admin wrote:
Yep, as mentioned above, we definitely tried several. FYI, the responses were of two main types: 1. we love it [it's our local] and you can't possibly have had a bad coffee there [therefore you're being malicious] and 2. you should never post a negative review [ie 'if you don't have something nice to say, don't say it"]... hence the reason for this discussion.
don't want to labour this, but still think it comes down to the above 2 reasons for someone being upset. With respect to the first one [ie #1 above], to be honest the indignant tweets of a few people who don't know much about coffee doesn't really worry me. The only one that's important [from my point of view] is what the more coffee-educated among us think, and that's where I'm concerned with criticism #2. Remember this came from a so-called 'industry' person and certainly our own highly-esteemed FC also takes this point of view. I guess my [personal] problem with this stance is it goes against my own sense of 'freedom of information' and freedom to give your opinion [if unbiased, and where you genuinely believe it's warranted]. However, there's always downside in this, in that if it's a negative review then obviously someone's going to be hurt/disappointed - there's the conundrum! A PS or if you're of the same mind as Mark D [mentioned above] who seems to believe that there is a need for reviews, both good & bad, but the main thing is the quality of the reviewers - which is the position we actually agree with!
