A pub has hit back at a customer who left a one-star review, complaining that a dog was begging for food at his table.
The customer - a man by the name of John - took his wife to The Clickham Inn in Penrith, Cumbria, last month for a surprise birthday treat.
However, he left very unhappy indeed and said he couldn't believe it was the second highest rated restaurant in the area on Tripadvisor.
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Leaving an anomalous one-star review on the site, entitled 'WE WONT BE BACK !!!', John wrote: "Where to start ?.... I was going to write a long negative review but you would probably get bored with reading through all the issues ...
"Main issue was the owner ( Steve) who was so rude ,abrupt and has zero customer service skills . If you like a dog barking at your table begging for food off your plate..then hey ho it maybe for you .."
He continued (apologies for his spelling/grammar, by the way): "The young waiters/waitresses were fine but when we asked for the desert menu ..we were told the kitchen had closed. Out table was booked at 8pm for my wife's birthday, we had starters, mains and several glasses of wine ,drinks etc,
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"Steve rudely explained that the chef had been in all day and was wanting to get home .. When asked about his dog begging at everyone's table ..his reply was ..Its a dog friendly pub .
"He continued to emphasise that his customers come for the food ..which was OK..#standard .
"How this restaurant/pub is 2nd on TripAdvisor is beyond me . My wife's birthday surprise meal was ruined by a very hostile owner STEVE ...you need to go on a course for customer service!!"
The pub wasn't about to take this unusually poor review lying down though, with Geri B - labelled as owner of The Clickham Inn on Tripadvisor - responding with the other side of the story.
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"This review was expected and anyone who read your nasty words will be interested to read the truth," she wrote.
"Firstly, upon entering your entitled self important self was rude and dismissive of our helpful staff to the point that the staff warned me about the terrible people on table 15.
"After being escorted to your table and a short while after your drinks order being carried to your table an experienced member of our staff asked if you were ready to order. This was met with how you wanted to wait until your ready to order and how amateur we were for asking.
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"Well the rudeness continued throughout your meal to the point that both staff members were mentioning your attitude to me in disgust.
"I approached your table where you tried to berate me because I hadn't introduced myself to you upon arrival.
"You proceeded to talk over me and had an opinion on everything, I tried three times to explain that we are a dog friendly country pub that produces good quality home cooked food and not a full blown restaurant."
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She continued: "Your anger was quite ridiculous when at 9.45pm you asked to see the sweet menu and was informed that the kitchen closed at 9pm, which is not early at all.
"Ordinarily we would have made your sweets, regardless of the time but you were not going to be rewarded for your bad behaviour. I suspect your entitled and over opinionated rudeness probably has a little to do with why your restaurant in America failed, as you told me."
Oh snap.
And then to round things off, she concluded: "We are all collectively really happy that you will never be returning as we are known for being attentive and polite and its easy being nice to nice people.
"Folk can read hundreds our great reviews and then read yours, which do you think is typical of good folks experience. I imagine your review says more about you than anything else."
Topics: UK News, Dogs, Food And Drink
Jake Massey