GRILL TAKES ON BAD REVIEWERS
RESTAURANTS can live or die by their reviews and reputation. This is particularly true for independents, where one bad review can be the difference between success and failure.
In the digital world, there are more ways than ever to register your displeasure with an establishment.
But one Anglesey restaurant has been hitting back at customers who complain online with some nononsense putdowns.
One recent reviewer managed to get herself barred from Simply Street Bar & Grill in Holyhead over a less than favourable summary of her festive experience there.
The woman complimented the food, but slammed the restaurant over the lack of heat and allegedly lousy service.
The restaurant responded saying: “This idiot has been banned now. If you want to moan about something, you carry on, love.”
Other savage responses to negative reviews include calling reviewers a “sado” and “plonkers from Twitadvisor”.
And when customers didn’t leave a comment on their one-star reviews, the restaurant hit back saying: “well, that’s constructive”, and “do you understand how reviews work?”
Simply Street Bar & Grill has a 4.9 out of five rating based on 224 reviews on Facebook and 4.3 out of five based on 272 Google reviews.
Google reviews automatically process reviews to detect inappropriate content and spam.
However, the restaurant claims there are still fake accounts leaving reviews.
It recommends users check its
Facebook page tion”.
A spokesperson for Simply Street Bar & Grill said: “We do have some fake reviews. For example, posting pictures of food that is not ours.
“We also get reviews that are not true, from people who just want to do our business harm – all of which are posted on Google, where you can hide your identity, and never on Facebook.
“For months we had fake reviews. They would get reported and removed, then the next day there was another, and again it would get reported and removed by Google.”
The restaurant believes that those reviews may have been from the same person. They repeatedly criticised the food and the staff.
“We get comments saying people don’t agree with how we deal with complaints.
“Genuine complaints we take very seriously. However, I will not let anyone bad mouth my staff, who do an excellent job.
“For a true reflection of our review, we always recommend looking at our Facebook. They are not always 5* but are genuine ones that we always take on board.” for a “true reflec