A café in Christchurch is getting one back at the haters by proudly publishing negative TripAdvisor reviews in its menus. C1 Espresso owner Sam Crofskey said that the approach was about “owning” the bad reviews.
"[Customers] can compare that to the current experience they are having in the cafe I guess," he said. "It's different than sitting behind a keyboard than going into a place and actually experiencing it."
The reviews range from complaints about staff pointing and laughing, as well as more common issues like running out of particular type of milk. Crofskey also defended his staff against the accusations made in the reviews, saying that he only hired fulltime staff and that they were all professionals.
"They are a team of professional staff who are actually giving it heaps. They aren't eye rolling or laughing at our customers in the manner these reviews suggest. It would be embarrassing for them to be thought they were doing a bad job as a waitress."
He hopes that there is a lesson to be learned in the approach.
"Maybe people could remember to write a review about some of their good experiences every now and then," he said. "Maybe that's the thing we are trying to say with our menu. We are trying to remind people to be kind to each other and say some nice things. Maybe if you have a good experience somewhere try and write a good review about them."
