To think the responses to these TripAdvisor reviews are beyond rude!

[SleepyKat]

None of the reviews are mine, I’ve never been to the place. A friend told me about the cafe owner’s responses to any negative reviews and I’m sat here open mouthed reading them. She alludes to reviewers having small penises, stalks their tripadvisor profile to read other reviews and slags off their photos, etc.

Like I said I’ve never been and won’t after reading these as I wouldn’t want to give my money to someone who sounds so —unhinged— nasty. Can’t believe someone who runs a business has so little idea about customer service.

here

People do moan about stupid things! Restaurants are allowed to choose the followings.

Pandering to vegans/veggies
Having children in their restaurant etc

Why should they get negative reviews because they don’t want to serve plants and shit to vegans lol

Times like this, I do wish there was a ”mute poster” option on MN. This turnip would be going straight to the top of my list. 🙄🙄🙄

She’s obviously a legend within the LN12 postcode. What was it Oscar Wilde said? “You can pretend to be clever but you cannot pretend to be witty” summat like that. For every person who is amused and visits out of curiosity I wonder what the real cost is to her business. I often have a look at reviews before parting with my hard earned cash and I’d swerve this place because I just want to relax not spend my time trying not to offend the owner. I think she sounds like a total cunt.

I think she’s written the reviews. They are all written in the same style as the reply.

Also I think OP is the owner.

I think she is an idiot to respond to bad reviews in this way. Although there will be the occasional person who is not put off or find it hilarious, many people will not go there because of it

As PP have pointed out, there are far more positive reviews than there are negative, so the presence of a few negative ones would not put me off patronising her establishment.

Her response to criticism, both in the moment and later on via her torturously long tomes, certainly would put me off.

The fact that she has sat down multiple times to lovingly craft such exorbitantly OTT (supposedly) hilaire responses to critical reviews suggests to me her time could be better spent on her business (or something else).

Also I think OP is the owner.

I assumed OP was the last TA reviewer.

Do it for MN, @beccarocksbaby!

TA is a horrible thing, I hate the fact that it's used as a threat to usually get something free or discounted. I've lost count of the amount of times that I've been threatened with TA over something, and I've had my name banded around on there on reviews that were totally skewed. Just because I work in customer service doesn't mean it's ok to disregard my privacy. Incidents like -

'The bar maid X refused to serve us! Disgusting customer service!'
In actual fact they wanted serving alcohol after time and that had to be refused. They were served softs.
Or 'Waited over an hour for our meal and refused to even discount the bill!' but declines to add they were informed on walking in that there was a 30 minutes wait on top of cooking time, agreed, ordered and ate!
It's bloody frustrating and soul destroying to be slagged off when all the facts aren't present, and I can see exactly why this lady responded to some of those reviews as she has. Some people exaggerate, leave out key things, or just outright lie. It's refreshing to read rather than the grovelling you normally get to bad reviews. I do think the tide is starting to turn in small and independent places with customer service and staff putting up with so much shit that no one wants to do it any more. They're realising that you need to support your staff when they're treated badly, or get rid of customers whose behaviour is going to have a knock on effect to other customers who don't think the world revolves around them.
That said some of the responses go too far IMO, but then a couple that are genuinely sorry for poor food or service and says so. I don't think it's a great way to respond, but the good reviews far outweigh the bad, so it can't be all bad.
You can't please everyone, that's just a fact, but that doesn't stop every single person who walks through the door expecting their expectations to be met. Some of them you will meet, some you'll exceed and others you'll fail miserably. You just have to straighten your shoulders and try again with the next customer.

Good on her I say.

The customer is NOT always right and if someone bitched off my restaurant and I knew it was either made up or they were lying about it I would reply back to give my side of the story. And I'd be even more sarky.

If someone uses a social platform that EVERYONE can see to slag off someones livelihood then prepared to be shot down in flames by owners when that person is in the wrong or telling porky pies. Welcome to the future and all hail it!

Why should someone lie down and take a beating from someone online?

From reading the negative reviews (and there aren't that many to be fair) I would say most are a bunch of bollocks posted by wind up merchants who are making it up as they go along or posted by entitled twats (who think they should be treated like Beyonce in every establishment they go to) looking to make a Mount Everest out of a flattened molehill .

She was very nice to a customer who posted a negative review about the size of her cake portion and the owner apologized to her on TripAdvisor so I think this owner has her head screwed on right. She will call you out if you are talking crap and say sorry when she is in the wrong.

Reminds me a bit of the White Moose Cafe in Dublin, they don't take any shit off customers either.... (I think I luff the owners of that place a bit).

I'm assuming its the owner that's replying to all if these reviews and its shocking! She's not just rude but abusive!

I think her responses are brilliant.

As she mentions, you can spot chancers and serial complainers a mile off.

I don't blame her at all. In fact, it's made me want to go there now!

I find the stuffing balls and wanky plates more offensive than the embarrassing owner.

I bet you could kill a fat seagull mid-flight if you chucked one of those awful balls at it.

@Crustytoenail spot on! You clearly know what you’re talking about.
It’s very disheartening when some people lie, want discount, don’t present the full facts, and tbh, some customers are total wankbanks.
There is a change, and for the better, small businesses should fight back, because some ‘customers’ clearly take the piss.
In saying that, I think the owner of said cafe is a bit bonkers, but the good reviews speak for themselves. I would go. You know what’s on offer. Many who are veggies or vegans can get very very preachy indeed. Look at the menu. Don’t like it? Don’t go.
And I love the fact the owner knows she does good things, will always do good things, and doesn’t need to grovel for business.
It’s amazing how entitled some people are....’can I just have...could you do it this way.....’ etc etc. This business owner does it her way. She’s making herself and her business happy. People have a choice, it works both ways.
I get the soul destruction, think this business owner is fiercely looking after hers.
Anyway.....I like slightly bonkers folk 😉😉😉😉

I'd be way too scared to eat there...

Many who are veggies or vegans can get very very preachy indeed. Look at the menu. Don’t like it? Don’t go
What about with group meals where the restaurant is selected by the meat-eating majority?
I find some veggies and vegans quite annoying but not as annoying as people who, so long as they get what they want, don’t give a shit about whether everyone in their party will be catered to as far as possible.

While I agree that the customer is not always right, and is often an arse in fact, her being a twat doesn’t counteract that.

The customer is right when saying that vegetarians don’t eat fish or pork.

Yes, she is abusive and she is resorting to far worse behaviour than the reviewers frankly.

Nothing wrong with being pissed off, but, she's the one running the restaurant and serving what customers are paying for. If reviews are bitchin, as pp commented like 'refused to serve' it seems wholly appropriate to challenge that...

...with the truth - not a load of asshole abuse.

Surely you challenge it with, you were refused alcohol out of hours, the same as all our customers, and sold a soft alternative.

Or, the waited over an hour for our meal and weren't even discounted mob.

..you were made very aware that there would be a long wait of half an hour, plus cooking time, which you happily agreed to, ordered, ate and paid for.

We were fair with you..etc.

These responses will show up on their accounts as them being unreasonable dicks.

With this place, she's making herself an unreasonable dick too.

I mean, on what planet is it ok to lock someone in that complains!

If she has to resort to this, she's in the wrong job, or its time to get out as its eating her up.

I prefer the replies of Pinnacles

www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g504051-d1953034-Reviews-or70-Pinnacles_Restaurant-Seahouses_Northumberland_England.html

He's calmed down a bit - start from the earlier lowest reviews.

I'm not to far from there either, but not been in years (12 years)... quite tempted...

I don't blame her at all. In fact, it's made me want to go there now!

Really? I wouldn't give anyone my money who hasn't got the first idea of customer service and that's not agreeing with chancers and agreeing the customer is always right,it's behaving appropriately with customers.

She sounds utterly deranged.

We've, hand-on-heart, never experienced that attitude Olivers never. From years of living here

Same

Vegan is probably a bit different and I won’t have experienced that, and the trend for a very few places to make their one veggie choice into a vegan choice can be irritating

And what the fuck is the sweet potato in everything business

But there is always a veggie choice or maybe two in everywhere ive been, and no attitude

America on the other hand

Im a pescatarian now but if I hadn’t eaten fish i would not have been able to eat in a fair few of the restaurants we went in

Although they are usually very good at making amendments to existing dishes

I agree that I have not experienced the ‘fuck your fussy vegetarian’ attitude in a long time.
I eat out a lot and just about everywhere has something suitable on its menu. In my town most places have a vegan option too.

I was talking to the chef at our favourite cafe about this the other day. He is of the opinion that to be vegan or vegetarian is a lifestyle choice made by people with money, and he wants some of that money.

I think she sounds great and having read the other reviews, I now want to go and eat there!!

She seems like she thinks she’s funny and intelligent but is neither. Vitriolic, and with poor grammar to boot.

If I had any idea where Sutton on Sea was I’d be giving the cafe a wide birth. The positive reviews wax lyrical to the extent I suspect a few at least are fake.