Hey, it happens, every now and then on Tripadvisor or Yelp or whatever; Nobody bats 1.000

But then you investigate the user that gave you the bad review and see that they have submitted almost a dozen 5-star reviews and more than 100 professional quality photos from a local competitor restaurant. And it seems that the only other bad review they've written was of another competing restaurant with the same sort of menu. It's pretty obvious it's a shill account. It's not to hard to connect the dots, but I am flummoxed with how to approach the situation. Any suggestions?

"So let's say you're a local restauranteur..."

I'm not.
Only a patron, but in the past while deciding on patronizing a
particular business, I read a very negative review.

The business owner had also responded in kind to the complainant, offering to discuss
and/or make it right in some fashion (a custom product had been purchased and the
patron was unhappy).

The business owner responded in the same fashion twice, attempting to resolve the complaint.
(so many owners do not even respond it seems)

That was what had made up my mind. That the owner cared enough to respond.

No matter the outcome, I did patronize the business and was very pleased.
I also complimented the owner in trying to resolve the complaint and told them
that was what had made my mind up to give them the business.

Whether the business was at fault or not, it was enough for me that the owner
had cared enough to respond and attempt to resolve the complaint.

I'm not suggesting offering a "free meal" or "specialized seating or attention" as
that could be construed as attempting to "buy" a good review, but perhaps if you can
draw the customer back in some way, they might find your establishment enjoyable,
along with good food and an excellent choice of beverages, though they may not change or edit their review.

In your particular case, you have background information that suggests "competition"
in which a negative review will never be corrected, no matter your attempt. But don't
argue the fact of their complaint. If anything, only respond with an attempt to resolve or
offering that you will "look into the matter" and "educate" your servers as to customer attention
(whether they really need or deserve it or not.)

One negative review does not make it true. As you say, we don't always bat 1000.
And you have an excellent reputation, in my opinion.

A bit +1 for what GreenLantern said.

Assuming the manager of the other restaurant knows who you are, maybe you could just go there and grab a meal while he's on duty. Sit there for a nice long time with a big tablet open to Yelp's page, and see if the manager gets curious.

If so, you could then just make nice conversation, show him the evidence the shill has posted, and tell him you don't mind competition but hope to keep it clean. You both obviously need customers who will support local businesses, and natural karma can be a bitch.

The manager/owner himself is probably not the shill, but a good, overzealous friend likely is, and the owner might be able to rein him in.

Keep it classy and professional, not confrontational. Once he knows you're on to him, he should proceed cautiously. If not, let us know!

I was there on Saturday. Excellent as usual. Opinions are like.....
I posted on Trip Advisor also.

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So if you are a surfer I wish you the prosperity that allows you more time to pursue the salt water dream, and the true happiness that comes from warm water, clean waves and the companionship of your fellow surfers. If you are an internet troll just spewing bs then f off.

Sorry to hear about the virtual ding man. Little dings on a good board can be fixed or ridden through and still provide quality sessions.  Large ones need immediate attention. Do online reviews drive a lot of your business model?  Are there multiple "review" apps that contend for their ranking vs. your ranking?  I don't follow anything online, even when I travel, so I'm not familiar.  I heard names of review sites, but that is as far as it goes.  Perhaps post to the reviewing site about the odd inconsistency of the posts of the suspected patron.  If it gets bad, you have a ton of surfers who may just like to visit your competition and give their honest opinion.  

Regarding my earlier: If you don't have time or inclination to contact the owner with an in-person visit, you might be able to get a private Facebook message to him, with the links and evidence you've found.

I think Dave mentioned in an old thread here (about another upstart restaurant) that the Yelp and Trip Advisor reviews can be huge.

While I go by my own experience first and word of mouth second, I've seen places where every customer is encouraged to review on-line and get some sort of "reward" for doing so.

I tend to be open to some on-line recommendations ("where can I find a . . .?" responses here, for example) but ignore the "he sux" ones that seem way over the top entirely.

For example, some of the anti-DaKine's stuff here can get ridiculous, as if they force sub-standard beachside burritos down your gullet . . . ALL THE TIME! AGAINST YOUR WILL!

It's crazy on them interwebs and it must be maddening to put up with on-line nonsense when you work so hard to please so many.

 

Solidarity in numbers, we've got your back.

I read and write reviews - I depend on them with some qualification while I'm traveling because I can't always get word of mouth information. When I see a really negative review with a polite owner response offering to make it right, I dismiss that one, unless there are a LOT of negative reviews. Responsiveness is important, but readers of reviews are responsible for realizing that this DOES happen more often than you think.

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[Feminism is] a socialist, anti-family, political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians. ~Pat Robertson

Just read the review and checked the account.  I see the same thing.  Two negative reviews againts similar menus and 10 glorious reviews for the same restaurant with pics.  

I'm not sure that crap place on South Patrick understands the power of social media because there are plenty of us who can login and write them a bad review. After all, I think their food is crap and along with their decor and shit wait staff. All it takes is for several coasters fans to write bad reviews for them.  
You could reply on TA as stated above but I would call them out in the reply. As for a legit complaint, agree with the above statement from lantern.  I sit at the bar all the time at coasters and never had bad service.  But I also have manners and tip accordingly.   

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If you want to hit a home run, you have to swing the bat.

What Funk said. I have credentials on yelp as well.. I've been going to your original location for more years than I can remember and my only complaint over all those years was John never ever gave me a beer on the house! I've been in your new location a couple times and same service up there is great as well. I'll write you a good review if needed. I know how it goes.. I had an iFixandRepair and ALL the local competitors would have their employees log in and blast me. They were removed or put in that not reliable or favorable section.

I do restaurant equipment repair. I hardly ever eat out. When I do it's at a local Mezzican place or a local drive in rest. if it's not crowded. he drive in has been opened since the 20's. At one point it was mandated that kitchens should close on Sunday and cleaned. they still do that.

I'd post this:

I am somewhat suspicious of your review given that you have posted over ten 5 star reviews for one of our competitors, while at the same time you gave negative reviews for both us and another competitor of the establishment that you seemingly like so much. If, however, you have a legitimate complaint, please drop by and see me and I will make it right.

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I :heart; Q

You a Restaurateur Tpapski?

Hey dave76, discontinue the kangaroo burger. We went to coasters today and that burger was horrible. My wife couldn't eat it and I just tried to eat the leftovers. one bite and had to spit it in the garbage. fishy tasting. Yuck. Thankfully Amanda took it off the bill. It was that bad. Everything else was great though. Love the Monsschef Schwarzbier and the Gravity Brewpub 'Biscayne Gold' IPA was worthy of drinking two.

CFD...was the kangaroo burger too hoppy for you???



( i just had to say it...vegemite samwich too)

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BurrysBreak

Inflation caused The BIG BANG...look it up!

LOL. Lets see how he handles a negative review of his kangaroo burger on 2ndlight!

He usually handles it really well.
( see the thread below on the new Taproom in Cocoa Beach )

I let him know a few things.

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So if you are a surfer I wish you the prosperity that allows you more time to pursue the salt water dream, and the true happiness that comes from warm water, clean waves and the companionship of your fellow surfers. If you are an internet troll just spewing bs then f off.

A Seinfeld post, brought to you on 2ndlight by Dave at Coasters:

Today's show features Central Floridave as George Costanza, DaveFL76 as Jerry and Tpablo as Kramer.

-SETTING- Jerry's Apartment

George: "So I just had the worst burger ever!"

Jerry: - What?

George: "Worst ever!"

Jerry: "Bones?"

George: "No. Not bones. It tasted terrible. Awful."

Jerry: "Where?"

George: "Coasters!"

Jerry: "Huh? Coasters?"

George: "Yep. No Good."

Jerry: "What do you mean? I thought you liked their burgers."

George: "I do"

Jerry: "So what?"

George: "Kangaroo."

Jerry: "Kangaroo?"

Kramer: "Whataroo?"

Jerry: "Kangaroo. So George had a kangaroo burger."

Kramer: "What? On Purpose?"

George: "Yeah, and it stunk."

Kramer: "Well, of course it stunk! It's a Kangaroo! Most kangaroos that are served as meat in the US come from Australia, and most of those animals are fed shrimpmeal as food, so sometimes kangaroo can taste fishy.

Jerry: "Well did they make you pay for it?

George: "No."

Kramer:"So, what are we complaining about?"

Edited: 06/20/2017 at 05:09 AM by DaveFL76

How is a place like Too Cool Cafe, where it takes around an hour to get a cheeseburger, complaining about the service at Coasters?!

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"The government who robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul," - George Bernard Shaw

“Don’t underestimate Joe’s ability to f—k things up.” - Barack Obama

“End of quote. Repeat the line.” - wise words from Joe Biden