'This is a shining example of a drunk person's view': Fed up restaurant owner pens reply to poor TripAdvisor review
'It is a shame that mindless people feel the need to write these kinds of reviews.'
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Your support makes all the difference.The owner of a pub has attacked a negative TripAdvisor review calling it “a shining example of a drunk person's view”.
This now deleted review had criticised the How Do You Do pub in North Shields for the wedding reception it hosted.
Samantha Cavens, 29, claimed “staff hurled abuse” at guests, only served them tea and sandwiches and let “random strangers” into the venue.
In addition, she claimed the wedding party had been “kicked out” so the owners could host an after-hours “lock-in”.
As reported by Chronicle Live, Paul Bell, the pub's co-owner, responded to this review with a nearly 1,000-word response.
Mr Bell answered each of her complaints starting with the food, stating the small serving had been agreed upon by the bride and groom.
“As a venue we also thought that for a wedding breakfast this lacked substance, however that choice is not ours,” he wrote.
“We did provide extra at no extra charge.”
Regarding the alleged “abuse”, he said: “As for the hurling of abuse, this is where I'm glad as a responsible retailer I was sober along with my staff.
“A number of guests were asked to leave due to the fact Class A drugs were being taken in the disabled toilets.“
According to Mr Bell, the regualrs described as “random strangers” were allowed in as the wedding party had not paid for the exclusive use of the venue.
He explained: “How Do You Do is a public house, this means it’s a public bar. The bride and groom paid for afternoon tea for 88 guests and an evening buffet for 100 guests, that was provided at 8pm.
“They were never told they had exclusivity of How Do You Do and to cover what we would normally take on a Saturday night would have been rather costly to say the least.”
After being ejected from the venue, Mr Bell said they had to lock themselves in to protect staff and customers.
He said the police were called after disgruntled wedding guests punched through windows and tried to break down the door.
Ms Cavens has subsequently denied she was unfair with her review and says her account of the evening was correct.
She said: “I wrote the review because I felt it needed it. It’s a public reviewing site.
“What I was saying in the review was that our table didn’t receive the food that was ordered."
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