It’s a problem facing many of Manchester’s cafes, restaurants and bars - the dreaded one-star review. You might think that any savvy trader would simply shrug it off and move on. After all, who cares what an anonymous internet poster thinks? But these reviews can have a major impact on business.
And as our What’s On editor Jenna Campbell explains in a detailed feature, those who have suffered the ill effects are starting to hit back.
Over the weekend, bosses at Stockport’s popular The Mekong Cat received a flood of support after speaking out following a one-star review they claim was ‘edited and reposted’ six months after the visitor dined there.
A Google review mentioned how cold the restaurant was and took issue with the fact “mains came out at different times” and said that paying £2.50 for a can of Diet Coke was “disgusting”. Restaurant bosses explained that an average plate costs £11-12 for “generous” portions of homemade food that takes “hours to make”. They also broke down the cost of a can of coke: “We do make our profits on our drinks, and £2.50 for a can of Coke is a lot more than the 24-pack in a can you get at your local Aldi's. However, we hire staff to serve you that can of Coke, a pot washer to wash it after, and pay electricity on where the can of Coke is stored. So I apologise that we are trying to profit about 50p from that can of Coke you were served.”
They’re not the first ones to offer up a slice of reality in defence of their business. Last month, Millie Walter of the Northern Quarter’s Buzzy Bee Bakery hit back at a one-star review on Google, which simply read: "It's expensive". Millie took to social media posting a video breaking down ingredient costs and outlining their £40,000 staff and National Insurance bills and £10,000 rent and service charges. "In this day and age it's really hard running a business so we appreciate if you don't leave one-star reviews without explanation," she said.
As Jenna writes in her feature, “it used to be the case that arriving for dinner was a venue's first chance to make a good impression. Today, that chance lies elsewhere - online. Whether that's the condensed section on Google, which lists the latest reviews, a TripAdvisor write-up or even a short clip on social media with someone's quick take of the dining experience, it all has an impact.”
Millie, of Buzzy Bee Bakery, says she uses reviews herself as an “important tool”. But she believes they should be monitored. “It’s near impossible to get them removed,” she says. “You can apparently pay people to get rid of them but I obviously wouldn’t do that. You can’t even track that they’ve bought something, it could be fake for all we know. It should be monitored better and it's unfair.”
In other news, there were shenanigans in Makerfield over the weekend when a man was caught on camera appearing to tear down Labour campaign signs. A post on Andy Burnham’s campaign page read: "Whoever this is, we’d appreciate your help on the 19th of June as we’ll have about 650 stakes to take down, but could you give it a rest for now." Meanwhile, Manchester artist Stan Chow has launched legal action against Reform alleging copyright infringement after the party shared an image depicting migrants crossing the Channel holding a poster bearing his famous illustration of Mr Burnham.
Rapist Paul Quinn has finally faced justice more than two decades after Andrew Malkinson was wrongly convicted of a crime Quinn committed. But the story is far from over. Focus will now turn to an inquiry set up to examine how such a grave miscarriage of justice took place.
There was an outpouring of grief and a huge celebration of life for the late Mancunian boxing icon Ricky Hatton, during a special event last night. An all-star lineup of musicians, comedians, boxers and TV presenters descended on the AO Arena for a ‘Las Vegas-style’ celebration.
