When popular café and farm-shop from Bath (UK), The Shed, was criticized on Facebook, the company responded angrily and caused a social storm – is this how to handle social media?
The Shed is highly regarded café in Bath, but when customer Helen Forsyth posted a review that criticized The Shed’s hygiene practices, someone in its social media team responded by insulting her on Facebook and then Twitter. Some users challenged The Shed’s angry response, while others doggedly supported the business against what they thought was an over-the-top ‘Health and Safety’ ethos.
Currently, the café’s Twitter and Facebook are offline and they have apologized for the way that the spoke to Helen Forsyth.
The saga
As the Bath Chronicle reported, in mid-February Helen Forsyth posted a review on the business’ Facebook page in which she gave the café three out of five stars. She said that their cakes looked great but that they were displayed without a cover, which she considered hygienically concerning in that people might breathe on or brush up against them.
Rather than thanking Forsyth for her feedback, The Shed claimed that her viewpoint was “total bollocks” and that she was a “stupid woman”. According to the local food agency that is in charge of food hygiene, The Shed is in the right: they have “no problems” with cakes being displayed in the open, provided that they are non-dairy. Nonetheless, does being in the right justify the way that they spoke to Helen Forsyth?
Some people, like Chris Owen in the Daily Telegraph have criticized the fact that The Shed carries a Food Standards Agency rating of zero out of five. As the Bath Chronicle noted, however, this rating was given due to flooding that affected the business in January, nothing to do with the open display of food. The Shed is due to be re-inspected very soon, given that is has finished repairs after the flood.
The customer response
In the Bath Chronicle, owners Fred and Helen Cobb said that since the social media incident gained them national attention they have experienced increased business. They also regret the way in which they spoke to Helen Forsyth. Nonetheless, will insulting people online increase custom?
Probably not. A great deal of the positive response (apart from simple publicity) may have been due to British people, many of whom resent an obsession with ‘Health and Safety’, wanting to support a business that they appreciate. This would probably not have been the case was The Shed proving poor a service or if Helen Forsyth’s complaint concerned a more extreme hygiene concern.
Love the comments from @theshedbath to a pathetic comment on their own page, Been there multiple times and service and food is top class!!
— Ross Davies (@RossDaviesBath) February 16, 2014
Thank fook for @TheShedBath standing against all the sour faced h&s obsessed feckers. Great shop and amazing cakes. Im with #TeamTheShedBath
— Richard of the Wood (@Eastville_Ern) February 16, 2014
Nonetheless, had The Shed’s remarks not been so extreme, it is unlikely that there would have been such an excited response from users, with the story reaching the national papers. In this case, the result was more custom, but this may not happen every time. Amy’s Baking Company of Arizona tried this method, and became the laughing stock of the internet, as Business Insider reported.
Further to this, the insulting reaction must have harmed the business’ relations with its customers to some degree. Even if you do know that you are in the right, your role as a business is not just to comply with the government guidelines but to make customers happy. As a result, many people might get the impression that at The Shed, people won’t care about how paying customers feel.
Even if you are in the right, insulting people is bad form in itself and makes it seem as though you are not in control. However, Fred and Helen Cobb’s earnest apology has probably helped a great deal.
So, insulting people on social media may get you publicity, but it might not, and it risks alienating the people that are most important to your business – customers. All told, the bottom line has to be that the single most reliable business maxim is: treat customers well and provide a good service, which is why locals appreciated The Shed in the first place.