Twenty-five reasons restaurants shouldn’t publicly shame customers on social media

IT has become a popular method for restaurants to get one back at rude, abusive or tight-fisted customers. But here’s why public shaming them on social media is a really bad idea.

Should restaurants shame customers?

WHEN a young French couple ate and ran without paying a $230 bill at WA restaurant last month, it was the last straw.

A picture of the pair was posted on Facebook by Mojo’s Restaurant Bunbury and quickly went viral, with more than 30,000 shares in a few hours.

Before long, the backpackers were back, shamefaced, to cough up.

To top it off, the dine-and-dash couple was apparently sent packing by the local farmer who employed them when he saw a photo of the pair online.

With the growth of social media, public shaming has become a popular method for restaurants and other small businesses to get one back at rude, abusive or tight-fisted customers.

It seems to be particularly popular for calling out stinginess in the US, where low-paid servers rely on tips to make ends meet.

NFL star LeSean McCoy, who earns roughly $9 million a year playing for the Philadelphia Eagles, got the Facebook treatment when he left a 20 cent tip on a $60 bill at a local burger restaurant.

That one backfired however, with most customers ultimately siding with McCoy after he gave his side of the story.

Industry veteran and author Patrick Maguire, who runs the blog I’m Your Server Not Your Servant, has come out strongly against the practice of public shaming.

In a recent blog post, first picked up by Consumerist, Mr Maguire outlines 25 reasons why restaurants shouldn’t shame customers on social media.

Here is the full post, republished with permission:

“On the heels of one of the biggest stories in the news last week, publicly shaming abusive guests and fellow humans, I made two lists for current and future consulting clients to consider before pulling the trigger. Now that we’ve all had time to reflect on the incidents and the aftermath, I decided to make my lists public here for discussion.

Reasons why initiating public shaming of customers by a business on social media is a bad idea:

1.Defending the decision or apologising for it can be a huge time drain.

2.The distraction from running your business.

3.It could backfire badly.

4.The other side of the story.

5.The truth.

6.If you or your staff are culpable, you’ve created an (unnecessary) opportunity for the spotlight to shine brightly on your mishandling of the situation, lack of training, professionalism and experience.

7.The potential perception that your shaming of guests may be perceived as passive aggressive and cowardly, the same thing many of us accuse amateur ‘reviewers’ of.

8.Screenshots and residual articles and comments are forever, along with the negative connotations.

9.The satisfaction is usually temporary, and often not worth it.

10.The questions about your true motives. (Is it to compensate for something you’re not doing or to create a distraction?)

11.The risk. It’s rarely 100% beneficial.

12.The sycophantic, ‘hero’ worshipping, cheerleaders who may enjoy the entertainment aren’t your true friends.

13.The high road.

14.Revenge/retaliation.

15.Inciting ex-employees with a legitimate axe to grind to unearth ugly truths. (Wrongful termination, etc.)

16.Inciting ex-’everythings’ to expose your skeletons. (Stiffed/jaded vendors, consultants, etc.)

17.The longer-term implications for the shamed could ultimately be more severe than their improprieties warrant.

18. Potentially being accused of staging the incident for PR purposes.

19.The questions raised about your professionalism and hospitality philosophy.

20.Huge distraction for FOH staff when future customers repeatedly ask about the incident.

21.The story will be repeated over and over inaccurately, with negative connotations for you and your business.

22.You’re better off letting someone else do it, bloggers, media, customers, Chowhounds, etc.

23.Your PR firm may fire you.

24.Potential lawsuit.

25.Google.

Reasons why initiating public shaming of customers by a business on social media is a great idea:

1.You’ve slept on it and considered all 25 reasons above and are convinced that you, your employees, future guests, your brand and your business will benefit in the long run.

There are exceptions when we’re backed into a corner and need to defend ourselves, our families, staff, brands, businesses, the ‘truth’, and fight fire with fire. Absolutely. And there’s no doubt with the way that technology has evolved, and the way people sometimes use it as a threat, that we’ve all been tempted to strike back, and have in some cases.

I’ve done it probably more often than I should have via blog posts. We all wish we could have moments back and could have handled things differently. As business owners, employees and customers, we can all learn from this recent spate of public shamings, and reflect on how we might respond the next time we’re tempted.

I strive for the mission of this blog and my book project to present balanced views of the issues. That doesn’t always happen because we’re all biased and my bias has a (strong) tendency to sympathise with workers/owners vs. customers in most instances. I understand that, and I’ll continue to work on being more objective while researching and posting here.

I welcome your comments and perspective.”

What do you think? Should restaurants publicly shame customers on social media? Leave your comments below or join the conversation on Twitter with @PatrickMBoston and @newscomauHQ