Last week, a story went viral about a customer who left a less than stellar Google review for a restaurant in Tennessee. The owner, who pays attention to reviews (that’s a good thing), got a bit….upset with the customer and shot back a “review” of their own. In case you missed it, here’s a replay of the exchange:
Customer’s Google review:
Okay, so this review is a bit dramatic and could have been written differently and gotten the same message across, but there are some points to be made. After all, unclothed children are probably not a good idea in the dining room.
Instead of taking a breath and stepping back, the owner was reactive and posted this on the company’s Facebook page (it is now deleted):
You can only imagine the reaction it got from Facebook users.
After calming down a bit, the owners then posted this explanation, which has also been deleted. At least it’s a better explanation – mothers know that when it comes to criticizing children, parents do tend to get a bit sensitive.
There are always three sides to every story – his, hers, and the truth. I’m sure both sides are correct in their perception of what happened, but both reacted in a rather unnecessary way. However, it’s the business owner who will feel the impact of this – will people feel comfortable leaving less than stellar reviews going forward, or will they simply not return? Will people hesitate to visit, not necessarily because of the customer’s review (though that doesn’t help) but more because of the knee jerk response from the owners?
Honestly, this is a viral story at this moment – I’m sure it will blow over and no one will remember it in a few months. But for now, the reactionary response doesn’t seem worth it from a business perspective.
