You might not be able to please all of the people all of the time, but you certainly won’t be able to do so if they have unreasonable expectations. So when one popular local pizzeria in Manchester, England caught wind of a lengthy, low-ranked review on Trip Advisor, the owner decided to set the reviewer straight.
Three weeks ago, a man by the name of Peter W. complained on the website that he arrived at Rudy’s Neapolitan Pizza around 8 p.m. on a Saturday night. Peter wrote that he was “politely” told there was a wait for a table, and promptly left after being told there was no guarantee he would be served before the “ovens” were turned off at 9:30.
“It was packed with people [Saturday] evening, to be honest I travelled from Bollington to Manchester, and I won’t try this place again,” Peter wrote, dinging the restaurant with a 1 out of 5 review.
Anyone who has worked in a busy restaurant will know that Peter is already full of hogwash—expecting to be seated immediately at 8 p.m. on a Saturday night is a recipe for disappointment.
So, restaurant owner Jim M. did what any other self-respecting small business owner would do to rightfully protect his brand—he called Peter out on his BS in a response four times as long as the original review.
“Peter, are you actually serious??? You do understand that we are a tiny independent restaurant right… and that you’ve just crucified us for being too busy? We can do absolutely nothing about the amount of time people wish to wait for a table here,” Jim wrote.
Jim also clarified that the ovens don’t turn off at 9:30 p.m.—the kitchen just stops taking new orders, but continues to cook, sometimes for another hour, just to get those existing orders out to customers.
“…Even though your only encounter with us was considered polite, you’ve used it to vent your anger at us for council parking, your geographical location prior to visiting us, and us being too busy to seat you???,” Jim wrote with the appropriate amount of interrogative question marks.
“We’re very sorry for not having space to seat you…. But come on… try to support [independent businesses] by accepting the scenario or even congratulating us on being so busy (like other customers who’ve been turned away have done) rather than trying to damage us using this stress inducing points based system website,” Jim concludes.
Maybe next time Peter will think twice before traveling an hour out of town on an ill-prepared pizza whim.
