How to Trick TripAdvisor …

VOCABULARY

A few weeks ago, I planned to take my husband out for a special meal to celebrate his birthday –somewhere we had never been before. There were a couple of restaurants that we hadn’t tried before and so I chose the one with the best reviews and reserved a table. I pointed out to the person on the other end of the phone that I was treating my husband for his birthday. I hoped that they would bring in a cake with a flare on top to embarrass him after the meal – which they did. Now I realised that this local restaurant wasn’t going to be cheap (I won’t mention the name, because I want to go back for the set meal at lunchtime) but I must say, when the bill arrived, I was surprised that it had come to €220 – for two people. Now you would perhaps think that we were legless after consuming our meal and had finished off bottles of wine, but this was not the case. The amount of wine in each glass looked as though it had been measured with a thimble and, when I asked to try a different glass of white wine, the waiter didn’t find it necessary to inform us that I was no longer paying €4.50 per glass (approximately three sips) but €12! The food was quite good but the portions were rather small. It is not that my husband isn’t worth it, quite the contrary, but I did feel ripped off and certainly won’t be going back there in the evening.

As I mentioned, I chose this restaurant after studying the reviews and most people were going crazy about it. Hardly anyone mentioned the extortionate prices. So, whether you are booking a hotel on Booking.com or checking out a restaurant on TripAdvisor – how much can we trust these reviews? We have been reading a lot in the newspapers just lately, that thousands of companies have been bribing their customers, by offering them money, to write a very positive review to promote their products. This can be anything from a hairdryer toa hotel or restaurant.

Mr. Butler, 26, from London, wanted to get to the bottom of this after restaurants that were advertising on TripAdvisor offered him £10 to write favourable reviews about them, even though he had never eaten there. This gave him the idea to open up his own restaurant called "The Shed at Dulwich" which, according to TripAdvisor rankings, was a small, obscure establishment south of the Thames River that served home-grown food in an al fresco setting. It had no Michelin stars and was run by a chef that no one had heard of but, for a brief time, "The Shed" became the No 1 eating place in London – according to TripAdvisor. The reviews, which his friends had written, were fantastic and all said the quality of food was amazing. It had one other outstanding feature: it didn’t exist. The man who created this fake restaurant, in his own back garden, did it purely as a hoax for the travel website and it became an internet hit. It became his mission to prove that within this current climate of misinformation and people’s willingness to believe everything they read, he could make a fake restaurant the top restaurant in London.

Oobah Butler (the name already sounds fake) put photographs on the website of his delicious meals, but the plates had no real food on them. He used shaving foam and sponges and made them look appetising – and then he named each dish after a mood. There was no address on TripAdvisor as bookings were by appointment only. So, customers had to phone to make a reservation only to find out, from a breathless Mr. Butler, that they were fully booked for the next six weeks. On November 1, six months after he had started his project, "The Shed" was the best restaurant in London. Maybe we shouldn’t always believe what we read! to be spoilt for choice – die Qual der Wahl haben review – Kritik to point out – darauf hinweisen to treat sbd. – jmd. verwöhnen/einladen flare – Fackel to embarrass sbd. – jmd. in Verlegenheit bringen set meal – Menü legless – betrunken not the case – nicht der Fall thimble – Fingerhut three sips – drei Schluck to be worth it – es wert sein quite the contrary – ganz im Gegenteil to feel ripped off – sich geneppt fühlen as I mentioned – wie erwähnt to go crazy about it – völlig ausrasten extortionate prices – halsabschneiderische Preise to trust – vertrauen just lately – kürzlich to bribe – bestechen hairdryer – Haarfön to get to the bottom of this – der Sache auf den Grund gehen favourable – wohlwollend The Shed – Der Schuppen according to – laut chef – Koch outstanding feature – bemerkenswerte Eigenschaft hoax – Schwindel, Ente current – derzeitig willingness – Bereitschaft shaving foam – Rasierschaum sponges – Schwämme a mood – Laune, Stimmung by appointment only – nur nach Terminvereinbarung