Cafe’s reply to my review - is it any wonder places are struggling?

[KatieWa]

I reviewed a lovely cafe I visited last week whilst on holiday in Devon. I was really complimentary about the breakfast and said we found the service to be friendly and efficient. My review ended by suggesting the sign above the door isn’t overly appropriate - it stated ‘nobody leaves sober’. As someone who has a family member who has had numerous alcohol issues over the years I found this poor taste, and diplomatically worded this in the review.

The owner (publicly) replied to my review and said that’s the first feedback they’ve ever had about the sign and suggested everyone else has had a sense of humour when they’ve seen it.

I don’t think it’s a situation to make light of - is it any wonder the sector is on its knees struggling currently with this sort of attitude from a business owner?

You are being ridiculous, sorry.

Christ alive. You honestly need to sort your life out.

A very strange sign to have on a cafe.
A pub I could maybe understand.
How weird of them to have it.

Weird sign to have up in a cafe but honestly, 10000 times weirder that you thought to mention it in your review?!

You are being really over sensitive about nothing. This one is a you issue

What??

Personally, like his previous customers i can't see anything wrong with it at all. I dont think a sign above a door will ever be the reason a business is struggling

I agree OP, they should take the sign down.

Bit like saying Disney can’t call itself “the happiest place on earth” because it will upset depressed people.

You have a very limited understanding of the industry if you think businesses are struggling because one cafe owner bit back at your stupid review.

So do I

There's nothing amusing about alcoholism.

You must have been really struggling to find a way to criticise the cafe if this is the best you could come up with.

No wonder small business owners give up.

You clearly get more hours in the day than me OP.

Drinking to excess is not funny.

My local pub has a sign on the wall saying 'If at first you don't succeed, do it the way your wife told you to do it', can the men object? Has having a sense of humour really died out over the last years where everything is forensically examined to shoehorn in something to which people can object?

My dad has had lifetime alcohol issues. It wouldn’t occur to me to take it upon myself to complain just because of him!

Oh dear...you have too much time on your hands.
You really don't need to go through life being so offended.

No, there isn’t. But no one ever became an alcoholic because of a sign in a cafe.

OP I think you need to lighten up a bit.

Don't forget there's a swathe of people who will read the reply and think that the business is being silly replying and then wonder if reviews have been deleted because of a snarky reply embarrassing the reviewer.

People judge places that respond to reviews. Not all of them are 'genius' or the 'perfect response' like the ones that sometimes make the news or memes. Some of them reflect really poorly on the business and make people cringe. And avoid the place.

So I wouldn't worry too much.

I don't think alcoholism is funny. The sign is daft and meant to be amusing, I'm sure. But if someone points it out as distasteful, you need to take that on the chin, not get offended and reply to a review about it, after all it was only meant to be a bit of fun, right?

The fact they have to reply to such non issues in their reviews is a bigger reason why they're struggling

I'd say that's more something for women to complain about-the stereotype of the nagging fishwife type who doesn't 'let' their grown man husband do anything!
Not that I think either gender shoudl complain about something lighthearted and obviously a joke for people with enough brain cells to know it isn't serious.

My local pub has 'Nobody gets out sober' on it.

Kindly, OP one individual's issue isn't everyone else's problem. Including the owners of the cafe.

As an example I have PTSD related to an incident that happened while at an event for a VERY popular sport. I am getting better but for a long time I couldn't even see the name of the sport written down, hear a noise from it, watch anything to do with it, hear anyone talk about it without having a reaction.

Once a newish group of friends learned this they were all incredibly apologetic about having talked about it, worn clothing related to it etc and my response was to tell them to not be silly, it was okay-my trauma was nobody else's problem but my own. Yes, It's not my fault-but it damn well isn't anybody else's either!

The punters of this cafe nor its owners are not responsible for someone else's addiction.What next, I am not to eat a bar of chocolate in front of someone who happens to have a sugar addiction? I can't mention my own experiences in case I upset someone else?

The world needs to reign in on this sort of thing IMHO.

We lost my father in law to alcoholism. The sign is absolutely fine and the OP needs to get a grip.

It's a weird sign.
Your review was a positive one with one mild observation about the sign.
The owner's response is as odd as the sign itself.
I'm totally with you on this one.

It strikes me as the kind of sign that’s now outdated and hasn’t moved with the times. Maybe it was funny or quirky back in the ‘90s. We’re so far beyond that now. I don’t know if I’d have gone so far as to complain about it, but I understand why you did. In an age where it’s all pronouns this and kids identifying as cats that, jokes about alcoholism should have been long gone!

Sometimes it totally is!

YANBU

The sign isn't funny, I'd roll my eyes at it depending on what mood I was in, I'd never laugh at it, so clearly don't share their humour.

Unusual sign to have in a café. I always find it a bit sad when grown adults think getting drunk is great. Get a bloody life! These people relying on alcohol to have a good time 🙄

When you've lost a relative to liver failure, you really don't see the funny side to the big drinking culture.