A York café owner has spoken of how hurtful it is to receive anonymous one-star reviews from people who may never have visited their business.
MeowCraft Café on Shambles has almost universally positive ratings on Google Reviews, with an average of 4.6 stars out of five.
People praise its “great atmosphere and super friendly staff” and “tasty bubble tea”.
But in recent days a few one-star reviews have appeared – with no words at all.
This has led MeowCraft’s Coco Phoebe Lai to put out a message on social media. “After this recent experience just felt the need to share the feelings from a small business owner’s point of view,” Coco says.
“This past week we received a few 1-star ratings with no comments or explanation. We completely understand that not every customer will love what we do, and we always welcome honest feedback that helps us improve.
“We also noticed that these reviewers have chosen to hide their review history on our listing, while their history remains visible when viewed from other accounts.
“Whether these ratings are from genuine customers who actually visited the shop is something we simply cannot know.”
The lack of words made responding to the reviews difficult. The overall star rating is often the first thing people see, Coco said, and a “few empty low ratings can quickly affect how the business appears, even when most of our customers have had positive experiences”.
“Behind every small local business are real people who work long hours and put their heart into what they do.
“For a new business still trying to establish itself, these unexplained ratings are especially hurtful and can have a real impact on our livelihood.”
Coco’s words brought a lot of support.
One commenter wrote: “Welcome to running a public engaging business. It’s horrible.
“Every time you open your emails and read ‘you gave a review on…’ Your heart races until you’ve opened the email to see the number of stars.”
Another posted: “This is most likely your competitors! No words is telling. An unhappy customer would say what was ‘so bad’.
“I’m a local business too, my Google page was suspended… Thanks to a competitor.
“Do your best and don’t rely on Google too much.”
And several people pledged to visit the MeowCraft Café and give it a glowing review.