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Restaurant Owner Posts Savage Reply To Customer Who Left Negative Review

Restaurant Owner Posts Savage Reply To Customer Who Left Negative Review

The customer left a two-star review, saying they'd had 'excellent food let down by Ryanair-style management'

Jess Hardiman

Jess Hardiman

A restaurant owner has responded to a tricky customer's negative review, expertly shutting down each of their points as he defended staff in a savage reply.

Gary Usher, who owns Sticky Walnut in Hoole, Chester, discovered that a recent customer had left a scathing two-star review on TripAdvisor, despite saying the food was 'very, very tasty'.

The customer, named Rob, summarised his review as 'excellent food let down by Ryanair-style management', claiming staff at the bistro had not 'given a t***' about his experience.

After dining at Sticky Walnut last month, he wrote: "The good news is that the food here is very, very tasty and deserves a high rating.

"The bad news is that the restaurant management doesn't give a t*** about customer experience. I ate here on July 9 had a complaint that was dealt with badly enough by the manager that I wrote to the owner.

"A restaurant that aspires to offer fine dining experience but has lost the ability to empathise with customers and ignores them when they complain? That really is a shame."

TripAdvisor

Usher, who also owns several other restaurants in the North West, explained how felt frustrated by how his staff had been treated that day, proceeding to list the difficulties that Rob's table were responsible for.

In his lengthy response, Usher said: "For goodness sake Robert. I'm supposed to be in TwitAdvisor retirement so let's not waste any time. After all, you've waited 11 years since joining Twitadvisor to write your first review.

"Rob, you reserved a table on a Friday evening and agreed to a 1 hour 45 minute time slot. A standard practice, particularly on busy periods, that guests and restaurants worldwide agree to.

"After your dessert course, the manager, who you said 'doesn't give a t***', gently reminded you that we would need the table back shortly.

"You ignored the manager and proceeded to order another round of drinks. Perhaps if your party had arrived on time for your reservation this could have been avoided.

PA

"When the manager came back a final time to politely let you know we needed to clear the table for our next guests you got up out of your seat, towering over the manager, pointing in their face.

"The manager's response was: 'Sir, please can you stop pointing in my face?'

"You proceeded to tell the manager that they didn't deserve to be a manager and weren't qualified to be in the position. Your mother then joined in by adding to the vitriol being directed towards the manager.

"That's when both you and your mother showed your true colours with the classic 'We've both worked in restaurants so we know how it works. We should be getting these drinks for free'."

Google Maps

Usher defended his manager, who has been working at the restaurant for the past eight years, saying they were 'absolutely qualified' to hold their position.

He went on to reveal that Rob had threatened to report the problem to the owner, who he claimed was his 'friend' - which, it turned out, was not the case.

He continued: "In a strange turn of events you emailed me, your 'friend' at Sticky Walnut's email address. You must have lost my number Rob! Not surprisingly, to either me or the manager, you and I don't know each other Rob.

"Every few months in a restaurant a rude guest will use the 'I know the owner!' line to try and intimidate team members and bully them into thinking that they will get into trouble because they didn't look after the owner's 'friends' well enough.

"I did read your email. I did 'give a t***', but not about you Rob, but about the way you treated the team. So instead of replying to you, we chose to block your number, and your mum's, and put a note on our booking system to not accept any future bookings from you."

Usher signed off his reply with: "Not your mate, Gary - another owner you don't actually know."

Featured Image Credit: Google Maps

Topics: UK News, Restaurant, News