Noosa restaurant owner hits out at customer after harsh review

The owner of an up-market Noosa restaurant has banned a customer from his venues after the diner accused the eatery of being a “rip-off”.

A Noosa restaurant owner has fought back against a customer over a negative online review, banning the patron from his eateries.

Ben Walsh from Miss Moneypenny’s on Hastings St penned a lengthy rebuttal to an online review by “Richard T”, who accused the restaurant in the popular tourist strip of being a “rip-off” for charging $5 for sparkling water and $4.50 for a “lousy coffee”.

“Let me start with the coffee, I honestly cannot remember a time in the past 10 years that I’ve dined in an Australian restaurant and have been charged less than $4.50 for a coffee, let alone a restaurant on Hastings St, which is one of the most prestigious retail streets in Australia which attracts some of the highest per sqm retail rent rates in Australia,” Mr Walsh said in his response to the patron.

“The cafe’s (sic) up at Noosa Junction sell their coffee for $4.50 whilst you sit on a plastic chair looking at a bus terminal. Those cafe’s also pay circa 70-75% less rent than Hastings St businesses do yet our pricing is still aligned!”

Mr Walsh then went on to refute the customer’s claim that the sparkling water was “equivalent to a Soda Stream” and overpriced.

“Our sparkling water is a brand called Vestal. A quick google search will see its (sic) a leading restaurant water brand supplying thousands of restaurants all over Australia including some of the most renowned restaurant brands … I can assure you its (sic) nothing like ‘Soda Stream’,” Mr Walsh said online.

Miss Moneypenny's on Hastings St, Noosa.

“Now consider this, $5 per person for unlimited sparkling water, where competing restaurants sell 750ml bottles for $10-$12 (or even more!). That works out to be $5 -$6 per 375ml glass of water. Once again we are $5 for unlimited water (we also offer tap water free of charge).

“When we first put this brand of water in, we did a lot of research into competitor pricing and found that all restaurants were selling it for $5 or up (some even at $8 …. Imagine the horror!).”

Miss Moneypenny's owner Ben Walsh has banned a customer from his restaurant after a negative review about pricing. Picture: Glenn Hampson

Mr Walsh then went on to ban the customer from his restaurants - Miss Moneypenny’s in Noosa and the Gold Coast and Fat Freddy’s on the Gold Coast - stating he had “zero understanding or even the slightest grasp of the price attached to dining out in 2021, or even from anytime this century”.

“As of today we are officially banning you from our restaurants until you can provide us with evidence that you have somewhat actually grasped the pricing attached to dining out in the year 2021 at any decent restaurant, let alone one that is on one of the most expensive retail streets in Australia,” Mr Walsh said.