A café owner in York, England’s TripAdvisor post to angry customer who gave the restaurant a one-star rating has gone viral after it was reposted by food critic Jay Rayner. TripAdvisor has since deleted the post.
The customer, identified as Hannah C from North Yorkshire, was upset about paying £2 for a hot lemon water at Bennett’s Café & Bistro in York, and wrote in the review that her experience was “absolutely awful.”
She titled the review “Over-priced and very rude staff.” Hannah wrote, “When I asked why I was being charged so much for some water the waiter rudely said, ‘well, do you know how much a lemon costs?’ Yes, it’s definitely not £2.”
She continued, “He then went on to wrongly inform me that a 'pot of tea for one' (which is what I was charged for) is the same price as a lemon. To show just how ridiculous this is, my friend ordered a slice of chocolate cake which was £1.90.”
The owner then replied to the post and outlined the expenses to run the establishment, such as paying his employees, the time they spent serving her and overall, the overhead for running the business.
“I accept that it makes the price of a cuppa in a city centre cafe look expensive compared to the one you make at home but unfortunately that’s the cruel reality of life,” the owner wrote. “It’s actually the facilities that cost the money, far more so than the ingredients. Perhaps, the rudeness that you perceived in me was triggered by the disrespect that I perceived in you by your presumption that you could use our facilities and be waited on for free.”