SG restaurant Grain Alley stands firm by its harsh response to customer review to protect staff

Singapore brand Grain Alley at Orchard Central has defended itself after a Reddit post highlighted the cafe's harsh stance on customers who leave poor reviews on, while supposedly rewarding those  who give positive ones. According to some, the company would result in name-and-shame tactics and even doxxing.

However, spinning the situation on its head, in a series of Instagram posts, Grain Alley defended its replies to customers saying it is choosing to support its staff over customers as they are “the main reason” the company survived the pandemic despite the difficulties. In the statement, the company detailed the loyalty of its staff and said, “With the high-attrition rate of our industry, it shows how safe our people feel working here, knowing we’ll protect them.”

According to Grain Alley, staff are told to raise any issues they face day-to-day with unpleasant or unruly customers so the company is able to respond to the reviews that may come later. Going by the name Joe, the staff member in charge of the review responses further shared: “While my replies can be robust, I took into consideration what customers wrote online and how they treated our people in person.”

The company added that bullying starts from an imbalance of power, and some customers feel that misplaced sense of power over service staff which has led to frequent abuse. Furthermore, explaining its choice to reward customers with good reviews, the company explains it does so after seeing the reviews, rather than “bribe” for positive reviews.

While standing up for your staff may be crucial and the company has every right to stand up for its staff, according to an independent PR consultant MARKETING-INTERACTIVE spoke to, no business today has the right to be disrespectful to their customers under any circumstances. This is especially so in the F&B industry.

“The very foundation of service industry is based on forging good relationships with customers. A restaurant can stand up for itself and its employees without degrading and humiliating them, which is how I would describe its response to some of the one-star reviews,” she shared.

Lars Voedisch, MD, PRecious Communications said, “It is very simple - if you want to be treated with respect as a brand or an individual, don't behave in a revengeful way. There are smarter ways to call someone out without getting personal.”

He added that while it is applaudable when employers stand up for their staff, raining down wrath on critics will make a brand look rather petty. “If in doubt, take a breath, don't post anything - and then choose the high road,” he added.

Power of reviews

A study by Qualtrics found that today, 93% of customers read online reviews before buying a product and potential customers are turning to online review sites to learn all they can about your service or product. Sites such as Yelp, Google Maps and TripAdvisor allow customers to give advice, and around 91% of 18 to 34-year-olds trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.

The study added that there is also evidence to suggest that online reviews are the primary way to choose where to shop locally. Nearly all consumers (97%) now use online media when researching products or services in their local area.

Online reviews are also crucial to the eCommerce space, especially for shoppers in Singapore (61%), Thailand (66%), and Malaysia (57%). One in two shoppers (54%) said reviews make the shopping experience positive, according to Lazada's latest study done in collaboration with Milieu Insight, which surveyed 6,000 online shoppers in January this year across six Southeast Asian markets.

Additionally, 50% of those surveyed said they leave reviews on the product post-purchase, and 32% said the reviews are one of the top three reasons why they prefer to buy online. For Singapore, in particular, shoppers increasingly value peer ratings and reviews (61%) along with secure payment options (53%) when it comes to platform features.

Google also states on its website that reviews need to “accurately represent the location in question” and “where contributions distort truth, Google will remove content”. Reviews are automatically processed to detect inappropriate content such as fake reviews and spam. “We may take down reviews that are flagged in order to comply with Google policies or legal obligations,” said the site.