Huddersfield restaurateurs have spoken out about the TripAdvisor row which saw a reviewer branded "ignorant" by a Skelmanthorpe chef.
Genna Thorpe posted posted a lukewarm review for tapas eaterie Volare, and was berated by owner Martin Corless after claiming five dishes failed to leave she and her husband full.
Now other restaurateurs have had their say.
Orlando Gubbini, who runs Orlando’s Italian restaurant at Grange Moor, said: “I have every sympathy for Martin. Why do people go straight to TripAdvisor instead of raising their complaint with the owner before they leave the restaurant?
“That way the restaurant owner has the opportunity to put it right. If they don’t then they deserve to be criticised.”
He added: “I understand Martin’s feelings 100%. I want to put bad things too in reply but my wife tells me not to stoop to their level, and she’s right.
“I have been here 15 years and you take a bad review very personally. It hurts. One bad review can leave you really demoralised.”
But top chef Barrington Douglas, of Discovery Bay, a Caribbean restaurant in Huddersfield, said: “I don’t even look, to be honest. You just have to get on with it.
“I have been in this business 12 years and if it’s constructive criticism you have to address it.
“In any business there are times when you can’t be 100% perfect. You might be short-staffed, for example.
“I had one time when we had four members of staff off on a Saturday night, it was impossible to get replacements in and someone complained that the service was not up to our usual standard.”
Cameron Starkey, manager of The Four Sons pub at Rastrick, said: “We opened up nearly a year ago and I try to take any criticism with a pinch of salt.
“I think this guy has gone a bit over the top. I don’t think he has done himself any favours. This woman appears to have written a genuine review.
“I had to deal with one situation early on where this man had shouted at one of our members of staff and left her in tears.
“He placed his review on Facebook and said he had waited a long time to be served.
“I took the trouble of checking his comments against our CCTV. Customers don’t always realise that.
“Another woman mentioned that our halibut portions were miniscule. It’s an expensive fish but that certainly wasn’t true. Whenever you mention TripAdvisor to our chefs they just roll their eyes.
“It does wind me up though that diners prefer to go away and write about their experiences instead of approaching us directly.”
