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Kudos to Kiren at The Bladebone Inn. Evisceration of a ‘Foodie’ Scam Artist.
By: Patrick Maguire
Book Chapter: Customer Hall of Shame
Posted: 08/27/2013
Thank you to everyone who has sent emails, DM’s, texts, and content for this blog and book project, especially for the posts contributed to the Server Not Servant Facebook Group. The idea for today’s post was submitted via a TripAdvisor UK link to the SNS Facebook Group by Drew Starr, contributing editor at EaterBoston.
The following review was submitted to TripAdvisor UK by anonymous member, ‘Sinsand’, about The Bladebone Inn, located in Bucklebury Village in West Berkshire, England. In general, I believe that restaurateurs should exercise restraint, and only respond to amateur ‘reviewers’ on a limited basis. The response by chef/owner, Kiren Puri, is warranted, and an instant classic. Well done, Kiren.
Sinsand:
“Aweful food and dire complaint handling”
One of the worst evenings out in a while. Been there now and again and visited with my folks expecting an enjoyable night out. Two of us ordered the beef rib with marrow bone/smoked mash etc. All fine except the rib was so tough that it was practically inedible – I left half of mine (I even asked for steak knives which didn’t help!).
The very nice waitress asked where we were enjoying our meal and we fed back that the rib was pretty awful to the extent that I wasn’t going to finish my meal. She said that she would talk to the chef. We didn’t hear back. When the bill was presented there was no acknowledgement of our feedback. We asked what were the chef comments and at this point what turned out to be a very incompetent and rude waiter arrived. He informed us that he had tasted the meat as had the chef and that the meat was tender as always.
I fed back that all three of us would beg to differ to which he said that had we informed them earlier that they would have offered an alternative. This of course is what we did and they didn’t do anything and he then asked what I wanted to resolve the developing argument. I asked for some gesture. At this point he seemed to become very concerned about the scene developing so just grabbed the bill and said that we needn’t pay and disappeared off. We chose to pay for the third meal and drinks and left quite amazed at the immature customer service and bad food.
We like to support local pubs and restaurants and are real ‘foodies’. Some constructive advice for the management of the Blade Bone Inn:
Train your staff to put the customer first and not make mountains out of mole hills Only ask how the food is if you are going to take action and feedback – otherwise don’t bother
Empathise with your customer who after all probably isn’t trying to cheat you – don’t argue With this in mind, a small gesture, bit off the bill, drink, free dessert etc. goes a long, long way.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
[Note from Patrick Maguire, SNS; If you are a self-styled ‘foodie’, you are an asshole.]
Bladebone, Owner at The Blade Bone Inn, responded to this review on 20 August 2013.
I never respond to reviews on here, good or bad. I am a believer that these sites offer a communal platform to share experiences on, that enable us all to eat, drink and sleep better, and that can’t be a bad thing. Alas, we can never please 100% of people 100% of the time, no matter how hard we try, but we never stop trying.
Unfortunately, there are a small minority of people that use these sites for ulterior and more sinister motives and these people, like yourself, are a disease upon our wonderful industry, and it must be addressed. Therefore, I have chosen to respond for the first time in two years to your review as I do not think it is a fair reflection of the evening in question.
I have tried to address each of your points as fairly as I have seen it;
All plates that return to the kitchen unfinished are kept for either my or the head chef’s inspection. We both inspected what was left on your two plates (one plate was completely clear, whilst the other had the most miniscule piece of meat left.), the meat was tender and unctuous. We served six other portions that evening to a universal response of ‘excellent’, although I am open to the suggestion that food fairies may have bought another one into the building and replaced the one on your plate as a personal slight against you. Naughty fairies!
You falsely claim that half was left. Now I think someone has a little problem here telling the truth. I saw the plate, and our cctv shows that next to nothing was left, I would be more than happy to show you these images if your memory is hazy. Your parents seemed like lovely people, I’ll bet that they taught you better than that.
Your comments were fed back to the chef, and on his and my inspection, we agreed that the line we would use is “We have fed your comments back to the chef, and the chef thanks you for your feedback.”. Unfortunately this was not enough for you. We did not feel based on our inspection of the meal that the comments were fair, and decided against going deeper into the matter as I felt that a problem was out to be caused by yourself, and I was not prepared to indulge you in that.
The rude and incompetent waiter you speak off was me. I am the chef/patron and the business owner. I know, even I struggle to believe that sometimes! I have trained in the finest restaurants in the world, numerous three Michelin star etc, and I feel that I can recognise when there is a problem with the food by now. I did not feel that there was any issue whatsoever with your meal, this is my job and my chosen career. My regular customers know that I am very quick to ‘comp’ food if the food service or quality does not come up to my high expectations.
You are absolutely correct in that I was concerned about a scene escalating. My restaurant was fully booked, and I had eleven other tables enjoying their evening, and an atmosphere I wanted to protect. I made the decision to remove your bill, refuse your money, rather than risk one cancerous person ruin the atmosphere for everyone else, you were not the only customer. This is a decision I stand by.
You state that you left money to cover one meal and drinks. It did not cover that. The money was dispatched into the Air Ambulance charity box. If that is the value that you put on a meal in my restaurant, I would rather not have it.
You claim to be foodies. I have never met a self professed foodie start his meal with a bowl of chips.
I love looking after my customers and serving the food that we serve. After a while in this industry, you start to learn those who are out to look for problems and try and get a free ride. Unfortunately, we noticed straight away with yourself, and I asked the front of house team to take extra extra care with your table. I made sure that I took the order myself, even feeding back cooking times so that you would be aware that one of the dishes took a little longer to cook (they call this customer service), but unfortunately we were never going to win this one. As you have been so kind to give me some advice about how to run this business, I would like to give you some feedback on how to be a customer.
1. Tell the truth. Lying and distorting the truth beyond recognition is not cool, big nor clever even if it is a tool towards achieving your end result.
2. Having read the pseudo-criticisms on your other reviews, there are a couple of consistencies. I.e., You are after freebies and money off. If you are going to constantly do this, have the decency and ask for a reduction on the bill at booking or free courses. I’m sure all restaurants would love to take your reservation at this point, or at least recommend somewhere that would appreciate your custom. Margins are tight and the industry is harder than ever to make a success from. It is not fair to demand things (check your own reviews and you will find the same theme).
3. Remember that you are (thankfully) not a food critic. If you were, I would not be a chef. To quote Voltaire ‘I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend unto the death your right to say it.’ However, Voltaire also said, ‘one always speaks badly when one has nothing to say’. If you one day learn how to complain correctly and accept that we will listen to your feedback where appropriate. But, you will never tell me nor my staff to give you something for nothing when it is unwarranted.
4. Stick to venues that will satiate you. I can recommend an endless list of chains that have endless capital and will not mind gifting you the freebies and discounts that you so obviously crave.
5. Have a little respect for your fellow guests. Your parents appeared to be as embarrassed to be with you as I was to have you in my restaurant. That’s not fair on anyone.
Best Regards,
Kiren and The Bladebone Team
5 Responses to “Kudos to Kiren at The Bladebone Inn. Evisceration of a ‘Foodie’ Scam Artist.”
Leave a Reply
Permalink | Posted in Customer Hall of Shame | 5 Comments »
Well responded to Bone
I think I have fallen in love, a little, with Kiren. The best – and only way – to counter a parasite like Sinsand is with the facts and that was brilliantly accomplished here. Kudos and on our next trip across the pond this autumn we will pay you a visit just to prove that your international reputation remains intact.
This restaurant has an outstanding overall reputation on Trip Advisor. But if I read the owner’s reply to that reviewer, I’d never go there.
Is the customer right or are they lying? In an online review forum, it doesn’t matter. Those reviews, and the owner’s responses, are signals to other potential customers. The owner comes off as very defensive and ungracious. Much better to follow the same tactic as the dining room — resolve a small conflict swiftly and keep it from impacting other guests.
This sums up the danger of feedback sites polluted by people like Sinsand who have become professional complainers, damaging reputations unfairly with false and misguided reviews. I support Kiren and think his feedback was excellent, measured and factual, disproving the lies from the review and providing me with much amusement at the same time. I now want to visit the restaurant and will do so when next that way.
While I’ve looked at other reviews by Yelpers who’ve reviewed our restaurant, it never occurred to me until now to look for a pattern of comp-seeking. Its not as blatant where we are (Hartford, CT) as it is in, let’s say, Boston or New York, but it happens.
Kiren’s letter is perfect and priceless. I’m going to put a copy on the wall of my place.