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THERE WAS RECENTLY a fiasco at a restaurant in Manchester when it responded to bad reviews from a hen party by calling them “chav cheap trash” and “peasants”.
It is never acceptable for restaurateurs or any kind of business to speak to customers so appallingly. The restaurant in question has attracted the wrong sort of publicity and they have damaged their reputation by name calling.
Customers may not always be right, but the manner in which restaurateurs deal with the complaint is the most important part. Maintaining a good reputation online will entice new and existing customers to dine in their restaurant.
It is much easier and possibly more satisfying for customers to make complaints on social media rather than dealing with the issue face to face with the manager of a restaurant.
TripAdvisor, Twitter and Facebook
It is a threat that unhappy customers commonly make. Customers tend to make complaints on sites such as TripAdvisor, Twitter and Facebook more so than compliments.
Businesses and restaurants in particular are facing new challenges and opportunities in light of the explosive use of social media in Ireland over the years. Customers are active and engage on the internet. What customers say about you online matters.
Online recommendations translate into new and returning customers. Complaints or bad reviews on platforms such as Facebook and Trip Advisor can tarnish a restaurants’ reputation and deter potential customers. Complaints and poor ratings cannot be removed from social media. They are there for everyone to see.
Therefore it is ever so important for restaurants to provide a great customer experience in order to limit bad reviews online or possible crises. However, a great customer experience, five star dining and the best of chefs may still attract complaints online.
It is vital to have a good social media and crisis management policy in place if and when the situation arises.
People will talk
Restaurants have no control over what people are saying about them. Whether it is true or not, people could still be using it to talk about you. News travels quickly, hence the importance of dealing with bad feedback online promptly. Restaurants should respond to ALL questions and comments – good and bad!
A restaurant is better off having no social media account at all than having social media platforms with little to no activity on them. It looks unprofessional.
The bottom line is to be prepared for a crisis. Things can unravel very fast online so it is vital that the person or people managing the social media sites are prepared. Who is responsible for dealing with complaints? What is the expected response time? What escalation process is in place? What is the standard response? Who will sign off on response? Fail to prepare – prepare to fail!
Kristina Sheahan works for the Restaurant Association of Ireland. They new legislation forcing restaurants to display calorie counts on their menus. More information can be found on their website here.
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Put up the hen party pix and we’ll adjudicate.
Adjudicate away!!
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03217/hennight_3217802b.jpg
They don’t look like Chavs to me. Hens maybe, but not Chavs.
Chicks rather than hens perhaps? Or is that a step too far?
Any restaurant that actively discourages chavs, hen parties and peasants from coming in is the kinda place I wanna go. So in a way it could work to their advantage .
If the customer is being an a**hole an making life unpleasant for other customers they should be chucked out – some people just get off on being difficult – they should not be indulged
I never complain before I eat my food, the could take a Dook in your curry
I agree completely but unfortunately that’s impossible. The damage any one person could do with a fake tripadvisor review is huge. Tripadvisor were held to account lately when a case was won against them due to the fact they stated they had only ‘unbiased’ reviews which is absolute nonsense. Many establishments have fake reviews (the tell tale sign is too many 1 review accounts). I think overall tripadvisor is as load of sh!te but it’s a reality we in the industry have to live with. A place for cranks and haters to lie through their teeth. The vast majority of bad reviews contain at least two or three bald faced lies for no apparent reason than to be a c@ck. People love to massage the chips on their shoulders and tripadvisor gladly obliges them in this regard.
Trip Advisor, Yelp & others have destroyed many reputations & businesses in the past. It is an anonymous free-for-all for anyone to post mostly ill educated & unqualified judgements on professionals by amateurs. Only in the hospitality industry does this seem to be acceptable. Imagine a bunch of strangers coming into your office lacking a basic knowledge of what you do, then slating you on the www! Incredulous. Most bad reviews are a result of the guests bad choices regarding the venue they chose or menu items they chose. Watching a few episodes of Masterchef doesn’t qualify you to judge lifelong career professionals. Most guests I encounter are so embarrassing with their lack of knowledge. Industry professionals play this down to save their face with the other guests. Every now & then, there is a straw that breaks the camels back. This looks like one of these episodes. This industry tolerates rudeness, drunkeness, violence, threatening behaviour, amateur ‘chefs’, ignorance & I could go on & on…. All with a smile and thank you.
People who work in the service industry should not be treated as servants. Totally disagree with this article. RAI not representing its very own workers & members. Well done.
” lacking a basic knowledge of what you do”
Pretty sure I know how to eat.
Sorry Joe you are totally wrong here. In many industries work is criticised by amateurs online. That is the reality of the modern age. I work in software development; if we release a bad product people slate it online or on the app store. We can’t turn around and say ‘here buddy you don’t know the difference beween Java and Javascript, your opinion is worthless’. Get real Joe. This restaurant needs to learn how to act professionally.
I think what Joe is trying to say Neil is that if one has never work in the service/hospitality industry, they can’t make a fully informed judgement about the entire dining experience. Yes if your are paying for a meal it should be tasty and edible and you expect to be served well and with friendly trained staff, but often when a complaint is made about the food, the waiting staff also get criticized along with it if not necessary. Don’t get me wrong I have been to plenty of restaurant whereby some of waiting staff aren’t very good but food was great and vice versa. So much happens behind the scenes in the hospitality industry from food prep to plate, therefore most of the issues are really a management problem, and one wouldn’t be as harsh if they have worked in the industry. Often people wait until they have left the restaurant to go home and write harsh reviews on social media and say nothing to the management at the time so they can fix the issue there and then
I couldn’t agree more as it’s the customer ultimately that ensures you stay in business. If you can’t look after them and get the basics of customer service right, you shouldn’t be in the business. Diplomatic handling of those deemed ‘unfair’ reactions of customers actually is more beneficial from the word of mouth point of view. However, that said, too many are now using mediums such as Facebook but especially TripAdvisor in the hospitality sector as a threat to getting more than they paid for such as free upgrades in hotels or more than reasonable compensation for relatively minor issues. There needs to be balance here, not just a tool of blackmail
I do reviews on Tripadvisor and think I am honest only ever given 1 really bad review. But have seen many reviews from people who either have unrealistic expectations or just like to slag places off
I tend to look at the majority of reviews for a particular place and find that if some bad reviews are preposterous in any way, I don’t take them seriously.
The best advertising is the word of mouth,
And vice versa. …..
The best word of mouth is advertising?
No, I think visa versa here means “mouth of word”.
No need to destroy someone’s lively hood. Getting on an open forum and thrashing a place is unfair. Give the feedback direct to source, at least give them a chance to respond privately.
No need to put the boot in. Don’t go back if you didn’t like it.
By all means reply and give an account of the situation from the owner’s perspective, but there is no need to insult customers. I read some very aggressive replies to visitors who had negative experiences of St Patrick’s cathedral in Dublin and because of the attitude I didn’t take friends there when they were visiting.
When reading the reviews , unless they are mostly bad , I tend to prefer to make my own my mind up on places . it wouldn’t put me off if there was only a few bad reviews .
I think the places with loads of great reviews from people who have only ever reviewed the one place are to be avoided
It’s a tricky one; sometimes you have to just cut your losses. Some people are impossible to please and genuinely seem to enjoy confrontation. It comes down to the simple economic question as to whether or not this person is worth the bother of the insults and hassle that they will subject you to; if the answer to this is “No”, then cut your losses. It doesn’t give you the right to insult them back though, that’s just stooping to their level. Keep calm, keep composed and show them the door. That’s how we roll.
I work in hospitality and as tempting as it would be, returning fire is never a good idea. I’ve always wondered if these people met me on the street or in a shop after abusing me in the restaurant would they have the cojones to speak in the same insulting, condescending fashion? What I hate the most is when someone complains about their food ‘it’s unacceptable’ bla bla bla, I give them the choice of ANY dish they like but instead they revert to a childlike state and throw their toys out of the pram and say ‘no, I don’t want anything!’, thereby cementing their future grievances against the establishment and not even giving it a chance. People like this are all too common and I believe they do this deliberately due to some insecurity in their own lives, essentially they are there simply to cause problems.
Don’t mess with the people handling your food and expect a secret “gooey” touch on your carbonara sauce if you are ever back after leaving a nasty review.
Generally, if a place is decent, the few negative reviews will get lost in the sea of positive ones.
Pfffttt…
Customer Service in Ireland is abysmal compared to the U.S., but wonderful compared to Italy.
Not sure I agree that service is better in the US. I travel there often and the service is usually underwhelming. The fact many add a non-negotiable 15% to the bill for ‘service’ means they often don’t have to try.
It isn’t the answer – but it IS funny.
Had a group of English hens in the restaurant one night. They tried to get a round of shots free because we ran out of monkfish and the girl getting married was upset as it was her favourite fish! Didn’t get the shots and proceeded to complain about everything. At the end they said they would pay for only half the meal! They were made to pay in full and then wrote a dirty review in T A. Wrote back saying we would be reviewing our policy of accepting hen parties in the future. Disaster of a group that ruined the night
for staff and customers too..
have your say