A Kuwaiti blogger is being sued by the famous Japanese restaurant chain Benihana simply because he posted on his blog about his negative experience at their restaurant. You can read his post here.
In a matter of hours it has quickly become a national case and will be on printed media and radio tomorrow. I wish Mark, this popular blogger, all the luck and I hope this story will have a nice ending for everyone.
In the mean time Benihana’s image and reputation is gone. The following is going to show how lethal social media, in particular Facebook and Twitter, can be.
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| Benihana's FB Page |
And there's more on Twitter:
People are asking the General Manager to resign, leave Facebook and to “get a life”. No need to say that no one will be going to eat there for a while. Of course the person in charge of the FB page was deleting all comments but it’s all gone out of control now. I can see a few people getting fired.
I wish Benihana’s management read one of my previous posts on how to handle negative comments…
Another lesson learnt?
PS: I’d like to thank my friend and blogger purple moonbeam for bringing this to my attention.
It's kind of fun watching this spiral out of control.
ReplyDeleteYes...if it happens to others...;)
ReplyDeleteOMG! What's wrong, Japanese people? :(
ReplyDeleteHmm, Mark didn't say anything wrong, right? sorry if it's a stupid question *blushed*
ReplyDeleteI mean, there shouldn't be any piece of advice needed from you to bloggers?
ReplyDeleteWait what? Why don't we do a similar thing and get much views and popularity
ReplyDeleteSmart guy
haha, the internet is SERIOUS BUSINESS man.
ReplyDeleteAt Benihana, we continuously strive to improve our relationships with our guests and our community. We take any and all customer reviews very seriously and consider them opportunities for improving our operations and making the customer’s BENIHANA experience more unique, authentic, and enjoyable.
ReplyDeleteOver the last few days, we have read your posts regarding an alleged lawsuit filed by “Benihana” against a blogger based in Kuwait for posting an unfavorable review of a newly-opened, BENIHANA restaurant location in Kuwait. We hear you and wish to correct any misinformation.
The BENIHANA brand is co-owned by two separate and distinct corporate entities – Benihana, Inc. and Benihana of Tokyo, Inc. We, Benihana, Inc., own, operate and franchise nearly 100 BENIHANA restaurants in states and countries throughout the United States, Central America, South America and the Caribbean. You can find our locations by visiting the www.BENIHANA.com website. Benihana of Tokyo, Inc. owns, operates, or franchises BENIHANA restaurants in various other parts of the world, including, Kuwait. You can view Benihana of Tokyo, Inc.’s locations by visiting www.BenihanaGroup.com.
While we have a shared interest in the BENIHANA brand, we have no control over Benihana of Tokyo, Inc.’s business or legal decisions. Consequently, we cannot comment or opine on the alleged lawsuit filed by Benihana of Tokyo, Inc. except to say that we are never pleased to hear of any BENIHANA customer’s negative experience. We encourage you to share your opinions and comments directly with Benihana of Tokyo, Inc. The company’s contact information is available on www.BenihanaGroup.com.
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I thought people were only sued if they lied about something.
ReplyDeleteWhat a stupid move that restaurant's taken, there are better ways to deal with negative criticism as you've pointed out, and it might make them look better too.