WELL, that's certainly one way to get yourself in the papers.

 

A Falkirk restaurant, Canada Wood Kitchen and Bar, has been making headlines with its robust response to a customer, Phil Jeruzal, who ate there with his girlfriend.

At some point after the meal, Phil left a review on the restaurant's Facebook page. He mentioned the "great location, lovely staff and nice venue" but alleged it had been let down by a chef "that doesn't really seem to know what he is doing."

The portion sizes were "insanely small"; anyone expecting high-quality food "might want to look elsewhere." With a decent head chef, he ventured, "this place could be excellent, and a great wee addition to the Falkirk food scene."

Monica Shaw, a director at the restaurant, delivered a strong defence of the venue and its head chef, pointed to other customers's positive reviews, and invited Jeruzal to return to Canada Wood and discuss the chef's abilities "if at any stage you want to jump out from behind the safety of your PC and grow a set." To which Jeruzal retorted: "That is the most hilariously unprofessional response to a customer I've ever received."

To no-one's great surprise, the issue has fairly dominated the restaurant's Facebook page. Most though not all people posting comments on it have rallied to Canada Wood's defence.

Of course it's easy to understand why hotel, B&B, guest-house or restaurant owners can be touchy about bad reviews. They can spend years building up their business; a number of fiercely negative reviews on, say TripAdvisor, can damage their reputation no end. One English hotel owner reportedly charged a couple £100 after they left a critical review on the site. Other owners have consulted m'learned friends and gone to court.

The other side? Customers who have paid for meals or rooms surely have every right to make their feelings known, whether good, bad or indifferent. In the case of Canada Wood, it's hard to know whose side to come down on, even if the remarks about the head chef personalised matters too much. But I think one comment on its page, delivered in the course of a four-star review, sums it up nicely.

"I do agree that the restaurant should react better to criticism / concerns posted in online reviews," it says. "You can't expect all reviews to be glowing and, where concerns are raised, it would probably be better to take a more constructive approach rather than kicking back at customers. If you are going to invite online reviews, you really need to accept the bad with the good."