Have you ever had a bad experience with a business or restaurant and felt you weren’t given the service you deserved? Maybe you’ve even considered leaving a negative review to tell others about your experience. But have you ever taken it further and sought revenge on the company or business by intentionally posting multiple negative reviews?
Celebrating in Wine Country: A Dream Turned Nightmare
Recently, a Reddit user (OP) shared her story about leaving ten scathing one-star reviews across different platforms for a restaurant after they failed to seat her part of ten despite having a reservation. The story prompted other users to share their revenge stories, leaving others wondering if acting this way is justified and ethical.
OP planned to celebrate her in-laws’ milestone birthdays turned into a nightmare when a new upscale restaurant in wine country ruined their reservation. Despite having made a reservation for a group of 10 months beforehand, the restaurant refused to seat them two hours earlier than their scheduled time, even though there were no other patrons. When the time finally arrived, the hostess informed them that they could not seat them outdoors due to the rain, leaving them without a table and ruining their evening.
Frustration Mounts: Manager Shrugs Off OP’s Complaints
OP calmly explained that she had made a reservation for an indoor table and was not told it was subject to rain. She even asked if they could split them between tables, but the restaurant refused to accommodate them. The manager shrugged and did nothing to remedy the situation. Frustrated and without other options, OP had to cook a full meal for ten people!
Revenge is a Dish Best Served Cold
After receiving no response from the manager to her email asking for compensation, OP took matters into her own hands and left ten scathing one-star reviews on various platforms. The restaurant’s Google rating dropped by two stars because of her reviews, and she even left one review for each person in her group who didn’t get a seat.
Days later, the restaurant reached out to offer a comped meal for the in-laws if the group took down the reviews. But OP stood her ground and refused, refusing to let the restaurant off the hook for ruining their special celebration.
OP’s revenge story has prompted other users to offer their own stories of leaving negative reviews.
“I got into a fight with a company on Amazon, where I posted a very critical review, and they offered me increasing amounts of money to take it down, all of which I noted in my updated review.
In the end, they got my account banned from reviewing products, and I got their company banned from Amazon. Their products are still there, but they’re sold through a third party now.”
While others offered words of warning…
“Careful, google will hide any reviews that have certain keywords in them, including the word ‘review’. They’ll also hide any reviews with mentions of other businesses, anything with too many Caps or repeating punctuation (like !!!), basically anything they deem ‘low quality’ or unprofessional. Best not to give businesses something to spam the report button on your 1-star review about.”
And words of wisdom…
“We sat in the bar waiting to be called once for our reservation for an hour after checking in. We were at a table with a cutout in the wall, and we were two feet away from the hostess on the other side of the wall the entire time. We made eye contact a bunch of times in that hour.
We probably had three drinks each, and I noticed empty tables in the restaurant, so I walked to the hostess and asked her when we would be seated. My husband saw me do so and got up to join me, thinking our table had been called.
The hostess said, “Oh, sorry, I called your name over an hour ago, and no one answered, so we gave your table up.”
I worked in and managed restaurants for years and know this little con. Someone walks up to the hostess and offers her money to “find” a reservation, so she picks one at random that she knows is already in the bar and uses that excuse.
I said, “I see. How much did they slip you?”
She played, confused, but I could tell I had hit it on the head by her sudden jolt.
“Slip me? Slip me what?”
I said, “Never mind. We’re leaving.”
We walked out the door. Then I turned around, walked back in the door, pointed into the dining room at the floor, and screamed, “Oh my god, a rat!!!”
Then ran back out the door.”
In conclusion, if you’re planning a special occasion, OP wants you to know that you should steer clear of this restaurant, and Redditors want you to know that sometimes reservations are tip-driven.
Source: Reddit