Customer tries to blackmail The Longs Arms with a one-star Google Review
The chef owner of South Wraxall gastropub The Longs Arms, Rob Allcock is at a loss for what to do after a customer threatened to leave a one star review unless he refunded her meal.
Ranked 36th in the Estrella Damn gastropub list, recognised with a Bib Gourmand in the Michelin Guide for four consecutive years, The Longs Arms usually has the support of its customers, too, and received TripAdvisor's certificate of excellence in 2014, 2015, 2016.
On the day of the incident, the chef said customers had held a wake in the restaurant.
Overall, the service went well and the customer - a self-titled 'foodie,' according to the chef - reported having very much enjoyed her meal, but said that service had been appalling and refused to leave a tip.
She left a review on Google, which the chef described as "not particularly bad" but which he decided to follow up with a phone call.
But the conversation escalated and left the chef feeling dumbstruck, as she said she would settle for nothing less than a refund.
Now, the chef is unsure what to do - refund the customer's meal to get her out of the way, or risk a bad Google Review, which he sees as unfair and unfounded.
A customer left a google review and we called her to get feedback, the conversation went like this,,, if I don’t get my £75 refunded I’ll put a much worse review on. ????????????????????????Well yes that’s blackmail but sadly we clearly have no choice. What’s wrong with people????????????????????
— The Longs Arms (@TheLongsArms) July 3, 2019
The chef insisted that he doesn't think the person is in the habit of doing things like this - and as of yet she hasn't posted a review, so may have been bluffing, or caught in the heat of the moment.
What do you think chefs? Should Rob refund the customer or accept that his ratings might drop? Has this happened to you? Do you think the industry should take a stand against this kind of behaviour?
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