we are lucky enough to be opening a restaurant in the next few weeks ,having done our homework it has become clear that after talking to various restaurateurs, growing numbers of customers use the the threat of a bad review on the Internet to try to obtain discounted food or freebies like bottles of wine.
we have a Friend that owns two restaurants in Soho who Say's this type of Internet blackmail is becoming a daily occurrence, some of the stories are the most trivial of complaints to the point of someone being seated in a position where the sun is in their face, rather than ask to be moved they wait till its comes to paying the bill to then complain.
we are friendly with a lot of restaurateurs and the same warning come from all of them from the smallest of them to the biggest, the main warning appears to be Internet review blackmail.
from a personal point i have been lucky enough to eat out regularly either on business or socially, if the food was bad,overpriced,service problems etc i would always vote with my feet but i would never destroy someone's reputation for the want of some discount or a freebie.
i have to wonder if the Internet has created a new breed of chancer's
The chancers have always been there, the internet just allows them another vehicle to behave in their outrageous ways.
J & S
Good luck with your new venture rob.
Will you be calling it 'Sweeny's" in deference to that famous barber who converted his clientele into sausages...
A rather neat way to deal with moaning minnies who, on complaint, are shown the steps to the cellar where Liza awaits in the shadows with a rather sharp gutting knife :lol2:
Gives new meaning to "I was gutted after eating at 'Sweeny's'....
I wondered how you were going to fit that in with your other, other business!
Best of luck with it :thumbup:
I guess what we talking about here is trip advisor. I must admit I do use it , to look at hotels and see what people say, as well as contributing myself . I always try and read between the lines, and take the general view of reviews given. I mean we all know you can't please all the people..all of the time.
there are companies setup just to protect your reputation because of the way some people try to destroy all your hard work.
as you know it only takes one review to put people off and that costs you money.
if you are worried it maybe wise to let one of these firms handle your online reviews and protect your reputation that you deserve.
good luck.
As with all things in life people are more likely to spread a bad story than a good one. The internet is, as Geordie quite rightly said before me, just another method of spreading your opinion. The major difference it makes is that you are effectively broadcasting your opinion, rather than passing it on to people known to you.
I'm sure most of us know someone who can moan about absolutely anything. When that person starts telling you a story do you think to yourself 'here we go again'? I know I do ;)
But someone else reading their review online probably won't realise that life's moaners are all out there broadcasting their doom and gloom to everyone. Don't get me wrong if there are 100/100 bad reviews then yes I will be swayed by them. If there is 1/100 bad reviews would I do the same? Hell no.
We've managed to pick up two negative shreps, but does that mean we are bad swingers, or could there be more to the story? It's all the same when you think about it.
For the record I have also left reviews online which are almost all positive. However I have left three poor reviews out of around sixty, but I typed them several days after the visit to allow the red mist to disappear, passion to ebb away and clarity of thought.
I think that type of customer has always existed Rob, I think it's just that the Internet has given them more nerve, because people do realise that the kind of blackmail you describe, can get them something for nothing.
its not so much about the good review like our Friend in Soho says he is packed from 7 in the morning to 11 at night 7 days a week, he has an excellent reputation and the likes of the Internet have little impact on his business.
we see all feedback as positive, if there is a genuine problem then we are able to approach the issue so no further customers suffer the same problems, like dean says you can't please everyone. The lifes moaners reviews are always easy to spot in my opinion, so for us genuine feedback good or bad is only beneficial.
its the thought that someone wishes to use the threat of a bad review to obtain free goods or discount, all the restaurant owner's i have sat down and spoke to say this sort of behaviour is at least once or twice in a weekend.
I use trip advisor all the time when booking hotels, I leave reviews as often as I can, but they are always honest and fair and I never tell the business that I am planning to leave a review.
Almost all of our reviews have been good, the last one we left brought a comment from the owner that it was the best review they had ever received (see Trip Advisor Queens Promenade Hotel).
We booked that hotel because of the reviews on Trip Advisor in favour of booking the Hilton whose reviews were not as good as the cheaper option and we are glad we did, the reviews were 100% correct and we really enjoyed our stay.
There are those that will take advantage of anything but a good restaurant/hotel/venue will always receive more good reviews than bad and a bad venue will always receive more bad than good so I can generally read between the lines when I do read reviews and see petty comments, I am sure most other people can as well.
A good business will gain from the likes of Trip Advisor.
