Todd Elliot contacted me via email and informed me that another local business had recommended our restaurant and he offered to give the restaurant where I work a positive write up with a link to the restaurant's website in exchange for free dinner for himself and his family because he was going to be in the area reviewing our local ski resort. He even offered to give our restaurant a positive write up for a breakfast as well.
I informed him that I would have to confirm this with the restaurant owner the next day. I forgot about it because I didn't work the next day and I assumed he would call ahead on the evening in question to confirm before arriving.
On the evening he wanted to dine he showed up to the restaurant, introduced himself and asked me in the dining room if I had confirmed the dinner. I told him I had forgotten about it and apologized and found out from the owner's friend who was in the dining room that the owner was driving back to the restaurant and we would have to wait for her return.
He informed me that his family was in the car and if we weren't going to find out immediately he was going to go home and that if he'd known this was going to happen he would have picked another restaurant.
I apologized again and told him he could wait for the owner. There were other customers in the restaurant and I asked the owner's friend how long she thought it would be before the owner's return.
He was informed it would only be minutes but he insisted that the owner's friend call her and ask her permission. He was then informed that the owner said he could wait for her or come back and review the restaurant another time.
He told me that it was now or never and wanted me to call the owner back but she was driving so I told him no and that I guess the answer was no, so he said that he was going to now give her bad PR. I told him that wasn't fair because the mixup was my fault not hers.
I went into the kitchen to see if the chef would help me get him to leave because he was making a scene in the dining room and being rude to me and the owner's friend. The chef came out to escort him out and he threatened to add him to the bad PR he was going to give the restaurant and asked the chef's name.
The chef gave him his name and told him he didn't care if he wrote anything negative about him. The next morning I received a message that there was a new Yelp review for our restaurant in which he misrepresented everything that happened and gave our restaurant a bad review.
He asserted that we were inattentive when in fact he walked in directly to me and started the conversation and monopolized my attention from the start. His wife and daughter even came in and asked for a cup of water for his daughter which I gave her right away. We were more than accomodating in trying to get an answer for him right away. The fact that he went on to give our restaurant a bad review on Yelp because we couldn't confirm right then and there at the beginning of our dinner rush whether we could feed his family for free or he was going home and never coming back is beyond ridiculous.
This man was extremely rude and demanding when all he had to do was bring his family in, sit down and wait a few minutes for the owner to confirm whether they could dine for free and in fact she did arrive within ten minutes of his leaving. He was also rude to the owner's friend and while he was making this scene the actual dining customers were subject to his drama instead of having a pleasant experience.
He then went to another local restaurant that was in the opposite direction of his home after telling more than once that if he couldn't get the confirmation right then for the free dinner/positive write up exchange he was just going home. I wonder if the other restaurant fed his family for free on the spot or did he have to pay like any other customer.
This whole thing came off as a scam for free food. If he received his family's free dinner and wasn't satisfied would the restaurant have received the positive write up anyway? I don't trust any of the positive reviews of restaurants on his website if they were attained in anyway similar to what I experienced. It seems like he was just looking for a way to provide his family with a day of free skiing and free food.
There was no reason that he couldn't have been polite and understanding, accepted my apology for the mixup and dined at our restaurant at his expense and forego the write up like any of our other satisfied customers. Better yet, he could have waited the ten minutes for the owner who more likely than not would have accepted his proposal even after he was rude and demanding.
Coast to Coast Newspaper Reviews
Todd Elliot contacted me via email and informed me that another local business had recommended our restaurant and he offered to give the restaurant where I work a positive write up with a link to the restaurant's website in exchange for free dinner for himself and his family because he was going to be in the area reviewing our local ski resort. He even offered to give our restaurant a positive write up for a breakfast as well.
I informed him that I would have to confirm this with the restaurant owner the next day. I forgot about it because I didn't work the next day and I assumed he would call ahead on the evening in question to confirm before arriving.
On the evening he wanted to dine he showed up to the restaurant, introduced himself and asked me in the dining room if I had confirmed the dinner. I told him I had forgotten about it and apologized and found out from the owner's friend who was in the dining room that the owner was driving back to the restaurant and we would have to wait for her return.
He informed me that his family was in the car and if we weren't going to find out immediately he was going to go home and that if he'd known this was going to happen he would have picked another restaurant.
I apologized again and told him he could wait for the owner. There were other customers in the restaurant and I asked the owner's friend how long she thought it would be before the owner's return.
He was informed it would only be minutes but he insisted that the owner's friend call her and ask her permission. He was then informed that the owner said he could wait for her or come back and review the restaurant another time.
He told me that it was now or never and wanted me to call the owner back but she was driving so I told him no and that I guess the answer was no, so he said that he was going to now give her bad PR. I told him that wasn't fair because the mixup was my fault not hers.
I went into the kitchen to see if the chef would help me get him to leave because he was making a scene in the dining room and being rude to me and the owner's friend. The chef came out to escort him out and he threatened to add him to the bad PR he was going to give the restaurant and asked the chef's name.
The chef gave him his name and told him he didn't care if he wrote anything negative about him. The next morning I received a message that there was a new Yelp review for our restaurant in which he misrepresented everything that happened and gave our restaurant a bad review.
He asserted that we were inattentive when in fact he walked in directly to me and started the conversation and monopolized my attention from the start. His wife and daughter even came in and asked for a cup of water for his daughter which I gave her right away. We were more than accomodating in trying to get an answer for him right away. The fact that he went on to give our restaurant a bad review on Yelp because we couldn't confirm right then and there at the beginning of our dinner rush whether we could feed his family for free or he was going home and never coming back is beyond ridiculous.
This man was extremely rude and demanding when all he had to do was bring his family in, sit down and wait a few minutes for the owner to confirm whether they could dine for free and in fact she did arrive within ten minutes of his leaving. He was also rude to the owner's friend and while he was making this scene the actual dining customers were subject to his drama instead of having a pleasant experience.
He then went to another local restaurant that was in the opposite direction of his home after telling more than once that if he couldn't get the confirmation right then for the free dinner/positive write up exchange he was just going home. I wonder if the other restaurant fed his family for free on the spot or did he have to pay like any other customer.
This whole thing came off as a scam for free food. If he received his family's free dinner and wasn't satisfied would the restaurant have received the positive write up anyway? I don't trust any of the positive reviews of restaurants on his website if they were attained in anyway similar to what I experienced. It seems like he was just looking for a way to provide his family with a day of free skiing and free food.
There was no reason that he couldn't have been polite and understanding, accepted my apology for the mixup and dined at our restaurant at his expense and forego the write up like any of our other satisfied customers. Better yet, he could have waited the ten minutes for the owner who more likely than not would have accepted his proposal even after he was rude and demanding.