posting a restaurant review in Trip Advisor query

keithclancy

delahuntv wrote: »

why is it that instead of bringing any issues to the attention of the manager on duty on the night or making a formal copmplaint to the establishment the next day, people run as fast as they can home to post "reviews" up.

my oh my, you got a wrong starter. Open your mouth and say it to the server. It will be corrected.

A piece of meat fell into the vegetarian dish (are you 100% certain it was and not something that looked like bacon), again, SAY IT TO THE SERVER!

Coffee machine broken - sure if they served you instant coffee you'd whine about that too.

Its as simple as this - get your gripes heard there and then. If no satisfaction, write to the place and ask for a response. If at THAT stage you don't get a response, THEN post wherever you like, but for christ's sake give them a chance to rectify it.

Surely at one point in your life you have made an error or screwed up - would you like if the person you made the error on suddenly shouted about that to everyone without giving you a chance to correct yourself?

Tripadvisor review would have went, "spend most of the night pointing out problems that were avoidable in the first place. "

You do know how open reviews work right ? I don't want to go someplace where I have to keep pointing out problems.

P. Breathnach

delahuntv wrote: »

why is it that instead of bringing any issues to the attention of the manager on duty on the night or making a formal copmplaint to the establishment the next day, people run as fast as they can home to post "reviews" up.

my oh my, you got a wrong starter. Open your mouth and say it to the server. It will be corrected.

OP had more than one problem with the starter course.

A piece of meat fell into the vegetarian dish (are you 100% certain it was and not something that looked like bacon), again, SAY IT TO THE SERVER!

Meat in a vegetarian dish is a big no-no.

Coffee machine broken - sure if they served you instant coffee you'd whine about that too.

Not being able to serve a proper coffee is a big failure, and the suggestion that the OP would whine about getting instant coffee is offensive.

Its as simple as this - get your gripes heard there and then. If no satisfaction, write to the place and ask for a response. If at THAT stage you don't get a response, THEN post wherever you like, but for christ's sake give them a chance to rectify it.

It's not always a good idea to pursue a range of complaints at a special event: it can interfere with the group's enjoyment of a night out together.

Surely at one point in your life you have made an error or screwed up - would you like if the person you made the error on suddenly shouted about that to everyone without giving you a chance to correct yourself?

That misses the point of reviews.

miss choc

Thank you P Breathnach.

Firstly the Manager on my previous email correspondence said veg soup would be available so I presumed this would be there on the night it wasnt ok not a big deal. I asked for vege salad and got the smoked salmon when starters were coming out it was taken away and by the time I got the right starter most people had finished theirs.

My friend is a long time a vegetarian and as said that is the worse to get meat in a vegetarian dish it was bacon.

I ask for a coffee as I did not want a drink as I mentioned to an email to the Manager instant would have done I am not posh with coffee so would not have whined! I felt like a coffee and not an alcoholic drink what's the problem?

I have contacted the Manager by email last night but she has not got back to me so I not going to hound the place again she has my details.

delahuntv

I still say too many people rush into writing reviews without giving the establishment a chance to rectify an issue.

HOW ON EARTH can an establishment know something is wrong when you refuse to bring it to their attention.

If after that you were not satisfied, then write the review.

But this trait of running to boards, trip advisor etc BEFORE even making the SLIGHTEST attempt to allow the establishment correct the issue is just plain stupid

P. Breathnach

delahuntv wrote: »

I still say too many people rush into writing reviews without giving the establishment a chance to rectify an issue.

HOW ON EARTH can an establishment know something is wrong when you refuse to bring it to their attention.

If after that you were not satisfied, then write the review.

But this trait of running to boards, trip advisor etc BEFORE even making the SLIGHTEST attempt to allow the establishment correct the issue is just plain stupid

Let's look back at what OP told us.
- A prior promise to have vegetable soup available was not honoured; then the wrong starter was brought; when the chosen starter was brought, it was late. The establishment must have known this.
- An unfinished drink was removed. The establishment must have been made aware of this, as it was replaced.
- The coffee machine was not working. The establishment must already have been aware of this (and, it appears, had no alternative facility - for example, cafetieres).

It's not clear if they were made aware on the night of meat being found in a vegetarian dish.

This is hardly a rush to judgement. They are genuine failures in service. I'd feel justified including these things in a review.

Del2005

miss choc wrote: »

This is the text I got trying not to be vague "Hiya I got mail from ..... she didnt know I had a crap experience and asked if that was our general consensus" My friend just got an email. I can't be more specific on what was between my friend and the Manager. I contacted the Manager by mail and have not had a response also when I do I want to ring her and point out the good things too. I did not feel it was my place to take someone aside on the night where there is a party of 13 people and said I would deal with it the next day. If the manager had contacted me I would have explained and my friend would have been left out of it I didnt want her to have to deal with the crap. The only thing I guess what happened is that the manager saw the review and went straight to the main person my friend, even though my user name is my first name so she knew well it was me and not my friend. I will wait for TA to get back and if I dont here from Manager I will ring her direct as I want to explain my review (good and bad to her) All posts I do on TA or menupages are honest experiences which I'm entitled to write about.

If you where planning on contacting the manager the next day why didn't you wait till after this to post the review? As far as the manager was concerned they had a happy party leave their premises only to see a negative review posted almost immediately and they had been given no chance to rectify the issues. That's not very fair on the company.

The manager shouldn't have contacted your friend though.

D3PO

P. Breathnach wrote: »

Let's look back at what OP told us.
- A prior promise to have vegetable soup available was not honoured; then the wrong starter was brought; when the chosen starter was brought, it was late. The establishment must have known this.
- An unfinished drink was removed. The establishment must have been made aware of this, as it was replaced.
- The coffee machine was not working. The establishment must already have been aware of this (and, it appears, had no alternative facility - for example, cafetieres).

It's not clear if they were made aware on the night of meat being found in a vegetarian dish.

This is hardly a rush to judgement. They are genuine failures in service. I'd feel justified including these things in a review.

The establishment as you call it however isn't the manager. A manager may not be aware that the drink was removed or the wrong dish was served in fact its very unlikely the would be aware of this particularly at this time of the year when most places are choc a block with Christmas parties.

Nobody is disputing there was bad service, something that may have been oblivious to or ignored by an under pressure waiter or waitress.

None of this changes the fact the OP should have brought the failings to the managers attention at the time when they could do something about it. Like I said by all means post a review pointing out these failures but at least give the restaurant the opportunity to try and react to the complaints first.

There were clear failings in the service provided but the OP has not gone about things the right way either.

We also still have no idea what the manager said to the OPs friend for all we know they offered her a free meal by ways of apologies for the issues. we just don't know.

People are far to fast to rush to the internet to condemn a business, without affording them a reasonable opportunity to rectify the issue.

SteM

I'm not sure why people are having a go at the OP for posting a review. As long as it's honest then it's a recap of what happened on the night for better or worse. Tripadvisor have a facility for establishments to look at the review and respond if they wish.

I personally am never turned off a place that has a poor TA review as long as the establishment has taken to time to reply to the issues and says it will address them. As a potential customer I actually like seeing hotels or restaurants admit they have issues and agree to fix them in the future.

Jawgap

My own view would be that there was stunning over-reaction by both parties.

I don't think the problems with the meal merited a negative review - marking everything 'average' might have been a better conclusion, coupled with a fair and objective description of the experience - thus allowing people to make up their own minds.

The manager going beyond TA to track down and directly contact the reviewer is way out of order and hopefully TA can do something about that - there may be some data protection issues.

SteM

Jawgap wrote: »

My own view would be that there was stunning over-reaction by both parties.

I don't think the problems with the meal merited a negative review - marking everything 'average' might have been a better conclusion, coupled with a fair and objective description of the experience - thus allowing people to make up their own minds.

The manager going beyond TA to track down and directly contact the reviewer is way out of order and hopefully TA can do something about that - there may be some data protection issues.

Don't see how there could be a data protection issue. The OP and another member of the party gave their details to the hotel when they made a booking.

Besides, the OPs issue is that the manager didn't contact her directly, the manager contacted another member of the party over a review the OP made.

D3PO

Jawgap wrote: »

My own view would be that there was stunning over-reaction by both parties.

I don't think the problems with the meal merited a negative review - marking everything 'average' might have been a better conclusion, coupled with a fair and objective description of the experience - thus allowing people to make up their own minds.

The manager going beyond TA to track down and directly contact the reviewer is way out of order and hopefully TA can do something about that - there may be some data protection issues.

ah now the experience wasn't average it was a negative experience so yes the op is totally within their right to write a review with the experience they encountered, all I have said is that before writing a negative review you should raise the issues on the night to the correct person face to face to give them a chance to rectify the issue(s) even if they are sorted that doesn't stop you writing the negative review but would allow you at least write it in a balanced way and mention how they dealt with the complaint when you made it.

a review weather it be positive or negative should reflect the whole experience and how any complaint was dealt with. People seem to prefer just running off behind their keyboards and venting rather than dealing with the company to try and resolve the situation.

D3PO

SteM wrote: »

I'm not sure why people are having a go at the OP for posting a review. As long as it's honest then it's a recap of what happened on the night for better or worse. Tripadvisor have a facility for establishments to look at the review and respond if they wish.

I personally am never turned off a place that has a poor TA review as long as the establishment has taken to time to reply to the issues and says it will address them. As a potential customer I actually like seeing hotels or restaurants admit they have issues and agree to fix them in the future.

your right but wouldn't it be far more productive to actually speak to a manager at the time and try and have them respond in real time in a satisfactory way first and foremost.

You don't have to scream and shout to make or be confrontational to make a complaint. Infact if your calm and measured your much more likely to be listened to. There is no reason whatsoever to run to the internet as the first port of call.

The first port of call should always be to make a complaint person to person, after which you can then post a review if you still deem it necessary.

Jawgap

D3PO wrote: »

ah now the experience wasn't average it was a negative experience so yes the op is totally within their right to write a review with the experience they encountered, all I have said is that before writing a negative review you should raise the issues on the night to the correct person face to face to give them a chance to rectify the issue(s) even if they are sorted that doesn't stop you writing the negative review but would allow you at least write it in a balanced way and mention how they dealt with the complaint when you made it.

a review weather it be positive or negative should reflect the whole experience and how any complaint was dealt with. People seem to prefer just running off behind their keyboards and venting rather than dealing with the company to try and resolve the situation.

It's a difference of opinion, I suppose.

It seems the OP tried to go 'off menu' - even though it was only veggie soup, I know as a former chef how irritating that can be. The restaurant said they could accommodate her, then failed to live up to that promise - so 6 of one, half-a-dozen of the other. Not as bad as if they had the item on the menu then didn't have it on the evening.

The mix up with the starters - it happens, it shouldn't but it does. Again poor form, but perhaps not entirely unexpected when dealing with a large group?

The meat in the vegetarian dish - that's really poor form, but surely it's for the person who got the dish to complain / leave a review.

Whipping the drink away - it was replaced (was it replaced as a full measure or only half-a-measure - if it was a full measure I'm not sure how that's a complaint).

Broken coffee machine - things break! Especially in busy restaurants and if it happens out of hours you can forget getting a service engineer.

Like I said, my view would be that one over-reaction provoked another.

D3PO

hey don't get me wrong I think the OP has over reacted too but I wouldn't exactly call the experience average either

Jawgap

D3PO wrote: »

hey don't get me wrong I think the OP has over reacted too but I wouldn't exactly call the experience average either

Probably not, but that's why I suggested marking it average, then adding a detailed and fair account of what happened and people can make their own mind up.

I generally use the negative, poor & average reviews when assessing a place to eat / stay - my logic is simple. If the thing being complained about is trivial (IMO) and / or it's not something that's important to me then I'll probably still give my custom to the place. If it's something that would bother me too I would take that as a reason to consider not going.

Murray007

thejaguar wrote: »

My 2 cents worth

1. Did you make any complaint on the night about the quality of the food or the service?
If not, it's a little unfair to then put up a negative review.
If you did point it out on the night and it was not dealt with in a satisfactory manor, then you were right to post the review.

2. Regardless of the above, the hotel/restaurant manager was way out of line.

I would have done the exact same thing as the OP. It was a celebratory dinner with the birthday girl and I would not have complained as it would have overshadowed the evening.

The hotel was wrong to do this and I would avoid any establishment who feels it is appropriate to contact customers about reviews.

Strangely the only who contacts I have had from Trip advisor reviews were Irish establishments.

One chef suggested via PM that I knew him and was only posting out of spite, that the meal I had wasn't on their menu ever and made a personal threat to me to come around to my house to sort me out (even though I wasn't the person he thought I was). I told him I had a copy of the reciept and pointed him to the trip advisor guidelines about threats to reviewers. He apologised and "offered" a freeby meal to re review - I again asked him to read the guidelines and declined. This guy also posted three raving reviews about his own restaurant but common spelling errors, single posts per user name and calling himself CHEF in one username meant that someone copped onto it and reported him to TA. The reviews were taken down.:D

The other was a hotel manager who posted lies in response to my review. He then also contacted me by PM and said if I had made a complaint directly he would have been able to deal with my compliant more comprehensively. I formally complained via an email, he repeated the lies, I challenged him and he didn't respond to my second email.

These are the kind of individuals who challenge reviews.

It tends to be easy to tell if there is a problem with an establishment, there will be a theme in the reviews, same things mentioned more than once. If it is a 5 star rated place and someone comes on to review which is esentially a rant the reader will know to ignore it.

It is only establishments with customer service issues or luney tune managers that are threatened by customers reviewing on Trip Advisor.

OP report you fella to TA, its not on contacting your friend or you for that matter.

Murray007

delahuntv wrote: »

I still say too many people rush into writing reviews without giving the establishment a chance to rectify an issue.

HOW ON EARTH can an establishment know something is wrong when you refuse to bring it to their attention.

If after that you were not satisfied, then write the review.

But this trait of running to boards, trip advisor etc BEFORE even making the SLIGHTEST attempt to allow the establishment correct the issue is just plain stupid

Maybe the establishment should read the reviews and learn from them. Much more in keeping with caring about the customers experience than trying to track the customer down to challenge them about writing a review.

Reviews have a other valid roles than just the customers way of making a complaint. Good reviews, I post about four times more good reviews than bad, they act as a way to reward good service, food, staff and promote the establishment. I don't suppose the OPs guy would have contacted the birthday girl if a good review was put up.

Also it is a valid way to compare two establishments if you are going to eat or stay in a particular area i.e. the reviews are not only to improve customer service but also are a tool for those who are making decisions about were to eat or stay.