Comments on Mat Follas - The Wild Garlic blog: Tripadvisor - my personal view

Hi Mat! I'm a UK expat, now living in Thailand...

2012-07-11T19:35:50.200+01:00

Hi Mat! I'm a UK expat, now living in Thailand (since 2006). We watch satellite TV here, which runs shows like Masterchef under the BBC Lifestyle umbrella. Three years late, but we've just watched the 2009 series. And delighted at your success. We like your style of food, and very pleased the judges saw your vision and potential. Back in the UK, pre-2006, I was a forager. And greatly enjoyed the 'foods of the hedgerows', some amazing wines, too. If we get back to the UK in future we'll be visiting and eating. I checked the web to see what you had done since Masterchef. Reading your blog, I was saddened to see this type of idiocy. One seldom knows if it's jealousy, game playing or genuine. But genuine people don't hide behind anonymity. We run a business here in Thailand. And we have an ecommerce presence on the internet, where people can leave comments about our service. Some people are honest and open if they have a problem. Many (particularly Brits) are not keen to complain. A tiny percentage however, will turn the smallest problem into a major issue. They will lie to try to get 'authority' on their side. They will exaggerate to try to gain (often undeserved) compensation. Such is human life, a mixture of the secure and the insecure, and all levels between. People have short memories. All that comes to pass moves on. We wish you and your family many years of pleasure in your pursuit of culinary excellence. Push the boundaries!

Matt - I have only had the pleasure of eating in y...

2012-02-11T19:09:32.318Z

Matt - I have only had the pleasure of eating in your restuarant once - and that's becuase it's a 2 and a half hour drive away - so it needs to be a special occasion. My husband and I LOVED everything you put in front of us - especially the little candle in his dessert as I had mentioned that it was his birthday when I booked. It shocks and saddens me that people will say things that aren't rue - whatever happened to personal integrity - once we lose that, all is lost I think. I loved watching you on Masterchef and wish you every success - you deserve it. Can't wait till be come again!

Stan how much do accountants make

Currently we have over 57150 restaurants and takea...

2011-06-10T20:29:09.772+01:00

Currently we have over 57150 restaurants and takeaways listed throughout England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. New restaurants and takeaways are being added on a regular basis making Sideorder one of the most up to date and comprehensive restaurant and takeaway guide on the Internet. Our customer reviews include honest comments based on their experiences.

Matt - I have only had the pleasure of eating in y...

2011-03-16T13:03:51.701Z

Have you thought about getting advice from Kwikche...

2011-03-10T17:58:31.973Z

Have you thought about getting advice from Kwikchex? They are an on-line reputation company who are currently mounting a case against the anonymity of Tripadvisor. They have been very helpful in our fight against a reviewer who is attempting to discredit our business through defamatory comments. Perhaps worth giving them a call.
Mandy

Trip adviser is shocking. Just last week I visited...

2011-03-09T09:55:01.625Z

Trip adviser is shocking. Just last week I visited a restaurant with excellent reviews on there which was just awful. There are numerous examples of restaurants that have posted great reviews of themselves and even more numerous are the 'revenge reviews'. i.e. for some reason (it can be something as petty as not being seated by the window) customers will be upset and exact revenge through TA.

I think more and more people are seeing TA for what it is. And those that use it aren't the people you want coming to your restaurant. I honestly wouldn't pay it mind.

Hi again, this piece has really given us 'food...

2011-03-02T14:03:36.864Z

Hi again, this piece has really given us 'food for thought' (no pun intended!)

In an effort to create a fair system and avoid issues such as fake reviews as is the issue with TA we have come up with the idea to have 'recommendations' rather than reviews.

Initially this may seem a biased way to give out information as recommendations are naturally positive in their nature but the lack of recommendations would be the negative thus avoiding fake bad reviews. Of course you will get fake good reviews but i feel this is less destructive to a business.

All 'recommendations' would be manually reviewed (and we would be able to tell if the same user was creating more than one recommendation) and all business owners would have the option to create their own page with the correct info along with factual based info such as awards and press mentions. We would also manually verify each owner’s submission.

I'd be interested to know any thoughts on this!
Katy

Pete ? Thanks for your balanced review ... 4 negat...

2011-02-26T16:56:37.090Z

Pete ? Thanks for your balanced review ... 4 negatives from a single table ... seriously ? If it was that bad then really you could have mentioned it on the night.

We have changed most of our staff in the last six months and have deliberately reduced hours and customer numbers to continue to improve our service. No restaurant is perfect however and
we do make mistakes.

I read all letters. I'm happy to discuss. I always respond if there is any point. I do occasionally receive letters which tell me how everything is wrong with my restaurant ... there is little point having a dialogue with those letters.

Why hide behind what 'locals say' and not publish your full name ? No local can be telling the truth as to what I do with letters any more than rumours of us closing/opening in Bridport/Weymouth/London etc are true. Why not pop in and have a coffee (on me) if you are local and have a chat as you have obviously gone to some considerable effort to make your point many other ways apart from actually talking to me, I work most shifts in the restaurant so am hardly difficult to talk to.

If your comments were constructive you would have had a response. If you just don't like my restaurant, that's ok too, I do not have to agree with you, the great majority of my customers do enjoy what we are trying to do and offer constructive criticsm when we mess up but if I were to please everyone we would be rather more average than I want.

Matt, After a second visit to your restaurant I wr...

2011-02-25T19:43:41.761Z

Matt, After a second visit to your restaurant I wrote to you personally last November(my first letter to any restaurant in 40 years of dining out and I am a local) about a bad experience at your restaurant which led 3 of my party of 4 to post a bad review on tripadvisor.
As I got no response to my letter to you, I then also posted a review on Tripadvisor. It was accurate. I wasn't looking for a free meal with my letter, just an acknowledgement. I'd like to have spoken to you on the night but have heard from other locals that you don't like confrontation and are likely to chuck letters of complaint in the bin. Any comment?

Having eaten at your restaurant with my husband we...

2011-02-24T23:39:26.840Z

Having eaten at your restaurant with my husband we have always enjoyed it and intend to return again. The service has always been excellant, the food has met with all expectations and the facilites always clean and tidy. Someone out there is jealous of your achievement or has got the wrong Wild Garlic If I was unhappy I would address it with the owner at the time so why did this anonymous person not do that. I will be be returning for sure

Oh, it's all a load of rubbish. Clearly, if t...

2011-02-24T18:16:18.762Z

Oh, it's all a load of rubbish. Clearly, if the 'reviewer' doesn't have the courage to put their name to the piece then their view can't possibly be taken seriously by anybody with an ounce of intelligence. It's upsetting when people print lies about you though, so I do think you're right to respond - briefly and concisely.

Really, I wouldn't worry about it further. There will always be jealous, spineless people around who have so little going on themselves that they thrive on attacking others achievements. Let it go and don't let their poison touch you for even one second longer. Your customers are your true feedback!

I've noticed this more and more, a bit like sp...

2011-02-23T20:29:03.054Z

I've noticed this more and more, a bit like spam, where when you see something mis-spelt or all in CAPS, or with some sort of by-line you haven't seen before your suspicions should immediately be raised.

I use Amazon a lot, but always check the other reviews of a reviewer whose advice I may be about to make a decision based on. You will be astonished (not now!) as to how many single review super positives/negatves there are.

The majority of the commentators are right in two ways; DO respond if someone criticises unfairly - we do take notice. Secondly, if someone writes a review without giving the originator a chance to reply/redress before doing so, then they are unspeakable. Makes me very bloody angry, to be honest as it is in human terms indefensible and the act of a cowardly, malicious creature whatever the environment. Just so you know that you are not alone in what you think.

I think Flash Bristow's suggestions on how to ...

2011-02-22T10:19:06.671Z

I think Flash Bristow's suggestions on how to respond are absolutely on the money, and, on the occasions where I read a review and couldn't work out myself whether it was fake, they'd go a long way in reassuring me, especially if the majority of reviews were positive.

Hi Mat, I was appalled to read the Tripadvisor rev...

2011-02-22T08:54:41.704Z

Hi Mat, I was appalled to read the Tripadvisor reviews. I had the most wonderful meal and chat with you, the staff were very helpful and a delight. I have told all my friends that eating at The Wild Garlic is 'a must' when they're in the beatiful county of Dorset. Keep on with the good work Mat as you have very appreciative customers.

Hi Mat, I'd like to see your piece reprinted i...

2011-02-18T21:52:46.737Z

Hi Mat, I'd like to see your piece reprinted in a national newspaper - Comment is Free in the Guardian maybe? Perhaps this is something Jane at Olive can help with? The issues you raise are pertinent to the current debate about the government getting rid of Visit Britain on the basis that sites like Trip Advisor do the job just as well. I feel genuinely saddened - restaurants are such high risk businesses anyway, this type of issue could put a business under. I am also very uncomfortable with the legal position - what you describe is malicious slander and could warrant legal attention, but obviously this isn't possible since the reviews are anonymous. That can't be right. Thanks for writing about this.

I think Trip Advisor is becoming more and more dis...

2011-02-18T18:28:01.057Z

I think Trip Advisor is becoming more and more discredited because it's quite clear the motivation of many reviewers is not to advise other trippers but to slag off a place because they have some kind of grudge.
The fact you've blogged and tweeted about it is answer enough and is a story that will probably get picked up by the papers if it hasn't already.
I'm just over the hill from your restaurant and have enjoyed it many times, also reviewing it on my blog (after which you took down that full length mirror in the upstairs loo). Even in the early days there were plenty of Mat Follas bashers. I think you have done all you can and more in silencing these so-called 'critics'. I admire your dignity in rising about it all. Keep smiling.

I HATE trip advisor. I don't trust it having ...

2011-02-18T15:22:03.717Z

I HATE trip advisor. I don't trust it having seen it on watchdog and other similar tv shows. It doesn't work, isn't fairly managed and doesn't really help.

I prefer to use blogs and twitter and get good honest feedback from that (be it good or bad). At least you know the identity of the reviewer and can contact them directly that way. I do post reviews on my blog, and would always be happy to discuss it with the restaurants concerned if they felt there was an issue and have had good feedback from restaurants who've appreciated my good reivews.

Don't take it to heart Mat.

I think regular users of Tripadvisor understand th...

2011-02-18T14:40:13.156Z

I think regular users of Tripadvisor understand that this practice goes on and are able to read between the lines. I would certainly respond to poor reviews you believe to be fake as there are always new users on Tripadvisor who are not aware of the faking and will take the reviews as gospel.

"The world's largest travel review site&q...

2011-02-18T14:30:11.485Z

"The world's largest travel review site" has a major flaw: 'reviewers' with only one 'review'. Tripadvisor and the likes are after traffic on their site so they can get money from their advertisers, not valuable and accurate content. No professional writers to pay!

They do not have to take responsibility for their content, as they do not write it (so the US law is on their side) and do not have to investigate defamatory claims (as professional information sites -newspapers/magazines- would have to do).

I read somewhere (but have not checked) that one of their Top 10 hotels last year had closed down by the time they published the results. All they had to do is check if the 10 hotels were still open…

A reviewer is "a writer of critical reviews", gives his or her point of view and signs. Not sure an anonymous (and only once in lifetime) writer should be called a "reviewer".

Anybody who knows how to use Tripadvisor and the likes will know from titles such as "DISGUSTING !!!" that the anonymous "writer" (with one entry) has a hidden agenda.

Unfortunately, not everybody will know how to use user generated content websites and whilst they can be a good thing (giving people a voice has to be positive), they need to be used in conjunction with other information such as professional reviews, rosettes and food guides. Not everybody will have the time to do that and Tripadvisor can cause damage to smaller hotels and restaurants (and many hotels claim they have, Duncan Bannatyne being one of the famous ones).

In Wild Garlic's case, managing an entry in the Michelin guide in less than two years is no mean feast so I'll leave this 'review' on a positive note, I've never been disappointed when I've eaten at the Wild Garlic. Long may it continue.

Adam Raphael wrote a piece in The Sunday Times (ca...

2011-02-18T14:18:23.477Z

Adam Raphael wrote a piece in The Sunday Times (can't read it as don't subscribe) re Trip Advisor and The Good Hotel Guide and slates TA - just can't trust it

ok ok ... we have posted replies ... thanks for th...

2011-02-18T13:46:07.563Z

ok ok ... we have posted replies ... thanks for the feedback and the positive comments ... lets see if they are published. Tripadvisor have refused to withdraw reviews we have said are untrue so it leaves little other recourse as there are too many people who read these site as part of their decision making ... including me

As Katy Higginson said, Matt, take comfort from th...

2011-02-18T13:44:39.992Z

As Katy Higginson said, Matt, take comfort from the fact that those who use Trip Advisor to find hotels and restaurants (like me) notice the %age of good to bad reviews. If your reviews are mostly good, we will see thru the crazy nutters!

it sounds to me as if someone has an agenda with t...

2011-02-18T13:10:47.501Z

it sounds to me as if someone has an agenda with these reviews as suggested I would respond on Trip Advisor and state your case that you feel these are bogus reviews and will not respond to them unless they are proved to be otherwise

Blimey. If it was my restaurant, I would respond (...

2011-02-18T12:38:33.891Z

Blimey. If it was my restaurant, I would respond (very politely) to the negatives. For example "I'm sorry to hear that you were unhappy. However I am confused about the cutlery incident, it could not have been dropped by the toilets as they are on another floor. Perhaps you could get in touch so we can resolve any issues."

That way a) they know their bluff is called and b) the unwitting reader - like me who did think "aren't the loos upstairs? maybe the door is downstairs, I can't remember" will know that the reviewed meal DID NOT HAPPEN.

Because even though I've visited your restaurant, and had a wonderful time (my own review is still in TripAdvisor's pending pile after 2 days...) I couldn't guess which were genuine and which were not. I thought it would be very out of character for you to laugh at a fly in someone's soup, or even to roll out a tired cracker joke about flies in soup, but I did wonder if maybe as the soup was instantly replaced, you made an apologetic light hearted remark that was misunderstood. But now I know it didn't happen.

I use trip advisor when trying to find hotels, sights, and restaurants. Indeed, last month I took friends to a restaurant in their own town that they'd never tried, purely on the strength of their reviews, and now my friends will go back again regularly. Before I read trip advisor, they'd never considered it.

I stayed at a hotel which had several negative reviews, however I was pleased to see that the negatives had been responded to by staff saying "yes, we DID have an issue with a dog pooing in the drawing room, it only happened once and that member of staff has gone. We no longer allow dogs in the drawing room" which reassured me. As a customer I am glad to see when negatives have been responded to, it shows the proprietor cares about their reputation, wants to know the good and the bad, and improves on issues once they are brought to their attention.

In your case, I would think it is worth replying "I'm sorry you were unhappy with the service from our staff. We did indeed employ a woman who made negative remarks about vegetarians, but we quickly became aware of this and she is no longer one of our employees. We welcome vegetarians and always have suitable dishes on our menu." As a veggie, if I hadn't been before I would worry about the review, but be reassured by a robust reply like that.

I really do think it's worth responding, not "rising to the bait" or sniping in any way, but being apologetic for their experience, and being factual in your response.

After all, I think the service industry is not about what people do right, but how they correct things when they go wrong. That's certainly the bit you remember. It's not your fault that many of the things in Trip Advisor have "gone wrong" but you can still put them right.

Just my view, as a customer who relies on trip advisor.

All the best, Flash / techiebabe

matt, trip advisor are famed for never taking revi...

2011-02-18T12:24:51.722Z

matt, trip advisor are famed for never taking reviews down, I've asked for one (not really bad) review to come down as I knew the local person involved had never set foot in our place, but to no avail.
Fo