Great British Menu judge Tom Kerridge has spoken about his problems with a major part of how people complain about hospitality venues as he calls for people to make their complaints known at the restaurant rather than online
Celebrity chef Tom Kerridge has worked in the hospitality industry for decades, successfully building a glittering career that has seen him appear on television, online, as well as on high streets across the UK.
However, during that time Tom, 52, has also come across a variety of customers with differing levels of politeness and knows what it is like to receive waves of praise or the occasional complaint.
Speaking on the podcast about tricky customers, Tom said the likelihood of complaints depended on the type of venue. He told the Red Talks podcast: “When there is a drinking vibe it does sometimes get a bit out of hand.
“There are occasionally times when people are a bit of a pain in the arse, but in general it’s not too bad. We don’t run proper boozy pubs, we lead food-led ones.”
However, this does not mean Tom has not had to deal with the odd strange complaint during his time as a restaurateur. The Great British Menu judge said he had once received a complaint about a bee being in the building during the height of summer.
He added: “You do get the odd thoughtless person that complains. We had someone complain that the lamb tasted too lamby.”
Later in the interview, Tom was asked what he thought of the popular review site TripAdvisor, where members of the public can post reviews on a variety of restaurants and tourist sites.
Tom had some strong opinions on the site, saying that while he does not look at it, members of his team do, in case there is a recurring theme to complaints. Otherwise, he said he would rather customers raise any issues in person while at the venue.
When asked if he had read any reviews on TripAdvisor, he responded: “I have not looked at it for, I reckon, 15 years. I pay absolutely zero attention to it. Members of the team will look, because if there’s something consistent.
“I pay no attention to it because if someone has got a real complaint, when you’re in the world of hospitality you try to make people feel as comfortable as possible and if something is wrong, you would hope that they would say ‘There’s an issue with my dish’ so you can solve it.”
He added that his main issue with TripAdvisor was not the site itself, but customers writing scathing reviews despite appearing satisfied during their visit.
Tom said: “So you would hope that people would come, and if they’re not enjoying it we can try to solve that problem and make sure you leave having had a nice time. If you genuinely do have a bad time, I think most people in hospitality know when they get it wrong.
“If you come off TripAdvisor, you come, you eat, and every time the member of waiting staff comes to you and says ‘Is that okay’ and you’re going ‘Yeah that’s fine, thank you very much that’s fine’.
“And then you write a really bad review or send an email afterwards it’s like well how are we supposed to have solved it if you wait until afterwards to tell us by email? We’ve asked, we have checked.”
Tom Kerridge is due to appear on The Great British Menu tonight at BBC Two at 9pm
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