SET-TO MENU
Couple’s threat to post bad review after being denied £15 deal sparks heated restaurant row
A couple who stormed out of a Bridge of Allan restaurant and posted a bad online review got more than they bargained for.
The owners of Vecchia Bologna have come out fighting, following the damning critique on Trip Advisor by the silverhaired man and wife who didn’t even dine in the popular eaterie.
The Menichetti family hit back at the “malicious” reviewers with a response both on Trip Advisor and on the restaurant’s Facebook page — where they have published CCTV footage of the couple being asked to leave by general manager Marco Menichetti last week.
The row followed the pair’s disappointment at not getting a £15 per head set menu, after they failed to notice from the website that this was only available on prior arrangement to large parties of 20 diners or more.
The restaurant’s head waiter Dan Costica offered them a £17.50 per head menu — just £5 more in total — but the frugal pair still weren’t happy and decided to leave last Wednesday (April 13).
A parting shot of threatening a poor review on Trip Advisor made Marco see red and he escorted them to the door.
The mystery couple, who write Trip Advisor reviews under the name “Loisfran”, published a one-star review on Monday entitled “Can’t handle helpful feedback”.
Monday entitled “Can’t handle helpful feedback”.
It confirmed the misunderstanding over the £15 set menu, but stated: “We initially got a very defensive response and the manager then became both aggressive and threatening. We will not be going back even though it’s our nearest restaurant.”
Owner Claudio Menichetti published a response on behalf of his family which explained: “You decided to leave despite our head waiter’s best attempt to please you in the middle of what had turned out to be a very busy service.
“It is at that point that my son saw you as he was walking out of the kitchen and overheard your threat, addressed to our best and most customer-focused waiter, of a BAD REVIEW on the T/A page.
“You and other interested parties are now more than welcome to visit the Vecchia Bologna Facebook page where you will find Marco’s opinions and a video of your performance in our restaurant along with several bystanders aka witnesses.
“It also interestingly shows exactly how anyone who threatens our livelihood will be quickly dispatched.”
Marco, 34, who has worked in his family’s restaurant for 19 years, has published his full and frank account of the incident on his restaurant’s social media page.
It states: “In this instance the reputation of what my family and I