A one-star review is the one people rehearse an answer to in their head and then post something they regret. It is also the review a future customer is most likely to read all the way through.
Below are real 1-star reviews left at UK cafés, the reply that is actually published underneath each one today, and the reply our software writes for the same review. Business names, email addresses and reviewers' names are removed. Nothing here is invented.
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The temptation at one star is to make the anger go away. That is what produces the two things you cannot take back: conceding that the allegation is true, and promising something to fix it.
Food was good although 2 of our party got their food 15 mins after the rest. Service super slow, 3 drinks in an hour and half for a £45 "bottomless" not good. ——— to the bar man and he was apologetic and allowed us to pay the lower price band with some free shots but still didn't make up for the fact we booked a while ago and mentioned it was a friends birthday party. Would recommend for drinks but not for an advertised "bottomless" service.
Hi ———, Firstly, we'd like to sincerely apologise for the experience you had with us. We completely understand how disappointing it is when the service doesn't meet expectations, and we're genuinely sorry that we let you down. We did our best to make things right on the day by extending your booking time, offering discounts, and providing complimentary shots as a gesture of goodwill. Unfortunately, we were much busier than anticipated due to the ——— festival, with a large number of walk-in customers, which resulted in slower service than we would normally provide. While this explains why things were delayed, it doesn't take away from your experience, and for that we sincerely apologise. Our goal was to ensure you didn't leave feeling disappointed, which is why we tried to compensate for the inconvenience as much as possible. We truly value your feedback, and we'd really appreciate the opportunity to restore your confidence in us. Please get in touch with us directly, and we'll do everything we can to make this right. Thank you for your understanding, and we hope to have the chance to welcome you back and provide the experience you should have received the first time.
Thank you for setting out your experience so plainly. The standards you describe — on the plate and at the table — are the ones we hold ourselves to, and we have read this properly. We hope to see you again.
A member of staff was very rude to my partner as he only wanted a mug to drink from and member of staff made very rude remarks which is totally disgusting he needs to go look at himself in the mirror before coming to work with that attitude.
Hi ———, thank you for taking the time to leave this feedback. We’re very sorry to hear about your experience. We hold customer service to a very high standard at ——— and it’s really important to us that every guest feels respected and well looked after. On this occasion, we didn’t deliver that, and I’m sorry for that. To clarify, we do switch to takeaway cups after 4pm so our team can begin closing down properly after busy service and ensure everyone is able to finish their shift on time. That process should always be communicated clearly and with care, and in this case it wasn’t handled as it should have been. A refund was provided at the time, but we understand that doesn’t undo the experience. We are addressing this internally to make sure it doesn’t happen again. We’d really appreciate any further detail you can share so we can fully understand what happened and learn from it - you can reach me at ———. Thank you again for bringing this to our attention. Kind regards, ———
——— at the counter isn't something we'd brush past — how a customer is treated matters as much as what's in the cup. We'll look into this with the team.
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