The burger van owner was left ‘gutted’ by the review.
A burger van owner in South Wales has hit back against a customer who left a one-star review because they ran out of burgers when she arrived.
Gooey Chewy Cheese is a humble food stall located round the side of a pub called The Teazer in Pontypool.
It’s run by an enthusiastic chef and business owner who calls himself ‘Mr Goo’, and has been up and running at the site since the beginning of this year.
A short scroll through the ‘Photos’ category on the business’s Facebook page will have your stomach growling, as Mr Goo has proudly filled it with snaps of his hefty cheeseburgers and special mac and cheese.
However, all has not been as well as it may appear for the people behind the counter at Gooey Chewy Cheese in recent weeks, as the owner of the food stall was left ‘gutted’ by a bad review that was posted on Google just over a week ago.
A local woman, who has since deleted her post, went all in on Mr Goo and co when she arrived to the stall hoping to get her hands on one of his delicious burgers, only to be informed that they had completely run out.
The reviewer gave the business a measly one-star, and simply wrote: “Wasn’t able to try the food as they’d ran out of burgers by 7pm.”
Safe to say this brutal public review made the owner very unhappy, and he decided to fire back at the woman with a lengthy response to her original post.
Mr Goo wrote: “Well I’m absolutely gutted that you have left me a one-star review for selling out of burgers. Blown my mind a little bit (laughing emoji).
“We sold more burgers than we usually do at that time,” he clarified. “Not sure this is worth ruining the perfect 5 star rating we have over an item being sold out though? This is something that is totally out of our hands.”
He continued: “Hope to see you again soon, and for both our sakes I hope to god we haven’t sold out of whatever you order next time.
“Until then, keep it cheesy. And thank you for your feedback.”
The owner went one step further and decided to share the correspondence on the business’s Facebook page where, surprisingly for ‘Mr Goo’, not many people were sympathetic to his cause in the comments section.
One user wrote: “Why do businesses think it’s okay to shame someone for an honest review? I operate my own hotel with bar and restaurant, have some people seen my less professional side and left negative reviews? Yes, and have I ever shamed any of them? No.
“Has my bar and restaurant been overwhelmed and people left dissatisfied? Yes, and have I ever shamed them? No.
“Something is wrong with you to take a review that someone had to leave without trying the food which is an honest review of a negative experience, and shame them. Get some mental help.”
Another person commented: “Running out of stock can at times be a legitimate gripe that should affect your rating. Yes, your product may be great, but if you consistently sell out and can’t fill orders, that show poor planning and management. It’s a customer service failure.”
One other said: “I run a restaurant and sometimes we run out of stuff. It can be unpredictable, sure, but it’s 100% our fault and any business owner would take responsibility for that. One star review is pretty unfair but you really can’t act like you have no control over that.”
Another added: “I mean, I get that 1 star is silly, but you can’t blame someone for leaving a less than positive review when something is out of stock or unavailable.
“It’s a completely reasonable review to leave even if the stars are low. Honestly, it’s pretty silly to even fight it lol.”
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The backlash forced Mr Goo into clarifying the situation, and he urged his followers on Facebook that he hadn’t intended on making it seem like he was instigating a ‘witch hunt’ against the lady who left the review.
“Wonk wonk folks,” he opened. “I feel like I need to set things straight a little bit as many of you are totally misinterpreting the post.
“I kept the reviewer anonymous. This person isn’t even on facebook so they would not have known about this post. I didn’t share this for them to see it. I shared it because I found it funny.
“She was not bullied into deleting her review. It was deleted because of my reply to her. I’m guessing even she agreed that it was a bit unfair.
“Not to worry though, loads of you have since left me fake 1 star reviews, so thanks for that!”
The owner of Gooey Chewy Cheese continued: “My wording was clearly a joke, people local to us know this, they get this, they know my humour.
“I think my sense of humour has gone over the heads of many people. Especially those of you across the pond.
“I didn’t start a witch hunt. The person who left the review is not the target of this post,” he added. “The aim of the post was to share something that made me laugh. This what I do. I’m relaxed and honest in the way I present myself. Humour plays a massive role in what I do on social media.
“What many of you see as me being unprofessional, it’s just me being me. I don’t try to be corporate. I do stand by my thinking that the 1 star review for us running out of a product is silly.
“We are a very small takeaway in south wales. There are 4/5 of us that work there. The fact that this post has gone viral has blown my mind.
“I don’t wish any harm or upset to anyone, so I apologise to all those that I seem to have offended somehow. Again though, the post was shared for our followers to have a giggle. There was no malice in it.
“Keep it cheesy.”
