The Bladebone Inn, Trip Advisor review gone viral Options

[Strafin]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-24...-complaint.html

Anybody been to the Bladebone? I think this story is interesting, but I haven't been there myself. Certainly a couple of "Random Rants" to make you think!

[ebalch]

Wow. I've always had great food and decent service at the Bladebone so I'm unsure whose side to take on reading the article. It does seem like a mountain out of a molehill.

I do think that TripAdvisor gives an unfairly public forum to what should be a relationship between the customer and the establishment and weighs on the side of the customer's opinion with little value placed on the opinion of the establishment (despite the opportunity for rebuttals). In this case, it seems to have escalated way beyond what either party may well have wanted when a simple "sorry" from either side may have sufficed in the first instance!

[wabbit]

I have and I am not sure who to believe.

Whatever sympathy I had for the owner (and I know the TripAdvisor review facility can be abused) fast disappeared as I started reading his vitriolic and mean-spirited reply.

Whatever, it seems to me that it ill beholds a business owner to reply with such venom... better to rise above it, thereby gaining moral victory.

Not sure he has done his business any favours here.

[wabbit]

:

[Darren]

Not sure he has done his business any favours here.

On the contrary, I think he's done a huge service to restaurants everywhere.

The absence of any previous response to Terrible or Poor reviews (only 5 in 3 years) marked the owner as an easy target who wouldn't fight back. More restaurants and hotels should responded to unfair reviews and challenge what can be damaging to their businesses.

And yes, the reviewer does seem to spend time angling for freebies.

[pbonnay]

Whatever, it seems to me that it ill beholds a business owner to reply with such venom... better to rise above it, thereby gaining moral victory.

Not sure he has done his business any favours here.

I agree. Better would be a short, polite reply apologising for any inconvenience whilst casting doubt on the customer's version of events...and mentioning that no payment was taken. Plant the seed of doubt and let readers make up their own minds.

Sometimes it is what is not said that is more powerful. A rant can make the owner seem precious, highly strung and unable to take any criticism.

Remember, it is still the silly season for news!

[Strafin]

I wondered about the chips bit - I consider myself fairly foodie-ish, but my wife is not. She will sometimes order fries as a starter if we're in a place of my choosing that doesn't have a whole lot of things she likes. If you are prepared to serve it don't judge people who order it! I did look at some of the complainants other reviews and there is a theme of wanting something for free in at least three of them, so like every single review ever posted on trip advisor, take it with a pinch of salt.

[MontyPython]

I wondered about the chips bit - I consider myself fairly foodie-ish, but my wife is not. She will sometimes order fries as a starter if we're in a place of my choosing that doesn't have a whole lot of things she likes. ...

You've been splashing out taking her to McDonalds and Burger King again haven't you!

[JeffG]

I looked at the reviews here, and there only seems to be one, unrelated, review for this restaurant.

Also I couldn't see how to search for a particular reviewer's contributions, as Strafin seems to have done.

[Darren]

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Re...re_England.html

[JeffG]

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Re...re_England.html

So there seem to be two entries for the same restaurant, one spelt "Bladebone" which is the title of this thread, and the one I searched for, and the other spelt "Blade Bone". Not surprising I couldn't find it!

[Strafin]

I looked at the reviews here, and there only seems to be one, unrelated, review for this restaurant.

Also I couldn't see how to search for a particular reviewer's contributions, as Strafin seems to have done.

You can click on the reviewers name/photo and the option to "see other reviews" should appear.

[dannyboy]

There was a C4 programme on a while back about serial tripadvisor users.

Even allowing for the fact that the programme makers will always go for the daftest of people I couldn't help but think that most of the reviwers were mean spirited, picky, trumped up losers who find it is one of the few ways they can wield a bit of power.

Some went out expecting to have a bad time....

[Andy Capp]

Some went out expecting hoping to have a bad time....

[JeffG]

You can click on the reviewers name/photo and the option to "see other reviews" should appear.

Yes I can see that, now a link has been posted to the other entry - in which this person's review appears. As I said, searching for "Bladebone" rather than "Blade Bone" brings up a totally different entry.