Takeaway boss hits back at bad online reviews in hilarious fashion
A takeaway boss has gone viral for her hilariously scathing responses to bed reviews online.
Alice Cheung, 50, has been rebutting negative criticism of her Oriental Express takeaway in Leeds.
The vast majority of customers have written positive reviews about the Chinese Takeaway, which has a five-star rating on JustEast out of 149 reviews.
But a handful of people have given negative reviews of Oriental Express’s food and service.
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These customers have been met with Cheung’s sharp comebacks and takedowns, which have now been shared across social media.
Cheung said she only replies to critics who she believes have written unfair reviews that flag issues which are not the restaurant's fault.
One bad review read: “This food was terrible. Paid £17 for a box! Nothing but chips that looked like they was cooked yesterday, two onion rings and everything else unrecognisable.”
Cheung responded: “You ordered a Vegetarian Munch Box and then called the shop to complain there was no MEAT in it.
“We sent what you ordered and there was nothing wrong with it. The bad review is to cover your error. Please do not call again.”
Responding to another customer who complained about waiting more than an hour for delivery on a Saturday night, Cheung said: "Hello, we looked into our crystal ball but it gave no indication as to just how many orders the public were going to place on Saturday night between 5 and 9 PM. Don't you just hate it when that happens."
The same person complained that their prawn toast was “very bland”, to which Cheung replied: “Prawn toast is fried bread with prawn spread over one face and sesame seed sprinkles, none of these items could be classed as exciting but they make for a very nice starter.
“I am sure if we had delivered within your time frame our food would have been a lot better.”
When one customer left the takeaway a 2.5-star review complaining that they could have had better food elsewhere, Cheung said: "I suggest you stay with the other takeaway and take your false review with you."
Another critic claimed their dish had been “totally ruined” by battered prawns that had been mixed in with their chicken dish.
Cheung replied: “Will you please open your eyes and read the descriptions, you ordered the 'special sweet and sour' which contains king prawns.
“You got what you ordered so how is this our fault. The food was fresh and perfectly cooked. We are good but mind reading the stupid is not one of our skills.”
Cheung, who has run the family business in the Pudsey suburb of Leeds since 2004, said they began replying, “when we noticed that some people were leaving bad reviews about things we weren’t to blame for or just weren’t true.
“Someone called in once asking for a free meal and they left a bad review on google because we wouldn’t give them one,” she said.
“It's like they are using the threat of a bad review to blackmail businesses.”
Cheung said that the restaurant just wants to be honest with people when they get bad reviews, hitting out at those who complain when it is not their fault.
“If we are at fault, we will admit to it, but sometimes there are things you can’t control like busy delivery times,” she said.
“We do make mistakes sometimes, we will always do something to compensate, such as free delivery next time you order.
“If we have messed up, we'll always hold our hands up. But if not, people should expect some banter.”
The business owner also said the shop had to adapt to modern technology in recent years, which included “troll” reviews.
She added: “Just Eat and everything has become a big thing so we have had to adjust from the old days of taking calls and writing everything down on a piece of paper.
“That has given people more of a voice and a platform to say what they think.
“The majority of our reviews are pretty good, we have a lot of return customers.
“Sometimes we have reviews where people are just plain rude or will say something that is not true.
“If people are leaving comments like that there’s a chance they won't come back again anyway, so we tell them how it is.
“But our regular customers have really loved it and have been supportive of the viral stuff.”
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