Pub owner's savage reply to 'cheap' diner taking all-you-can-eat buffet too far
A pub owner has issued a scathing response to an "unhappy" customer's review of his boozer's all-you-can-eat Sunday lunch.
Shaun Griffiths, who runs The George IV Inn in Powys, Wales, said he was left gobsmacked by a two-star review on TripAdvisor earlier this month. The customer praised the "lovely food" and "good service", but said they were disappointed over being unable to take away their leftovers with a plate they'd brought with them from home.
The review said: "I booked a Sunday lunch, if I had known when I booked a table I wouldn't have booked as I don't always eat my meal and I like to take it home. They said on the menu they don't do take away boxes which is fine but I had a plate which I brought with me and it was still a no.
"Good food but this is a let down and I won't be going back , just a heads up to anyone if they do like to take food home with them." On its website, the pub states that only one visit to the carvery is allowed and it does not provide or allow takeaway boxes, as the price is for dine-in only.
In a brutal response to the review, Shaun labelled the customer a "Cheap Charlie" and said the business would be unable to thrive and stay open if people overfilled their plates and took the rest home. The owner even signed off the response by adding: "Thanks for putting in print you won't be coming back!"
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His full response read: "Thank you so much for your review warning other Cheap Charlies that they cannot come to our All You Can Eat buffet and bring their own plates to overfill ours and then take the rest home. That is not the type of customer we want, nor one that will enable us to stay in business and thrive. If just one or two of your type heed your advice then you will have made our lives so much easier!
"Your comments about our food and service being very good is much appreciated though, and they will help attract the type of customer we want! I'm saddened you could only score us 2 stars out of 5 when all our other reviews are 5 star because we try extremely hard to offer high quality food at a reasonable price and openly print on our menu that our price is for eat in only. Let me explain how an all you can eat carvery buffet works.....
"1) Go to the buffet and ask the carvery chef to carve you up to 3 different meats. 2) Fill your plate with our huge selection of fresh vegetables, roasted potatoes, honey roasted parsnips, homemade stuffing and even cauliflower cheese if you wish. 3) Add as much rich delicious homemade gravy as you wish. 4) Add your sauces such as horseradish, cranberry or apple.
"5) Take your plate with as much food as you can eat at the table, to your table and enjoy. Please note there is NO point 6 which states you take much more than you can eat at the table and have a free meal at home later with a plate you have smuggled into our restaurant under your coat or elsewhere that i dare not think of.
"If, as you state, you don't eat much then go to one of our neighbouring restaurants that serve plated Sunday dinners and you will be much happier as their portions are more akin to your small appetite and then you will not have the dilemma of what to do with your leftovers as there won't be any!
"On a side note we do provide foil for those customers that maybe want to take some scraps home for their dog. We hate waste here at the George IV Cwmtwrch." Shaun and his wife Nam took over the pub in October last year, and previously owned the Three Horseshoes Inn in Cenarth.
He told WalesOnline: "We sell over 800 carveries a week including our midweek ones and we are very proud of our fantastic reputation, so it does hurt when you get a 2 star review and even more so when that review says the food and service were good." He said he was "astounded" that the customer thought it was acceptable to bring their own plate into an all-you-can-eat carvery, and that the "scathing review" added "insult to injury."
He said: "Luckily, 99.9% of our guests are fantastic who loyally support us and the business now employs 26 local people which contributes a lot to the local economy." And sharing the review to the pub's social media page, Shaun added: "As a business owner you get highs and lows.
"The review sites like TripAdvisor are mostly great and we are blessed to have staff that take a pride in their job and go that extra mile. Then we get reviews like this one today. I hope my reply explains my thoughts clearly. Please remember that this lady was at our All You Can Eat Carvery and wanted to have her cake and eat it."
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