Burger bar receives 'fake' one-star review for not giving woman free food

By Nikkie Sutton

- Last updated on GMT

Hitting back: the venue responded to the woman's review on its Facebook page (image credit: Pastels Facebook)
Hitting back: the venue responded to the woman's review on its Facebook page (image credit: Pastels Facebook)
A burger and milkshake venue was given a one-star review on social media for not giving a woman, who the venue said had not visited them, free food.

Blackpool-based Pastels asked its Facebook fans for reasons why they deserved free food or drink alongside various rules users must adhere to.

The post said: “Tell us why you deserve something for free! We did this a few times when we were in [Thorton] Cleveleys and this nice weather has got us in the mood to do it again.

“Just comment below, telling us why you deserve something for free and, if we agree, we’ll reply with what you can have.

“Last time we gave free stuff out to people who were hungover, did well in exams, someone who had stubbed their toe and even a guy who had just had a vasectomy.

“Rules. You can’t request what you’re getting for free. Whatever we offer must be collected by this Sunday (31 March).

“You can come in and collect with no other purchase necessary. You can have it delivered but you must still make it up to the minimum delivery of £15.”

Plethora of reponses

Fans of the Lancashire venue replied with various reasons why they thought they deserved a freebie from the venue including working nine hours without a break, taking care of misbehaving children, and even saving a fly from a spider web. 

One user, Becky Farran, said: “I’ve been wanting to try your food and milkshakes for a long time now but as I’m living in St Anne’s and I work late most nights, it’s never a good time to get delivery… I’m usually on a strict diet due to my job but every now and then I enjoy a treat!

“This week has been difficult for me as my dog passed away, my iPhone has completely broke and my car needs a lot of work… free food always helps when I’m skint (smiley face emoji) x.”

She then replied to her own comment: “Clearly not dog people… I won’t be trying your place at all and consider yourself unfollowed.”

The venue responded to Farran and included a screenshot of her one-star review on Facebook that said the bar had “terrible service and terrible food”.

The response from Pastels said: “Because you didn’t get picked, is it appropriate to leave a one-star review ,which is clearly a lie [because] you have not tested our food?

“We also have dogs ourselves and we go out of our way and buy dog food and donate it to a lady who feeds homeless dogs around town.

“Free piece of lettuce for leaving a FAKE review.”

Spreading awareness

Pastels owner Gage Dunstan told The Morning Advertiser​: "We do the offer of free food and drinks to people as a bit of fun. We started doing it in our old location in Cleveleys and this was the first time we'd done it since moving to a bigger premises in Blackpool.

"It's a good way of spreading awareness of Pastels as the posts get a lot of engagement, but it's also good to be able to give things out to people who really deserve something, whether they're going through a hard time of they'd accomplished something.

"When we first saw the one-star review we were obviously pretty gutted about it. We try out best to make sure everyone has a good experience.

"Obviously nobody's perfect and we do make mistakes, but we pride ourselves on rectifying any bad experiences that a customer might have had. When we realised the girl hadn't even been in, we were obviously pretty annoyed."

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