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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To leave a not-so-good review

73 replies

cleofatra · 25/02/2018 13:29

On a cafe's Facebook page- about their food? Or is writing bad reviews just petty?

I feel guilty now.
Does anyone else write reviews or do you just vote with your feet if you get a bad meal somewhere?

OP posts:
Thelampshadelady · 25/02/2018 14:11

I run a small business and always emphasise to customers that if they have a problem to speak to me first.
I would be annoyed receiving a bad review without being given the chance to rectify any issues.

UpstartCrow · 25/02/2018 14:11

Why is it unfair? Whats the point of reviews if you cant say the quality is poor, or its not good value for money?

Backscratchesforever · 25/02/2018 14:17

How is it unfair to leave a poor review if your experience is negative?
As long as it is honest then keep it up.
Not everyone has time to give services the chance to sort out an issue. It should be correct/great the first time.
For example, people go for meals before movies, if you already had a lengthy wait before a meal arrived and was pants, you may not have time to wait around for another before going to the cinema.

Being a small business isn’t an excuse.

PattiStanger · 25/02/2018 14:19

The purpose of a review is to give information to others, you could complain and get some money off the meal and not leave a review but other people who might not like complaining could end up having a bad visit there.

I don't see anything wrong in a fair review with negative points. The owner can disagree if they feel you've been unfair.

If there are no other negative reviews yours won't do them any harm, if all the others are negative too then they should take note

Original poster
cleofatra · 25/02/2018 14:23

After reading all these ....I've been thinking about what my motivation would be for writing a review. Would it be to help the business improve or to inform other customers of what to expect? I think it would be the latter.

Then that got me to thinking...what would be the purpose then? Shouldn't people just find out for themselves?
Reviews are complicated.

OP posts:
MichaelBendfaster · 25/02/2018 14:25

If it was somewhere I might want to go again (e.g. local, or a kind of food that I particularly liked, or a great location) then I'd email them rather than leave a public review.

A good place will respond constructively.

onlyonaTuesday · 25/02/2018 14:27

Did they do a check back during your visit?
Ask if everything was ok?
Did you mention anything at the time?
Did you eat the food?

If your review says " imo, quality didn't match pice" that's fair.
If it's long winded and you never mentioned it at the time then it is not.

Original poster
cleofatra · 25/02/2018 14:28

No, they did not check back or ask how it was.

OP posts:
JediStoleMyBike · 25/02/2018 14:28

Your experience may not be shared however. What you feel was a poor meal could have been an issue with that dish only, and perhaps could have been put right. Everyone makes mistakes.
If you didn't give the business a chance to put it right then you'll never know and your review is only opinion - and certainly shouldn't be the basis that people make decisions on as all Id expect the business to respond with is "sorry you had a bad experience but you didn't mention it to us or give us a chance to make it right".

CassandraCross · 25/02/2018 14:37

Is your issue that you believe you paid too much for your food? Did you raise anything with the staff, request a reduction in the bill?

Mybrows · 25/02/2018 14:41

I think people are missing the point of a review. The service should be good without you having to raise it and have it 'rectified' in some way. The review reflects the service people can expect to receive. I am grateful to people who leave bad reviews and stop me from wasting my money.

Purplejay · 25/02/2018 14:45

I don't see a problem with leaving an honest review even if you didn't raise issues at the time. You can even say in the review you didn't raise the issue at the time if you want to, or feel that is fairer.

Generally, I wouldn't raise anything at the time unless it was really bad - i.e. a cold or undercooked meal. I do chase food if there is an unreasonable delay. I tend to vote with my feet and not go back rather than leave a bad review but I don't think it would be wrong to say you felt a meal wasn't good value or that you didn't particularly enjoy something and not raise it at the time.

Would anyone really say in a restaurant that their £14 main was in their opinion only worth £8 and expect them to offer a reduction? Most people would just think 'well that was overpriced' and not return. To write this in a review would be fair though as it is that person's opinion and those reading will balance that against others views and make a choice about whether or not to go.

I tend to check trip adviser before visiting anywhere if I am planning my visit in advance or booking a table. Obviously if you are just out and about and call in somewhere this is less likely to happen. Rarely everyone is happy but so long as the majority are or that there is nothing massively off putting and it got more than 3.5 - 4 stars I would give it a whirl!

frankchickens · 25/02/2018 14:50

I think it’s actually very unfair to leave a poor review without having raised it at the time

I massively disagree with this.

Amazed people are so timid about "bad" reviews . I look at reviews and make my own mind up - sometimes people are complaining about stuff that wouldn't bother me, but they are still allowed an opinion.

frankchickens · 25/02/2018 14:52

the service should be good without you having to raise it and have it 'rectified' in some way.

I totally agree - why should customers educate the place on basic requirements?

CassandraCross · 25/02/2018 14:56

Mybrows but that's incredibly subjective isn't it? The service expected can vary greatly from person to person. The establishment should be given the opportunity to correct something, or indeed to reply to any criticism at the time.

For example a meal in Frankie & Benny's - the service was appalling, the food wasn't particularly good we gave the staff more than enough opportunities to rectify the situation and they failed to do so, we paid what we thought the meal was worth and left a poor review. It would have been unfair to criticise them if we hadn't said anything at the time or, as is often seems to be the case when customers are asked if everything is okay, said 'yes, it was fine.'

CassandraCross · 25/02/2018 14:58

I am equally amazed that people are so timid that they don't express their dissatisfaction at the time and just mumble about everything being lovely then whinge outside or on-line.

ooodile · 25/02/2018 14:59

It's a bugbear of mine when people leave bad reviews on social media without having raised it with the business beforehand.

The exceptions are, if the food was truly so awful and the service seriously bad enough that you couldn't have mentioned it to them without a fracas taking place.

Why not send the business an email with your concerns and see how they deal with it? I find running straight to Facebook with a bad review a bit "look at me, I'm a food critic. I spent a fiver on a cake and cup of tea and it entitles me to act like a Sunday Times reviewer."

If it warrants a bad review, it deserves the courtesy of being spoken to at the time.

PyongyangKipperbang · 25/02/2018 15:23

The whole point of reviews is so that other people dont waste their time and money somewhere shit and can find somewhere good. You can usually tell which ones are written by arseholes and which are genuine.

I am grateful for people who leave reviews and I do it myself, both good and bad.

I wouldnt demand a reduction in price but I would leave a review in the OP's case.

ForalltheSaints · 25/02/2018 15:26

It is the OPs choice, but it seems a bit cowardly if not raised at the time, unless there is something such as a tummy upset later.

AnUtterIdiot · 25/02/2018 15:29

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

surreygirl1987 · 25/02/2018 15:36

I would leave a review! I very rarely give my honest opinion in a restaurant- if it's terrible or there's a hair in it etc I might complain in person AND leave a review.. but if it's just not that impressive or not really worth the money they I'd find that hard to broach with the waiter and woukd much prefer to leave a review instead as this would help others to decide whether yo eat there or not... which is the point of a review! I review most restaurants I go to though - bith positive and negative.

IHaveACuntingPlan · 25/02/2018 15:41

I wrote a bad review the other day for a coffee bar place due to shit customer service. There was no email address or contact info on their website (the website is that of the shopping centre it's located in rather than their own site) so I wrote it on their fb page. I don't know why I didn't mention it to the staff there and then - probably because I wanted to avoid confrontation. I didn't just leave either because I'd already paid and some of the rudeness was directed at other customers, not just me.

PyongyangKipperbang · 25/02/2018 15:53

Its all very well saying "You should speak to them at the time" but without a specific issue its not that simple. Under or over cooked food, long waiting times etc are all easily dealt with but "Your food is crap and not worth the money" isnt so easy to sort out is it? Aleast not quickly enough for the next people in to not have the same experience.

And ime, the poorer a place is, the less approachable the management seem to be!

melj1213 · 25/02/2018 16:17

Not everyone has time to give services the chance to sort out an issue.

But that isn't the company's fault and they should still be given a chance to rectify the situation in some way. There are many ways a company can sort an issue - immediate replacement or say nothing are not the only two options available, they can offer discounts/alternatives/vouchers/other goodwill gestures etc

If you're having dinner before heading on to the theatre you may not have time to wait for a fresh meal to be made but if you say something at the time you give the restaurant an opportunity to rectify the situation by offering a discount on the bill, offering free drinks/dessert, giving you a voucher for a free meal at another time etc. In that moment you might still be hungry but you have given them a chance to make up for the issue you had because everyone is human and occasionally things won't be perfect.

surreygirl1987 · 25/02/2018 16:22

@Melj I disagree- in my experience raising an issue can just lead to unpleasantness. Besides, I would leave a review for the benefit of others who may be considering going to that establishment. Raising it at the time and maybe getting a gift voucher or something won't benefit other people later on unless the situation or quality changes - and we would have no evidence of that.