to leave a negative review without speaking to the restaurant first

[horchatatresleches]

We had lunch at a local restaurant this week. The food was okay though not as good as before but the main issue was the service. Because the staff were rushing around constantly, they didn’t have time to notice when tables needed service and were impossible to flag down. It took two hours to get through mains (a salad and a flatbread) and dessert. That’s with ordering mains very quickly because we were there just after opening before it got busy and decided what we wanted by the time they came for the drinks order.

While we waited for our plates to be cleared from mains, the table next to us were served, finished, and also starting to get impatient. We had to go and find someone to clear our plates, then find someone else to take our pudding order. Getting the bill was also slow. We had to approach two different staff members and it took another 15-20 minutes.

I left a two star Google review saying that the food was good (though I did say it wasn’t as good as previous occasions) but the service was far too slow. The restaurant responded saying we should have raised it at the time to give them a chance to fix it.

I would always raise food issues directly such as wrong order, undercooked or missing food and let them fix it, but when the problem is being understaffed, they can’t give me my time back. The staff were clearly working flat out, so complaining to them felt unfair when it’s a management problem. We also weren’t the only table getting frustrated at the delays.

Was I wrong to just leave the review?

I don't know where this idea came from that it's unfair to leave a review if you didn't complain. I've seen people on MN say it quite a bit. Reviews are to inform other customers, not to help the restaurant manage their business. As a customer I want to avoid places with shoddy service, even if they refund or whatever.

I voted YABU because I would have either raised it before I paid or emailed them afterwards. Even if they’d apologized and given a discount or refund I probably would have still left a review but included their resolution.

I think it’s fair to be honest but I do understand the frustration of not being given the feedback at the time or just after.

I think a review should reflect the experience you had. The experience OP had was not a positive one, both in poor service and a decline in food quality.

If people want customers only to give positive reviews, they must ensure their service and quality are of a good standard.

How would raising it with the over stretched service team help? It’s a management issue, not an issue with a single member of staff. I could have emailed them, but I still think leaving a review is another fair course of action. I didn’t want a refund of a discount for future visits. To be honest I probably won’t visit again.

So an email after then. I didn’t mean a discount on a future visit.

Something similar happened on a birthday night out for a friend. At the time the staff couldn’t do anything other than apologise but the management afterwards refunded the whole bill as the service and waits had been so poor.

Wouldn't you have liked someone to tell you beforehand that the service was crap, so your friend could have had a better birthday meal?

Bad reviews have an impact but if it's honest then their service is damaging their business far more. Easier to blame the reviews sometimes! I've been known to take reviews down if the response has made me feel differently but doesn't sound like I would have done in this case

Of course and if you’d read my original post I said I’d still have left the review after contacting the restaurant first.
Actually, in our case I think it was a one-off rather than a wider issue but I do read reviews.

If the review didn't mention a complaint and resolution, would you disregard it?

Yanbu. Actually I was in a cafe yesterday and it had a big sign saying ‘if you have any issues please talk to us rather than go and leave a negative review’. I felt that was a bit pushy and didn’t like the tone. I think reviews are all about people sharing their experiences with one another. I’m not interested in having critical conversations when I’m out for dinner! Sometimes I’d complain but other times I wouldn’t bother, like you say the staff are already busy and it’s generally not their fault.

It depends whether the service was poor because the waiters were lazy or there just weren't enough staff on. Lots of restaurants these days save money by understaffing.

But I used to be a waitress and it really annoys me when they stand chatting or worse - wipe empty tables or menus before checking the room to see what customers want. We were taught to constantly scan the room to check if anyone wa strying to make eye contact - and you always respond to that before doing any filler jobs like polishing glasses.

Obviously YANBU - a review is an honest account of your experience of a place from a consumer. You had this experience and you left a review!

Like you say, money off the bill or whatever doesn’t give you back the time you wasted being ignored so raising it with the restaurant couldn’t have compensated you adequately.

Also, this is exactly the kind of thing that restaurants should get bad reviews for! If we were only allowed to leave good reviews or contact the restaurant first then reviews would be totally pointless and would help nobody… Good reviews are earned with good service so let the restaurant suffer on the review site so they make the changes needed to improve customer experiences!!

Not everyone has the confidence to complain in person and in this case trying to flag staff down was a problem full stop.

I wish more people left honest reviews rather than worrying out it. Even if it was well this was bad but then they fixed it, that’s honest.

No I wouldn’t disregard it.
I might if it was the only review saying it as it could have just been a bad night.

The OP asked a question and replied. I was just explaining what I would do. Is that ok?

No I don't think YABU - you couldn't raise it at the time, they were too busy/understaffed. They should have been aware and sending an email after the fact is just pointing out the bleeding obvious, if they aren't aware that they were understaffed/overbooked by the time an email lands they've got way bigger problems than just a few bad reviews!

They know reviews exist, they chose to understaff or overbook for the staff they had, they can suck up the bad review, they deserved it.

Public reviews exist so we can get an idea of what something is like - if everyone privately emails a restaurant, how does that help the rest of us make an informed choice.

? I thought you would be open to a discussion, as this is a chat forum. I'll leave you be.

I don’t understand this either. What’s the point of a review system if you can only leave positive reviews?

I would obviously give a restaurant a chance to rectify mistakes with an order, etc, but if it’s just generally poor service it’s not my job to coach the restaurant. There’s all sorts of reasons why you might not raise it directly, eg time, worried about confrontation - plenty of people don’t respond well to negative feedback and there’s a real risk you’re just setting yourself up for a unpleasant experience.

The restaurant has a chance to manage the negative feedback in a productive way via how they respond to the review.

I don't expect the earth, but if I'm treated badly, I'll leave a bad review without hesitation. Going out for lunch is an expensive treat now, and it's insulting to take my money and deliver something shoddy. No second chances.

I also find out the name of brilliant staff members and mention them in good reviews. My good reviews outnumber my bad.

Three regular places in the last few days.

Signature sandwich I’ve been enjoying since the place opened. Half the falafel, mostly tomato & pickle. No hummus. No fried aubergine (best bit). Pitta not toasted, so the whole thing collapsed into a soggy mess. Took it away & fixed it at home.

Local pub, casual lunch with my son. Half way through my order the server’s phone rings. She takes it out of her pocket, I assume to switch it off. She answers the call, walks away & she’s gone… Eventually returns. With half of my order!

Favourite cafe. Haven’t been for a while as I’ve been working in different location. Got my latte, they ask if I want anything else. Their croissants are amazing. But looking at them… I’m just not sure. I get one anyway. I was right. Half the size!

Will I complain? Leave a review? No. I just won’t go back. And I’ll tell people about it. I think you’re right to leave the review, though. These places are taking our money. And they’re taking the piss! It’s tough out there, but they’ll lose customers.

We had a poor experience at a Michelin star restaurant and it would have been tempting to leave a poor review. We felt ripped off and undervalued. We complained to the head chef who then went out of his way to rotate our opinion by inviting us back again with a free meal and bottle of champagne. The second experience was a world away and showed us that it was clearly a bad night. Both we and the restaurant got better value from talking before venting in a review.

It's ridiculous for a restaurant to say that you need to point out to them that a huge huge wait isn't acceptable.

They should know that already.

At the very least they should have realised themselves that you were waiting for ages and given you a quick apology or explanation.

I had similar a few weeks ago. Everything took ages, even when our mains arrrived, the sides that went with them came a full 10 minutes later. The restaurant was probably 10% full at most at this point.

They knew we were waiting but didn't do anything about it.

I completely agree, the whole review idea doesn't work if you can only leave positive reviews.

I recently stayed at an air bnb and it was a good stay, except the mattress was hard as concrete. This was by design, as it was a newish memory foam one. I left a review saying exactly this. The owner send me a long email saying I should have told him privately instead of leaving the review. But why? It's not like he's going to throw out a new mattress based on my opinion, nor would I expect him to. So telling him will change nothing.