positive reviews when praise is due. Same as letters/praise/positive feedback for aircrew staff etc in surveys
or an email line dropped to personnel when someone has been worth their weight in gold. That often means more than a gesture/verbal/tip (I do always tip), same as somelkne asking about thanking paramedics recently.
So....you will accrue positives if you have earnt them...just not necessarily as many as if you give someone a bad experience as twice as many people complain as praise allegedly. Which is why the majority scan the stats, see if positives outweigh negatives then click on a few of each to see whether the issues were one offs or if there is a pattern. That's fair enough, I think. Put it this way, trip advisor has not let me down yet. I don't always go for halo effect, nor can I afford the prices of most popular, but for hotels for example: if I see bedbugs>1 I will avoid. If I see Noise, I will book regardless.

Right to reply does of course work both ways. When it is an automated response I do think meh. When it is clear it was a clash I read all the other reviews. When it is a hands up apology I respect the company. The thing is many businesses are biting back as the daily fail have picked up on sarcasm/FIGHT!!! So they get publicity and they can claim customer was x, y, z...in some cases this could well be the case.

[MrTiddlestheFatCat]

This trip advisor thing is becoming a bit of joke - managers are using their replies as a chance to insult/belittle/make complaining customers the butt of jokes,

I rarely see anyone being explicitly rude. I see more people saying they will look into issues, or disagreeing with some aspects of reviews. Which is fair enough, when you take it with my earlier points. If you want a genuine conversation with the business, then the best way to do that is not TripAdvisor. Email them if you genuinely care about speaking to them, resolving the issues and giving constructive criticism.

Bad reviews do seem to come few and far between though, so each response is different, but personally, I try to remain fairly neutral. If something is glaringly wrong I will point it out politely and suggest they can always speak to us if they don't feel its been resolved, with my phone number/email attached. I try to be as detailed as possible so people reading it know that I'm not trying to make excuses and I am stating the truth. And I take the time to write decent responses to good reviews too, which lots of people don't seem to do.

I think the whole attitude of it being a 'public service' is what's wrong really. I seem to be on my own here, but I think the whole trend for complaining is pretty sad. Just been reading the thread on Complaining Customers thats in active, and its the same sort of idea. If we don't like somewhere, we don't go back and we let other people make their own minds up.

[Buckinbronco]

I don't really get trip advisor. If I'm q local restaurant couldn't I just leave terrible reviews of the competition to benefit myself? If I hated the owner of a restaurant personally couldn't I be well on my way to putting them out of business with bad reviews? It just seems like a tool to do exactly that

[rookiemere]

I feel that the presence of TripAdvisor has done a lot to improve service in hotels and restaurants, particularly in the UK. It probably hastens the process whereby substandard places go under and good riddance I say. If I can help someone avoid having a poor evening out or stay away then I'm pleased to be able to do that.

I agree that some people do seem to expect the moon on a stick, as evidenced by some negative reviews of a perfectly pleasant and very cheap Indian buffet that we frequent some times.

Unfortunately anywhere that does groupon vouchers or similar seems to really suffer. I do feel sorry for places that are trying to drum up business on tight margins and then people complain that their £5 buffet with free BYOB only offers 5 different home cooked curries rather than hundreds of generic pre made ones.

[araiba]

you're pregnant, dont you have other stuff to be thinking about other than a restaurant review? move on and forget about it

[Buckinbronco]

Seriously? When I've been pregnant I just think about the same stuff as always. Harsh post!