I don't care if the the food is inedible ..... update page 3

[POF]

I use YELP and regularly review restaurants etc. I try to be fair and I am detailed if there are problems.  There is a restaurant space that is the local kiss if death .... nothing lasts there and nothing there has been great.  So we were excited when a new place came on board. DH and I read mixed reviews of it, menu looked good and included homemade pasta ( online menu did not have prices ).

So after they had been open a month or so we went. It was not good.

Priced very high, weird policies with substitutions ( i.e. claim everything is made to order - but my son could not get rigatoni instead of spaghetti. ) Friends of ours were commenting on some weird dictator like practices.  Apparently they asked for oil, butter, margerine something for the bread and the owner came out and lectured them that it wasn't served like that in Italy .. so he was not serving it that way.

Service was abysmal... waitress was unprofessional, did not check on us took a long time for our order etc.

Food was substandard, sliced white bread, cold meatballs, overly salted soup.... just grim.

We brought it to the managers attention, and he was kind of oh ... sorry and walked away.

So I left a review on yelp.  I mentioned poor service, food problems.  Not blistering, but fair.  ( I also mentioned the marinara sauce was tasty )

So - last night - got a rather interesting comment back on yelp from the owner. He said.... "I don't care if my food is inedible, you should not trash a local restaurant - I make my living here ... and just went on ....

He also apparently emailed a few other reviewers, threatening that the reviews wer slanderous and blah blah blah.

Of course people are commenting back, but no one. can get beyond the fact that he put the words... I do not care if the food is inedible  .....
in public ....

What happened to the customer is always right ?

[Piratelvr1121]

Huh! Well, he won't last long either but he won't be able to blame that curse!

[PurpleFrog]

Where's that jaw dropping smiley?

I wouldn't respond to him if I were you, he's basically proved your point about dictatorial practices, but that's ok because he doesn't care how the food tastes anyway. I mean why would a restraunt need to serve nice food!?

[chibichan]

Soooo....he just declared that HE doesn't care if his food is inedible - but you're the bad guy for giving the place a negative review ?

I think you've been outdone . He's doing a fine job of killing his own business .

[Margo]

I think this was just unprofessional on his part.

I'm not a fan of the 'the customer is always right' mantra, as I think it often leads to all sorts of rude and entitled behavior by customers/clients (I am not suggesting that was the case with you, POF, just a general observation)

I think it is fine, and in some cases a good idea for business owners to respond to reviews.
In this case, the manager could have said something like "We're sorry to hear POF did not enjoy his/her meal. We have been open only a short time and are still working on getting the best balance of flexibility and authenticity in the food we provide, and ill take on board the comments made about service. We are glad that POF enjoyed the mariana and hope that she/he will give us another chance to show what a good experience we can provide" I also think it is OK for business owners to comment on whether or not the customer raised any issues at the time - it sounds as though you did, but again, it's not uncommon for people to say nothing at the time but them post bad reviews - if there were the case, it wouldn't be out of line for the owner to add "Unfortunately the customer did not mention that the soup was too salty for their taste so, had they done so, we would have happily replaced this for them" (or whatever is relevant)

In this case,I wonder whether this is their first attempt at running a restuarant. If your experience was typical, I doubt they will last very long!

[Margo]

PS - I'm all for supporting local / independent businesses, but no-one is entitled to be supported, if they are providing a sub-standard service.

[POF]

Oh - I don't need to ... other people are commenting in and are like WHAAAAAT  you don't care if your food is inedible. ....

As a contrast - there is a great Chinese restaurant that has some confusing practices with Dinner and Lunch Combos.... long story short the lunch Combo I love - strange flavored chicken with spring roll and rice is not a dinner combo. I could order entree and appies - but then too much food. So they always let me order it for dinner and they add several dollars.  Other people do this - and I always ask  - and I am willing to take no.

Dh was ordering dinner one night ( I was on the road and the takeout waitress checked with the manager and she said NO ! - we don't do that ! ) So Dh said OK and ordered me something else.  No biggie.

When we get home and open up the bag - there is a free order of strange flavor chicken.... and a cute note that said... new manager doesn't know regulars .. so owner felt bad ( he came in after manager said no ) and sent us free order.

I will always go there and next time give regular server a big tip.

[Snooks]

I often think that management responses to negative reviews are more telling than the negative reviews themselves.  This owner definitely shot himself in the foot.  He might also want to take up the oil issue with the restaurant where I ate in Bologna and tell them they're serving it wrong 

[peaches]

It's slander if it's spoken defamation; it's libel if it's written.

But you did nothing wrong. You gave a review that was honest, straightforward (not a rant), and based on facts (the service that night, the food you ate). It's generally understood that reviews are expressions of opinion. You gave your opinion, and moreover, others had similar complaints.

The restaurant owner is approaching this in exactly the wrong way. I've read lots of responses to reviews where the owner said they regretted the experience the reviewer had, encouraged them to give the business another chance, and explained how they intended to improve. That's the best approach IMO.




 

[weeblewobble]

Gordon Ramsey did an episode of Kitchen Nightmares in which the owner of  burger restaurant was fixated on the negative Yelp reviews and was convinced that there was some sort of conspiracy against him, arranged by the web site.  He sent the reviewers and the web site organizers threatening emails and generally just behaved like a crazy person.  Even when Ramsey brought those reviewers together to meet with the owner to explain why they left a negative reviews, he initially refused to believe that they had a bad experience. It took a lot of yelling from Ramsey to convince him that he should listen.

This guy will choke the life out of his business on his own.  No response is necessary.

I will point out that there have been lawsuits filed against yelp reviewers by businesses that have received bad reviews, so the reviewers should be careful not to exaggerate their poor experiences.

[weeblewobble]

Also, you don't owe a local business your loyalty just because they're local. If anything, local businesses should endeavor to treat people BETTER than chains because they're serving their neighbors and are more invested in the community.

[Yvaine]

Also, you don't owe a local business your loyalty just because they're local. If anything, local businesses should endeavor to treat people BETTER than chains because they're serving their neighbors and are more invested in the community.

Sadly, I have been lectured by acquaintances for stopping going to this local business or that--I stopped going because it was horrid, but somehow I should just keep putting up with the awfulness because LOCAL!  I'm all for local, but there are local places that don't stink!

[Piratelvr1121]

I agree, and in a small enough community there may be only one option to shop locally for a certain item. 

My bff lives in a small rural town and she does try to shop local as much as possible.  For a while, when it came to appliances, she was using the store her BIL used to have before he sold it to his partner prior to his death.   Well his partner, as my friend tells me, is not all that bright or that nice.  It was in the sale contract that the partner take care of his widow as long as he had the business, so he does.  But whenever friend has called the guy over it takes an act of congress, he doesn't want to fix it, just wants to sell her the most expensive unit he can fit in.

So she just eventually gave up on them and went to another locally owned company that sells appliances who are much better.  And if they weren't there she'd rather use a big box store than patronize her late BIL's former partner.

[Lorelei_Evil]

Soooo....he just declared that HE doesn't care if his food is inedible - but you're the bad guy for giving the place a negative review ?

I think you've been outdone . He's doing a fine job of killing his own business .

Huge POD.  If your food is bad, don't blame the customer.  Your whole product is bad, food, staff, front of house - you're doomed if you won't fix it. 

Sic Gordon Ramsay on him.   

[lady_disdain]

I would be so tempted to write a new review to let everyone know about the owner's answer.