Ridiculous TripAdvisor review ‘written by dog’ blasts restaurant because pet couldn’t have its own table
A RIDICLOUS TripAdvisor review "written by a dog" has blasted a restaurant because the pet couldn't get its own table.
Simon Docker, owner of HUIS in Portsmouth, Hampshire, was baffled when he checked his page to find a "highly strung dog" had written a scathing review slamming his staff's "paw service".
Staff had asked a pair of 'rude' customers to remove their dog from the sofa at his restaurant's prime spot in the front window on Sunday.
However, the next morning they voiced their anger in a first person rant pretending to be their pet.
The one-star write-up initially beams of the mutt's delight to be welcomed with a tummy rub, but explains this "turned to horror" when he was "cast down to the floor like a salad at a BBQ".
It boasts of his "sterling on-lead behaviour" while sat on the Chesterfield two-seater as his "pawrents" enjoyed their beer and camembert before moaning about the workers' request.
The review then concludes by sassily demanding the same privileges as humans and announcing "although I am a dog to some, I am a customer to you".
The unknown couple even featured the dog in their Tripadvisor username of 408dogwilso and their profile picture showed the dog sat on the sofa.
Restaurant owner Simon, who was on holiday at the time, posted a screengrab on Facebook, where he refuted the dog's gripe, saying "we are dog friendly", "but we cannot give a dog its own table".
The 40-year-old has since blasted the "trolling" pair as "immature".
'BAFFLED'
Simon said: "We'll take negative feedback on board but to have a dog review the restaurant, written by the owner, is just bizarre.
"When I saw it I was just baffled. As much as I love dogs, we won't give one their own table. It's immature that they've hidden behind the guise of their own dog.
"The sofa's right at the front window. My staff didn't even touch the dog, they just asked the owners if they could take him off the sofa.
"We put the review on Facebook to say we welcome dogs but we can't give them a table, in a light-hearted way. It wasn't meant to bully the poster.
"The woman has called the restaurant about 10 times to ask us to remove the Facebook post but they're the ones who posted the review in the first place.
"When she rang she said she was really angry at her partner because they were really drunk, but it was done at 9am so they weren't drunk all night.
"The woman said she's been getting stressed but nobody can message her because the account has her dog's on it. It's definitely backfired on them.
"It's not shed their dog in a very good light either. He seems quite highly strung. I'm sure the dog is much more polite than the owners.
"We've been shut for a lot of the past 12-18 months so we're all just doing our best at the moment to deal with very difficult circumstances and this is really unhelpful."
Simon insists he's tried to call the pair to resolve the issue, but the "embarrassed" woman calls on a withheld number so he hasn't been able to discuss it.
Their review has since been deleted from Tripadvisor.
Huis, which has 12 staff, can currently only accommodate 22 people rather than the usual 60 in order to maintain social distancing.
Owner Simon explains he can't afford to be giving tablets to dogs or losing business because of anonymous reviews, and that's why he 'took a stand' by posting this bizarre example online.
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Simon said: "Restaurants have been through hell for the past 18 months and we're doing everything to stay open and support our staff."
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"We don't need this trolling sort of sarcasm. Two more reviews like that can really reduce our turnover. We're all fed up with these anonymous reviews, abusing good nature.
Simon's post on Facebook simply said: "We are Dog Friendly! But regret as a small restaurant, we cannot give a dog his own table!"