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How to respond to false customer reviews

5K views 12 replies 9 participants last post by  kokopuffs 
#1 ·
We just recently opened our restaurant and started a facebook as a means of marketing our business. I have read that we should respond to bad reviews to see what caused their dislike and then try to right the wrong. We started as a food delivery business and have grown over the years enough so to open our restaurant. As a restaurant our customer base is growing every week.

Although I know not everyone will enjoy our food, I am unsure how to respond to a customer review that wrote " Enchilada sauce canned! Re-fried beans canned" and gave us a one star. We do not use any canned items in our restaurant. The enchilada sauce is made from scratch and we also cook and re-fry our beans in the restaurant.  

I don't want any potential new customers to think we used canned food in our menus. Is there any way to respond to his comment without appearing petty? I would appreciate any opinions or suggestions on this matter.
 
#5 · (Edited)
Like kuan said if the person didnt have the guts to show themselves its just an empty review with no proof. 

Now if you want to be smart , then freaking video tape you guys making the sauce , and post it on the facebook page , as a recipe guide :p

Then people really can´t complain or prove anything. 

Regardless , people either like or dont like the food you make , obviously their will always be people that want to criticize for the sake of critizing , that and people may feel more powerful over the internet. 

Also take into consideration that some people actually do this for pleasure , or for the fact they eat out to have a lousy time and complain so you know what you do ( if you dont have the power in said establishment) you freaking let them have a bad time , show kindness , and kill them with class , to these people being ignored , or being killed with kindness it worse them a slap in the face. 

If you don´t reply with a video simply comment

" And do you ms./mrs./mr. have any advice on how to make our sauce better , or ,maybe you would like to give us a recipe or tell us how you make your sauce " ...... its being kind , classy , and innocent , and on top of that they probably wont have a smart enough answer or won´t bother answering showing others how it was just a dumb comment with no evidence. 
 
#7 ·
Perhaps a simple factual response is warranted?
I agree, make sure you answer with the facts, no one knows better than you. You will always get some negative reviews, they hurt, just make sure the good reviews out number the bad ones 10 to 1. ......... My employees would ask me why I walk the floor of my restaurant and talk with the customers. They thought I was doing it to suck up the compliments, I told them I was doing it to see if there were any complaints. I can't do anything once they leave, but, I sure as hell can, while their still there................Good luck with your restaurant..............ChefBillyB
 
#8 ·
A factual response is best, should you decide to give any response at all. On your FB page or website, include in the description of your restaurant the fact that all items are freshly prepared. 

     Do the best you can to take excellent care of your customers while they are in the restaurant. It is an unfortunate fact of life now that malcontents and miscreants now have a platform to be obnoxious in a very public way. I would recommend not engaging every time some idiot has nothing better to do than pointlessly bash you with unfounded opinion simply to amuse themselves. 

Make sure that taking immediate corrective action on  a customers complaint is part of your restaurants' culture. If an individual does not bring a concern to your attention while dining so that you have the opportunity to address the complaint, you are not required to respond to an obnoxious posting after the fact. Resist the urge to do so. 

     You will never please everyone. The best restaurants in the world do not make everyone happy. Do the best you can, keep improving and focus on the real world.  
 
#9 ·
Yup.  As a customer who uses reviews, I would basically reply with what you wrote:

"We do not use any canned items in our restaurant. The enchilada sauce is made from scratch and we also cook and re-fry our beans in the restaurant."

and maybe add a few words on how and why you make the sauce and beans, your commitment to flavor and tradition and whatever it is that you hold dear.

you might start with a short "I'm sorry customer X did not enjoy his/her meal."  But yeah, keep it short and factual.  Ask someone else to read it first to be sure you have the tone right.

Anyone who reads reviews knows that at least ten percent are written by angry loons.    
 
#10 ·
Thank you everyone for your responses, I like the idea of kindly stating that our food is fresh and giving a short description of how we make it. We are very big on listening to customer complaints and fixing them immediately. We value their feedback and I know their will always be some unhappy customers. This helps a lot everyone.
 
#11 ·
There is nothing you can do to correct this. Trying to, is pointless.

Your satisfied customers are the ones that count.

Think of the comments as a marketing tool.

People will read the comments then try your place out to see if those comments are true.

I can't tell you how many times this has happened.....every where.

Long story short....you are no different.

Many years ago I had a customer comment that it was too bad we had to use store bought spaghetti sauce

even though the sauce was made from scratch and cooked on the stove for hours.

How do you defend something like that.

My word against the customers and YOU know who is always right. Move on....
 
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