This month, we’re reviewing everything from responses to bad reviews to A boards – and this week it’s the Covid-19 edition!
Negative feedback is always hard to swallow, but during a global crisis that’s hit the hospitality industry particularly hard, it stings that bit more. So, we thought we’d collect some of the most unreasonable, ridiculous and in some cases, utterly wild reviews left during the pandemic, to see what we can learn about dealing with difficult customers during Covid-19, and remind you that we’re all in this together.
Take it from us, these are worth a read.
1# The Showdown
This is just the beginning of 5 pages of increasingly unreasonable whatsapp messages (which you can enjoy the rest of here), but we can safely say that this customer has zero chill. The Gatehouse Steakhouse Dolgellau, Wales shared this to their Facebook page in an incredibly satisfying victory against what they described as a ‘spanner’ of a customer (we could definitely think of a couple of stronger words to describe him).
The way these guys remained professional is a lesson to us all that stooping to the level of an angry customer is never the way to go. We’re giving this one a limber comeback score of 9/10 – we had to deduct a point because in our experience, there’s only so far you can reason with certain people, and we probably would have called it a day after a couple of exchanges, but we like the commitment to the cause.
The fact they publicised the conversation shows they’re confident in their offering, and the outrageous nature of the complaint even bagged them some impressive PR. With over 100K likes, shares and comments on Facebook, some even went on to leave a positive review in support of the restaurant, despite never actually eating there. So overall, there was a very happy ending!
2# The Straight Talker
You would think that the 15 year old in question would be old enough to know the Covid-19 rules and regulations without the help of mummy by now, but judging by the anti-masker, Trump supporting and no doubt “no kneeling at the anthem” vibes they’re giving off, we probably shouldn’t be surprised by this ridiculous complaint.
You’ve probably come up against one or two customers who were unwilling to follow Covid-19 rules, and in this case, there’s very little you can do other than politely ask them to leave and think twice about letting them return. At such a difficult time, it can be tough to turn away custom, but nothing’s worth putting your business or your staff in jeopardy.
Most venues have done a fantastic job at communicating the rules and regulations to customers before they arrive or are seated, and if people aren’t willing to adhere for their own safety – that’s on them. Making sure that your website and social media are regularly updated with guidelines is a great way to avoid any Covid-19 misunderstandings, and I think we’d all agree that it’s totally reasonable to kick someone out if they’re refusing to cooperate!
limber comeback score: 8/10
3# The Sarcastic One
While the review in itself isn’t as ridiculous as some (see our next installment for a customer who legitimately complains about bad weather), we have a particular hatred for those who take to the internet to address an issue that could have EASILY been sorted at the time, so we don’t blame the owner for laying into him.
As for the payment problem, most venues are understandably refusing cash all together at the moment, so we think it was a little silly of Phil to expect to be able to pay with a twenty, let alone an old one. In the current climate, we should all be doing what we can to support independants, and leaving petty reviews like this just aren’t the way to go.
Not cool Phil.
We’re giving this review a limber comeback score of 7/10 – we totally see why these guys are angry, but they could probably work on limber’s first rule of replying to reviews, which is to REMAIN CALM. We did very much enjoy the no children under 12 joke, though.
