Adelaide restaurateur says eateries should fight back against keyboard warriors after social media stoush
A LEADING restaurateur says eateries should be allowed to fight back against keyboard warriors who write scathing reviews about their businesses online after an extraordinary social media stoush.
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A TOP Adelaide restaurateur, embroiled in a fiery keyboard stoush with a customer he called “dimwitted”, says it’s time eateries “give as good as they get” when the butt of scathing online criticism.
Victory Hotel and Star of Greece owner Doug Govan let rip on Facebook after patron Jodie Clarke described the hotel as “rude and obnoxious” and “so unaccommodating” — and another, Emma-Jade Fowler, described “terrible customer service” after a booking mishap at the weekend.
Mr Govan branded Ms Fowler “dimwitted” and argued that businesses should be able to defend themselves on social media.
But disgruntled Ms Fowler described the attack as bullying behaviour and said the Sellicks Hill hotel’s response was shameful and “disgusting”.
The Victory Hotel’s Facebook page was forced to temporarily shut down after Ms Clarke wrote about her experience at the hotel on Saturday night after the eatery was unable to accommodate her and her friends.
“You are rude, obnoxious and so unaccommodating,” she wrote on Facebook.
“We had a group booking of 17 people, yes 17 people, and every single one ... has walked away disgusted.
“And every single one of us will tell every person we know our story of your terrible service and unhelpful, rude staff. We will never be back.”
Ms Fowler wrote “terrible customer service, you should be ashamed Victory Hotel” in reference to the booking problem.
This comment elicited an outburst from Mr Govan, which he says he now regrets.
“Terribly dim-witted Emma-Jade not-sure-what-my-first-name-should-be Emma or Jade, don’t get involved in something you don’t know anything about,” he wrote.
“Imagine one of your friends told you the sun wasn’t going to come up tomorrow. Would you agree just because they were a stupid, dim-witted friend? No, you wouldn’t. If one of your friends said I went to a restaurant with 17 people and they couldn’t find my booking? Yes, if you were a dim-witted imbecile, yes, possibly.
“But if they told you the truth and said that they had screwed up their booking, maybe you wouldn’t be wasting your time writing crap. But maybe you just love seeing your name on social media.”
Ms Fowler fired back. “At the end of the day, this is bullying and it will be taken further,” she wrote.
“You should be ashamed of the way you have responded, it’s disgusting.”
The feud also spilled over onto other review sites, including Tripadviser.com.au.
The hotel shut down its Facebook page on Monday night after a barrage of comments from those involved, as well as others, were posted about the incident. It came back online yesterday and offered an apology “for any offensive comments made on Facebook”.
A link to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission complaints portal was included in the post.
“Unfortunately in this case there has been a misunderstanding between customers and staff, perhaps out of proportion,” the hotel wrote.
Another hotel post said “all comments are being saved for review in any future matters with Duncan Basheer Hannon, lawyer for the Victory Hotel”.
Ms Fowler declined to comment about the incident, saying she was seeking legal advice on the matter.
Ms Clarke was also contacted for comment.
Mr Govan, who was not at the hotel when the group arrived on Saturday night, told The Advertiser his side of the story.
He said a staff member took a booking from one of the members of the group a few weeks ago for two people at 6.30pm on Saturday, April 1, however a group of 17 people turned up instead.
Mr Govan said the hotel was fully booked but they were offered the bar area, where they would be allowed to order off the same menu offered in the dining room — however the group declined and left.
Mr Govan said Ms Clarke’s Facebook post, and others, appeared on the hotel’s page shortly afterwards and he was “fuming”.
“I lost it a little bit there as you can see,” he said.
“In hindsight, would I take that back again? Yeah, absolutely I would.
“I get really hurt when my staff are abused the way they were in that first Facebook post.
“If you’ve got to whinge, why doesn’t someone ring you instead of posting something on our Facebook page?”
Mr Govan acknowledged his posts may have cause offence but said eateries should be permitted to stand up for themselves online.
“Every now and then people use social media to slam hotels without thinking about the hurt it can cause,” he said.
“I think it’s time that businesses can fire up and give as good as they get sometimes.”
The hotel’s apology was met with messages of both support and disapproval on Tuesday.
“Seriously, whomever was behind the wheel of your Facebook account that night needs a refresher course in managing PR f***-ups, plus perhaps a few weeks away from hospitality so as to remember how to behave like a decent human again,” one person wrote.
Another wrote: “Always had exceptional service and food at the Victory, been going there for years.”